How to sharpen Columbia River M-16 (only one side was honed from the factory)

B

Brian in Mn

Joined
Dec 28, 2002
Messages
4
I have a Columbia River M-16 serrated. What's the best way to sharpen this??? Do I only touch one side? And what about the serrated part? Thanks!
 
Wecome to the Blade Forums!! I recomend that you invest in a Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker. If you do a search you will run into hundreds of praises about this system. You can sharpen Serrations on it as well. It will run you about $45-$50 but its well worth it and will take care of a majority of your sharpening needs
 
I don't own any CRKT knives, but if only one side was sharpened, it may have been intentional. Maybe someone can verify (or deny) this for me.

BTW, welcome! :D
 
Some of the early M-16's were only sharpened on one side. I had one like that and got rid of it because I didn't like the single bevel.
 
Hi and welcome to the BF! I have a CRT M-16 that is sharpened that way too. The best way to sharpen these is by following the instructions on the Emerson knives website. Here is a direct link to the instructions on the EKI site, click on sharpening on the left hand side. This way of sharpening is very effective.http://www.emersonknives.com/EKstuff_index.htm

I hope this helps. I use Spyderco ceramic files to sharpen my knive. They are great.
 
Thanks for the replys and for the warm welcome! I'll check into the Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker. That link really didn't talk about one sided sharpening. Do you do anything special? Or do I just sharpen one edge like normal without touching the other side? I would think that would cause a burr. If so, would I just sharpen it on that side to just get rid of the burr. Thanks all!!!
 
Get rid of the burr by stropping the other edge on something slightly abrasive. I don't see why the sharpmaker wouldn't work though...
 
Ok, I just read up on the sharpmaker a little bit and seen a picture of it. Could someone explain the technique? Some guy was saying you had to be careful and not do it wrong and end up taking the point off your knife. What are the advantages over the sharpmaker and something like this Gatco? http://store.knifecenter.com/pgi-ProductSpec?GA10005 It says it does serrated edges too. Speaking of clamp sharpeners... I've always wondered, with the stone being on one plane; how does it sharpen the tip of the knife where it requires of different angle. Or am I wrong? Thanks for the help!
 
Hi Brian in Mn,

The Gatco and sharpmaker are very different but both have there place. I've never tried to sharpen my M-16 on the Gatco but I don't think it would work well as it does not provide a steep enough angle. I may be wrong though.

The Sharpmaker is going to be much more convenient. It gives a nice shaving sharp edge on most knives where as the Gatco is nice for reprofiling an extremely dull blade. It can be used to put a nice sharp edge on a knife but like I said the Sharpmaker is more convenient. I usually pull out my Gatco twice a year where as my sharpmaker is used weekly.

When sharpening the M-16 on a Sharpmaker you will need to hold it at a steeper angle. The 30 and 40 degree angle on the sharpmaker are not steep enough so you will need to angle the knife a bit more instead of bringing the blade down at a straight angle. It takes a little bit of time but you will pick it up pretty quick. You can also take a black marker and run it along the edge. As you sharpen it will take the marker off if you have it at enough of an angle. To remove the wire edge from the unsharpened edge just place one of the sharpmaker stones back in your sharpener as if to pack it up and at about a 5 degree angle draw you knifes unsharpend edge across the stone. It does not take much effort to remove the edge so a couple swipes will take care of this.

I don't think you have anything to worry about when it comes to taking the tip off. The Sharpmaker also contains a video and although it does not get to in depth, it will show you the what you need to get started. If you don't have much experience sharpening I suggest using some cheap knives or some kitchen knives to practice with.

Good luck
 
Simply sharpen the side that it was sharpened (match the angles, or else the secondary point formed when the two edges meet may weaken and rounded off), and strop the unsharpen side with like cardboard backing of a notebook. If you don't mind marring the finish, you could lay the unsharpened side flat on the stone and stroke it with the edge trailing to remove the burr.
I found the Gatco systems on Tantos single side edged are very annoying to get right. Forget about the Gatco on the Tantos.
 
One way to avoid a marred finish is to stretch some plastic electrical tape on the blade side, avoiding the edge. It stretches pretty thin and can protect the surface of the metal from getting scratched up while you strop or sharpen.
 
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