I did something stupid to my Native, how do i fix it?

M

MacTech

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Jan 7, 2006
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611
about a week ago, i decided to see how sharp the factory edge on my CPM S30V PE Native was....

i grabbed a small length of ethernet cable and attempted to press cut through it onto a padded antistatic mat....

i ended up with two *tiny* nicks in the blade where a couple of the wires in the ethernet cable nicked the blade

the damage is very minor, almost unnoticable, only if the light hits it *just right* or i'm dragging the blade across a smooth surface, like the edge of an office desk...

i've been running it over the Sharpmaker every few days (on the white rods, corners then flats) to see if i can work the nicks out, they seem to be dissapearing, they're now to the point that they're on the very edge of the blade

i'd rather not damage the factory edge more than i have by using the brown rods, i'd assume it'll just take some time to work the nicks off the edge, i think i'm almost there

is this the kind of damage that just takes time to work past, i'm within my return window for the knife, i could always take it back to wally-world and exchange it for another Native, but i like *this* one, it locks up good and solid and there's *no* free play anywhere in it
 
You are better off to ignore the nicks you put in it and just use the knife. In time with sharpenings "as you really need them", they will eventually be taken out. I wouldn't waste away good steel for a couple of small nicks on it when the rest of the edge is still like it was from the factory. Just use it. You'll probably put more nicks in it anyway. If you went to the rods everytime you used it or noticed a small reflection you aren't going to have much life out of the edge over time. I think you are better off to just wear it down as the rest of the edge calls for it.

STR
 
Hard to believe that those thin copper wires could even begin to damage that steel blade...
Those nicks can easily be worked off , learn yourself how to use a soft Arkansas and you'll be done in under 5 minutes.
Those rods will take a little more time.
Really though , it is a worker knife afterall and if that is the last nick , scratch or whatever you put on it I will be suprised.
 
I'd disagree with STR somewhat. I think useing the white Sharpmaker rod after each day or so is a good idea. Maintaining a edge is alot easier than letting it get dull and resharpening it. Don't know what would last longer maintaining or letting get dull and resharpening, I'd guess it is a horse a piece.
 
db said:
Don't know what would last longer maintaining or letting get dull and resharpening...
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Blunting is highly nonlinear, you wear a blade out *MANY* times faster if you maintain a very high level of sharpness.

rebeltf said:
Hard to believe that those thin copper wires could even begin to damage that steel blade...
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The wire twists and pulls on the edge sideways and cracks it off. While steel maybe inhernetly very strong, edges are thin in cross section and can be readily bent. When doing cuts through hard materials you have to be very careful to minimize torques.

-Cliff
 
Cliff how long do you think it would take to ware out a Native by maintaining the edge, 1 or 10 strokes on the white Sharpmaker every other day? I have no idea but I'm guessing a long time.
 
It will take a while before you reprofile the edge on the sharpmaker such that you should reset the edge. I suggest that you use the knife as EDC and use the Sharpmaker has you have been using and when you finally changed the edge profile enough that it should be reset, sent it of to Spyderco for complimentary sharpening for a nominal fee of $5.
 
db said:
Cliff how long do you think it would take to ware out a Native by maintaining the edge, 1 or 10 strokes on the white Sharpmaker every other day? I have no idea but I'm guessing a long time.
Click to expand...

It woudl take a very long time, but you'll eventually take the egde back so far that you're past the bevel set at the factory. That could be done in a matter of years probably with daily sharpeneing.

You should touch up edges frequently, but it's much less damaging to the knife in the long run if you strop daily or every other day instead of using the stones. The strop will realign the edge instead of taking more steel off.

I've got a Buck 110 from the early 70s that has 98% of the blade steel remaining. My grandfather taught me to use a strop and only go to the stones when it really needed it. The blade is shaving sharp. I've had the knife for 18 years and I use it regularly.

It's a shame that you see so many old knives with most of the blade sharpened away.
 
Why not trying to steel it? If you don't have a real steel, just use any spine of your other blade that's mirror finish to 'push' back the nick. I assume your nick is not chip but merely edge rolling?
 
I cut some pretty thick jacketed copper wire with my VG10 Endura with no damage. It shouldnt have dented the edge IMO.
 
db said:
Cliff how long do you think it would take to ware out a Native by maintaining the edge, 1 or 10 strokes on the white Sharpmaker every other day?
Click to expand...

Mike Swaim argued about four years ago on rec.knives that the claim that honing prematurely wears a knife and steels should be used is exaggerated. I did a bunch of calculations based on use and checking wear and edge loss under magnification and he was correct, it isn't significant :

http://groups.google.ca/group/rec.knives/browse_thread/thread/70c42545c3ccece1/f2d6b2d31c436e96

The biggest problem is oversharpening, using a fixed amount of passes on a stone for example, can increase the rate many times over. In general damage rather than wear or honing is the main issue unless you are really aggressive and sharpen on a belt sander or similar.

The common claim that constant honing on fine abrasives minimizes sharpening wear though is false because knife blunting is nonlinear. For example if you try to keep your knife at 95% of optimal sharpness it will wear about 100 times faster than if you sharpen only when it hits 50% of optimal.

I have checked this on hemp, carpet, cardboard, wood, foods, fabric, the behavior is the same. The problem many people have with honing with coarse stones is doing too much work, generally to conserve the steel on the edge don't fully sharpen to the edge with the coarse hone, this should only be done with the finishing hone if you want maximum edge life.

Personally I don't do this because my time is worth more than the knife, and I keep knives very close to optimal sharpness, plus if it is a nice knife and I do wear it out I just buy another one and support the maker/manufacturer or regrind the primary. It takes years in any case, even with really aggressive honing on really low end steels.

-Cliff
 
Cliff Stamp said:
Personally I don't do this because my time is worth more than the knife, and I keep knives very close to optimal sharpness, plus if it is a nice knife and I do wear it out I just buy another one and support the maker/manufacturer or regrind the primary. It takes years in any case, even with really aggressive honing on really low end steels.

-Cliff
Click to expand...

I think Cliff really made the imperative point here. I know of carpenters that have sharpened chisles to nubs and my father managed to create clear signes of wear on his kitchen knives with nothing more but a "corrugated" steel. But the carpenter has been using his cutting tools 8 hours a day, with multiple sharpeings per day and it has been taken years for my father to wear his kitchen knives (and they are a pretty poor steel, they are made by Sabatier). Neither have ever complained about it. Knives will wear eventually and I would say that is a sign that they have been used well.
 
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