I love my EDC. What do I do with it? It looks very cool.

[jackknife]

I had not a clue. Now I want one. It's kind of interesting because its owner had even less of a clue when he bought it online, but the knife suits him. I noticed that the blade is forged. Where he works they make drop-forged keys that go into one of the most elegant yet useful products one can think of: handmade professional flutes made of precious metals.

Is the MOP real and the metal any certain kind of silver?

I noticed the the blade is stainless and fairly thick behind the edge compared to what I use. The bevel angles are larger than I typically use on my knives. Any advice I should give him on sharpening and angles? Better stated: give ME (since I think I'll be asked). I have never sharpened such a small blade and it seems like it would be a little hard to hold in the fashion that I am accustomed to.

If the factory edge is a bit too thick, this can be fixed when you sharpen it. I don't know how you sharpen, but I use just a small hand held stone or hone free hand and hone in small circles. If you need to thin out the edge you will need a stone a bit more course than you normally would use.

My own choice for many years now have been the Eze-lap brand diamond hones, the model L. The nice thing about them is you can cut off most of the plastic handle and carry one in your wallet so a sharpener is always with you.

Angle. I don't have your knife here to see it, but get a dry erase Magic marker and mark the edge with it. Use a red or other color easy to see. Once you color up the edge, put your knife on the hone laying flat and elevate the back/spine of the knife till you see the edge make contact with the stone. Now begining honing in a small circle type patern starting at the blade kick, and moving slowly toward the tip of the blade. Keep constant contact with the stone while moving the blade in small overlapping circles. Take about a full minute to reach the tip of the blade.

Now look at the marked edge. Do you have a clean bright consistant removal of the magic marker right down the bevel to the edge? The marker will tell you if you are there. If there is not clean metal the width of the bevel right down to the edge, adust your angle depending on how the marker is scuffed off. If the edge is factory steep, you just may have to just keep honing. Do one side, then the other. Remark the blade after each side is honed. By watching the way the marker ink is scuffed of, you can keep track of the angle you are holding and adjust it if needed to remove the marker all the way to the edge. You may have to start with a course stone then switch to a finer grit to finish it up. Patience, it takes a while to get a blade to your own specs, then on it's easy to maintain with a couple minute touch up with the wallet hone.

One benift of the constant contact small circle method is it is easier to hold a consistant angle, and is faster than breaking contact with the stone like in the slicing method. It enables you to sharpen up your knife anyplace in just a few minutes with just a small hone in the wallet. No dependance on gadjets or fixtures, and sharpening freehand gives you total freedom of movement, not to mention it makes knife sharpening ridiculously easy.

 

[annr]

If the factory edge is a bit too thick, this can be fixed when you sharpen it. I don't know how you sharpen, but I use just a small hand held stone or hone free hand and hone in small circles. If you need to thin out the edge you will need a stone a bit more course than you normally would use.....

Thanks, Good advice and well explained. I have a wide range of grits and selection of abrasives, so not a problem.

I guess I am worried about 2 things:
I don’t think that this guy will want the blade to look scratched. When I sharpen I don’t worry so much about scratches-- but do get them very sharp. That’s the reason I tried the “V” sharpening method, but this seems like slow going.

The other concern I had, and not having a clue, I didn’t know if a small knife like this just needed to be thicker and more obtuse.

BTW I never got the hang of the wallet hone.
Do you stabilize the knife or stone and how? Also in circles it sounds like. Just checked: I have a DMT 325 with the plastic handle, so I could practice on something.

 

[jackknife]

Thanks, Good advice and well explained. Thankfully I have enough sharpening gear to take me from 180-60000 grit and in all sizes and materials, either free hand or mechanized.

I guess I am worried about 2 things:
I don’t think that this guy will want the blade to look scratched and when I sharpen I don’t generally get those pretty looking bevels I see on the forums, but I do get them very sharp. I don’t care w.r.t. my users but I think he is so in love with the knife that it will bother him to get a scratch. That’s the reason I tried the “V” sharpening method, but this seems like slow going.

The other concern I had, and not having a clue, I didn’t know if a small knife like this just needed to be thicker and more obtuse.

BTW I never got the hang of the wallet hone.
Do you stabilize the knife or stone and how? Also in circles it sounds like. Just checked: I have a DMT 325 with the plastic handle, so I could practice on something.

There should be no danger of scatching up the blade with this method. When you lay the knife flat on the stone and raise the back, you're not moving it at that point. And when you are honing the small circles the back/spine of the blade is off the hone.


I don't know why a small knife would be thicker or more obtuse, it would defeat the whole point of having a small thin blade that cuts well. Knives like peanuts and similar size pen knife class of cutters should be sharpened just like any other knife and let the thin cross section of the blade work for your advantage.

As far as "stabilizing the hone in free hand sharpening, I just hold the hone in my left hand, and knife in right and hone away. When you do it, it's sort of self explaining. The more you do it, the more you get the hang of it.

Enjoy.