How sharp can a SAK be?

L. Richard said:
I've never had a SAK blade to chip. Apparently the steel is not brittle enough for that.
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I had some chipping in my Vic Hunter. However I was 11 years old and I hit rock with tip first with movement groing downward.... I found it beneath old box few months ago and after some diamond sharpener for reprofiling, whet stones for sharpening and ceramic sticks and strip finishing the touch, no chips left and its nice and shaving sharp.-
 
I think Vic SAKs are among the easiest knives to get razor sharp.They might not hold an edge as long as some,but they're sooo easy to touch up !
 
Before I switched to stropping I was achieving a decent sharpness using one of these: http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=LSLCKEY
It doesn't remove much steel so no major repairs, but it handles a quick 'touch-up' to get a blade nice and sharp. I didn't find this up to the task for bigger blades or reprofiling, but it did a good job for years on my SAK & LM Wave.

SAKs are definitely easy to sharpen, even on a small & cheap ceramic rod sharpener!
 
I will agree - sharp is what you need to cut whatever you need to cut! and the sak steel will easily do it - and come back for more- I use a ceramic "dog bone" type of sharpener - so I have no idea what the angle truly might be - but it is sharp!
Peace
Revvie
 
Revvie said:
I will agree - sharp is what you need to cut whatever you need to cut! and the sak steel will easily do it - and come back for more- I use a ceramic "dog bone" type of sharpener - so I have no idea what the angle truly might be - but it is sharp!
Peace
Revvie
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The really great thing about sak steel is that you can tuch it up on almost anything. I've used the bottoms of coffee mugs, the top of car windows, the back of leagal pads, boot tops, and a smooth rock from a creek bed.

I for one, and very happy that sak's do not use the latest miracle steels!
 
I love Victorinox SAK steel.
I own lots of knives, many in VG-10, S30V, etc., etc. I love those, too. But I am also glad that Victorinox hasn't changed their steel. I expect SAK steel on my Vics! I've never had one chip, but I have had an edge roll on some very nasty clamshell packaging once. After about literally 15 to 20 seconds on the fine rods of my Sharpmaker, it was as if it never happened.

When I lived in Taiwan for several years, the only knife I had was a Vic Spartan. Over there is extremely humid most of the year, and very hot in the summers. The knife got gunky, but never corroded, not even the inner workings of it. And the only maintenance it got was an occasional lube. After I returned the the States, I knuckled down and cleaned out most of the gunk and the action is good as new (some of the implements had not been snapping closed due to gunk buildup). The walk and talk came back. The blades still get razor-sharp. It's beat-up looking from use, but it's a testament to the quality and durability of the knife.
Jim
 
No offense to your SAK lovers But I"VE always hated saks for that reason They would never take a edge and if I did get a good edge on them they would loose it very fast. I hate that the blade doesn't lock. That is just my opinion. Get yourself a good multitool. Not leatherman (they support the liberal gun hating hacks).

IM not hating on SAK or leathermans just because I have something different its just my opinion. Infact, I have a leatherman and a SAK. I use my leatherman and I like it but it makes me mad that they support the gun haters so I will never buy one of them again.......
 
there're actually some victorinox with side lock and liner lock with one hand opening hole... most saks doesnt have lock so they dont have legal issue in some country or states...

for more than 20 years that i use saks, if you dont abuse the knife, the edge will holp up decently... but in case you mest up, there's still a small blade for backup...
 
buyer5207 said:
No offense to your SAK lovers But I"VE always hated saks for that reason They would never take a edge and if I did get a good edge on them they would loose it very fast. I hate that the blade doesn't lock. That is just my opinion. Get yourself a good multitool. Not leatherman (they support the liberal gun hating hacks).
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Short of an Opinel, a sak is about the easist knife to sharpen. They have a popularity for over a century and a quarter for a reason. Maybe you are not getting a good edge on it to start with, and that is the reason your's seems not to hold an edge. How are you sharpening and on what kind of stone?

As for sak's not having locks, I consider that a good thing. Locks have been know to fail, and I've seen the results of that two times in my life when somebody had total faith in a blade lock. Disaster was both times, one with a right index finger cut off. I'd rather have a knife with no lock on it and use it with good safe knide practices, than depend on a lock.

It sounds like you deffinatly are not a sak person. Each to thier own.
 
buyer5207 said:
No offense to your SAK lovers But I"VE always hated saks for that reason They would never take a edge and if I did get a good edge on them they would loose it very fast.
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"They would never take a edge"
Could you go back to the start and re-read this thread please!
I don't know what you are doing wrong, but someone has posted a SAK splitting a hair - they take an edge VERY well. Most of us can quickly and easily get a very sharp edge on our SAK blades.
 
buyer5207 said:
No offense to your SAK lovers But I"VE always hated saks for that reason They would never take a edge and if I did get a good edge on them they would loose it very fast. I hate that the blade doesn't lock. That is just my opinion. Get yourself a good multitool. Not leatherman (they support the liberal gun hating hacks).

IM not hating on SAK or leathermans just because I have something different its just my opinion. Infact, I have a leatherman and a SAK. I use my leatherman and I like it but it makes me mad that they support the gun haters so I will never buy one of them again.......
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This again :grumpy: ! It's not true. In 2004, Tim Leatherman signed a letter, along with 60+ other representatives of outdoor gear companies, supporting John Kerry for President because of what they regarded as bad environmental policies of the Bush administration. Nowhere were guns mentioned, nor has Leatherman been connected with any anti-gun campaign except by highly partisan bloggers who took the matter way out of proportion or common sense. Look it up yourself and you will find the one document and nothing else. The last time this came up I challenged the poster to produce any documentary evidence linking Leatherman with the gun grabbers and received no reply from him or anyone else. Or, write to Leatherman himself for his views. I did, and he replied.

Supporting a Democrat for political office is not an automatic ;) anti-gun position. In fact, my state governor, a "liberal" Democrat, has been endorsed by the NRA for his 100% pro-gun record. Please don't believe everything you read on the net, which is probably the worst spreader of misinformation there is.
 
My SAKs split hairs.

We were camping a few weeks ago, and one night had steak for dinner. Beautiful pieces of meat, marinated for three days, grilled over charcoal, medium-rare perfection. Well, that was the idea, anyway. My wife did the grilling on these, and they came ou a little more done,a nd a little tougher, than I usually do. So, my 14 year old son asks me for a knife to cut his meat with, and I hand him my SAK Swisschamp. He opens the main blade, and starts to cut his steak, and his eyes go wide, and he looks at me and says "Oh my GOD that's SHARP!" I'm curious, so I hand him my Case Trapper with CV blades, which I had been whittling with, but could still shave with, and ask him to compare. "That swiss knife is WAY sharper," he tells me, handing the Case right back. I tried them both, and he was right. Of course, right after dinner, I got the stones out and went to work on the Case, and in short order it was hair-splittin' too, but I was really impressed with that SAK, and with my boy for noticing!
 
Gadgetaholic said:
"They would never take a edge"
Could you go back to the start and re-read this thread please!
I don't know what you are doing wrong, but someone has posted a SAK splitting a hair - they take an edge VERY well. Most of us can quickly and easily get a very sharp edge on our SAK blades.
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:thumbup: The first time I was ever able to get a blade hair-splitting sharp was
on a Victorinox Tinker. My peel wasn't as long as some I've seen, but I was pretty thrilled all the same. My SAKs get sharp, stay that way long enough for the occasional use they get, and resharpen easily. IMHO, this is a good (enough) steel.
 
i just use whatever angle they put on it at the factory and use a smith's three-and-one for fine work , and a soft Arkansas stone for more coarse work and and for really coarse work i just use a standard aluminum oxide stone. Most of the time i just use the smith's to touch it up
 
znapschatz said:
This again :grumpy: ! It's not true. In 2004, Tim Leatherman signed a letter, along with 60+ other representatives of outdoor gear companies, supporting John Kerry for President because of what they regarded as bad environmental policies of the Bush administration.
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So - it's just a different good reason to not support Leatherman. :D

As to the OP, my SAKs have always been my easiest knives to sharpen.
 
What portable sharpener can you guys recommend for using in the field? I have a Sharpmaker at home, but don't want to carry that with me. I thought I read somewhere about someone having a credit-card sized stone that they carry in their wallet. What do you recommend for portability?
 
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