How tough is it to sharpen / use TANTO BLADES?

J

jimmy123

Joined
Jun 27, 2006
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132
Hey guys,

How hard is it to sharpen tanto blades such as this,

http://www.benchmade.com/products/product_detail.aspx?model=14450


Also, what sharperner would be best used to sharpen this blade flat side and serrated edges?



Would it be better to get a normal flat blade with serrations for everyday used instead of this blad with the 2 angle and serrations. It seems like this knife might be more for "Tactical" use? I'm not sure...

Would this knife be more pratical to use?
http://www.benchmade.com/products/product_detail.aspx?model=14900
 
I'd go with the spear point for practicality, but you gotta admit, the tanto looks cool. If you want the tanto, get it without serrations.
1. I personally hate BM's serrations
2. There isn't enough of either edge

You get a spyderco sharpmaker to sharpen the tanto, but you sharpen the main edge separate from the tip. (well, if it was a normal tanto, you could simply use a benchstone, but this one has a funky recurve in it)
 
I personally think the Westernized tanto is the easiest to sharpen, thanks to the nice, straight edges. Of course, I'm not an expert on sharpening either. I can, however, strop a tanto to razor sharpness in no time flat. Anybody can.

For use and aesthetics, I would prefer the spear point. I think I would call the BM a drop point, not low enough to be a spear point. I'll cast another vote for the Sharpmaker.
 
Although I admire the aesthetics of Snody's designs a great deal, that knife would be a total PITA to sharpen, IMO. With serrations, and what looks like a bit of a recurve ..... arrgggh!

But about tantos generally .... assuming we had no recurve or serrations, you're still looking at more of less two separate edges to sharpen, the front and the back. If you use a Sharpmaker or similar, you can forget a nice, smooth flow of the sharpening swipe as the sharpening angle transitions through the belly, cuz there is no belly.

I wouldn't be opposed to extra effort sharpening if I got something in return, but I just don't find tantos as useful for the kind of cutting I do, compared to a drop point, spear, clip, etc. blade with a decently full belly. When I need to cut things with some real power, being able to bear down and rock the blade cutting with the belly is a big advantage, and I'm a fairly large and powerful guy. Plus the edges of a small tanto like most folders can be very limiting with the angle you can use when cutting something on a surface such as a cutting board or workbench.
 
More practical too! If you want a tanto, get the Stryker..No funky recurve, nice upswept tanto
 
You can use a crock stick or a single stick from the Sharpmaker to sharpen the regular edges.

You can use the corners on the Sharpmaker single stick for the serrations freehand.

It takes practice to do that blade, but it can be done.
 
Artfully Martial said:
People are so hard on tantos, but I think they're extremely useful and easy to sharpen.
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And also very easy to make...

Thanks, Vassili.
 
^^^Then make me one^^^ :D


GarageBoy said:
If you want the tanto, get it without serrations.
1. I personally hate BM's serrations
Click to expand...

I personally love them, more so than spyderco's, there's just not enough of them.:jerkit:
 
Well, this is marketing lie and once it is clear why stand and state like "Yes it is actually great blade with super performance!"? Of course if somebody trick me to buy something it does not mean that it is just bad, however in general why to trick somebody if you have good staff anyway?

Tanto is great marketing fenomena. It will be really interesting to see who actually started this. But almost any manufacturer now produce some just because this hype create certain demand. This show the superpower of marketing and PR in free market society.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
I think the tanto craze actually started with Bob Lum back in the late 70s-early 80s. His were still of a more traditional shape, with no second point at the yokote. Cold Steel picked up the design and it began its gradual transformation into the tanto we are now familiar with. And the design is still changing.
 
So this is Cold Steel idea. As I understand they also invent "San Mai" term - in Japan laminated blade called varicomy.

It is pretty amaizing to see how modern marketing creates all this "Historic". Tanto one and also I read about Arkanzas Toothpick in Loveless book. It seems like lie is OK until it generates money flow...

Thanks, Vassili.
 
Tantos are very useful. One of their most unique uses is using the point inbetween the edges as an exacto knife. The straight line to the point is useful for chopping small stuff (pushing it straight down), which is good because the tanto and wharncliffes are usually pretty hard to chop stuff with because your hand around the handle creates too much distance between the blade and the thing you want to cut.

It's fair to downplay the tanto's usefulness only if you're willing to discard the increasingly popular wharncliffe...since basically you're getting a wharncliffe and another edge.

I've never known why people disliked the tanto so much. I only have one, myself, but I'm glad I have it.
 
I'd get one of those electric grinders and...just kidding. Actually, this knife should never need sharpening. Just keep it in the drawer and look at it occasionally.

But seriously, there are a number of quality pocket sharpeners and workshop sharpeners. Spyderco, Lansky, and CRKT all make decent sharpeners. Tanto blades are easily sharpened one edge at a time. Then there are some pocket serration sharpeners or you can manually use one of the previously mentioned sharpeners. My favorite is the Spyderco.

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I like the tanto, just not the HK34 Tanto.. (someone tell me the purpose of that additional recurve?)
 
I am a fan of tantos. I'm also dumb enough to sharpen both edges at the same time. Both edges are very sharp. I would avoid the serrations,
 
Confederate said:
Actually, this knife should never need sharpening. Just keep it in the drawer and look at it occasionally.
Click to expand...
:D I think you just uncovered one of the reasons tantos get slammed. I think that the tanto has gotten a bit of a "useless showpiece" image among some people. At the very least, a lot of people don't like them because their capabilities are often exaggerated, especially by knife makers. For me, the tanto doesn't offer enough extra point strength to make up for the loss of penetration. But that's personal choice.

GarageBoy said:
I like the tanto, just not the HK34 Tanto.. (someone tell me the purpose of that additional recurve?)
Click to expand...
I don't know; that's a really good question, actually.
 
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