How to sharpen a 1095 carbon steel blade?

T

tnozh

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Hi,

I recently got a Ontario SpecPlus SP-26 USN-3 survival knife and I am very happy with it: it is cheap (got mine for 35$) rugged, well-designed and very comfortable. It also comes with a small sharpening stone attached to the sheath. Ontario does not provide any instructions about how to sharpen their knives nor I have never attempted to sharpen a knife in the past: I figured I might as well learn on a cheap blade.

I tried sharpening it by giving it 10-20 strokes on each side, but the result is less than impressive, at least compared to my other (CPM S30V) factory sharpened blades from Benchmade. Is the 1095 carbon steel blade on the SP-26 simply not capable of being as sharp as the S30V blade, or is the a case of a clumsy person blaiming his equipment?

Speaking of equipment: the small sharpening stone seems to be rougher on one side; which is the side I should use (sorry for the silly question - I am a computer geek whose only manual skill is typing at a keyboard)?

What would be the best way to sharpen this blade using this little stone (rather than some other, maybe better but not always available tool)?

Many thanks for any advice!

Cheers,

TN
 
The little stone is probably best for in the field touch ups, and is not really the best thing for sharpening the knife (small stone = a lot of work).

Do a search for knife sharpening. There are lots of good threads to read.

With practice, 1095 can be made scary sharp.

David
 
I can get my Ontario RAT 7 (1095) as sharp as heck TN. In fact it is one of the easiest knives to sharpen that I own. I use an eze-lap diamond stone, lay the knife across the stone at the desired angle and use firm circular strokes, moving up and down the blade 3 or 4 times on each side. Then I use light forward strokes only, as if I was trying to shave something off the stone, going up and down the blade once or twice per side. It can usually brush hair off my arm at this point.

If you have non-diamond stones you may wish to use oil, saliva or dishwashing liquid as a lubricant and you will have to work at the edge a little longer.

Getting the correct angle is the trick if you are a novice sharpener. For a bit of feedback to gain this skill, try coating the edge with a marker pen. If you take off marker closer to the edge the angle is too steep, iif you take off marker near the shoulder then the angle is too shallow.

Another trick is to lay the blade on the stone at what you feel is the right angle and then look closely at the edge in relation to the stone. Move the angle of the blade shallower, to the point that the edge lifts away from the stone and it is more the shoulder of the edge in contact with the stone - do this a few times and you will have a good feel for where the edge is - obviously you want to hold the blade at the angle just before the edge lifts away from the stone.

Otherwise let the dust out of your wallet and purchase an edge-pro or sharpmaker.......
 
The 1095 should be easier to sharpen and take a sharper edge than just about any stainless steel. Get a longer hone, say 8 inches long. I would suggest getting an aluminum oxide bench hone from a home center or hardware store. Get one that is coarse on one side and fine on the other side. You may want to use the hone wet.
 
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