A few years back I purchased a Fallkniven PHK for field dressing and skinning. So far ive processed one deer and numerous small game with its factory edge. Its still sharp, but obviously it will need to be sharpened sooner or later. My question is what kind of edge ( toothy/polished) should i put on it and what would be the best process to doing so? More generally, im curious as to how sharp you think a knife needs to be for field dressing.
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Ideal edge for hunting knife?
- Thread starter Grosvenor
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Here's a great thread on that very subject: Finishing Grit for Skinning Knife
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I like carrying a DMT dia-fold course/fine. 325/600 grits respectively.
Many times I skip the fine grit, as the toothy edge works great, especially getting through hair and hide.
Many times I skip the fine grit, as the toothy edge works great, especially getting through hair and hide.
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Something to note, I have used a knives that I’ve taken up to 3000 grit, only to have them perform sorta poorly when trying to get through the initial cuts through the hide.
If you plan to only gut and carry out the animal bones and all you only need a sharp knife to open the organ cavity, and to cut the esophagus.
If you plan to debone in the field you’ll appreciate a courser grit.
If you plan to only gut and carry out the animal bones and all you only need a sharp knife to open the organ cavity, and to cut the esophagus.
If you plan to debone in the field you’ll appreciate a courser grit.
David Martin
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I usually set mine at 200 grit. This works great for field dressing. DM
The Fällkniven PHK has an unusual blade grind that is best sharpened on a piece of wood at least the size of a regular 8 inch bench stone that has been treated with DMT Diamond Paste 6 micron or something similar. Kind of like stropping, but with purpose. You can take the finish up to finer grits, but for a hunting knife of this special style I haven't seen any advantages in going any finer than 3 micron, in fact the opposite.
DMT also makes a coarse/extra-coarse Double Sided DiaFold (325/220 grit respectively). I maintain edges with the 325 grit and the 220 is useful to repair minor edge damage.
FortyTwoBlades
Do you have a recommendation for this? I ask because you have optimized for slicing aggression with your scythe edges I believe.
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~120 grit to set a toothy scratch pattern followed by a light pass with ~400 grit or other fine stone to crisp up the apex without erasing that coarse scratch pattern set by the coarse stone.
Can this edge be maintained for awhile with light passes at ~400 grit or do you always have to go back to ~120 grit every time to maintain the coarse scratch pattern?
Thank you...
Several years ago I was at my father's house and he brought out his "new hunting knife". My father taught me the basics of sharpening when I was 10 or 11 years old. He can put a shaving sharp edge on any blade he owns. It's just part of being an outdoorsman to him.
What he bought out really floored me: A Cutco Hunting knife. Orange handle and their trademark "double D" serrated edge. A serrated edge on *my* dad's hunting knife???? Huh?
Then he told me the story:
He was on a hunting trip out West, hunting elk. Predictably, he shot one and they were quite far from camp. Dragging the animal back was unrealistic. The normal thing the guides do is to quickly quarter the animal, then pack the quarters on their backs (4 people) and bring it back to camp that way.
So they all set about quartering it. Dad pulled out his razor sharp Randall knife. He was proud of the edge. He cut into the hide and made one big cut. Then a second. ...and about then, the force required to move the edge dramatically changed. Two cuts and his blade was dull. The hide, the hair, the dirt, and whatever, had almost instantly dulled his awesome edge.
The guides kept working, just *zipping* through the hide and made short work of it. They outpaced dad by a huge margin. When they got back to camp dad asked about the knives they were using and they showed him the Cutco serrated blades that they all carried. He bought one immediately and started using it.
If you want to look it up, it's the clip point hunter with the double D edge.
When I got to see this knife it was rather dull. He had been using it continuously for several years at that point. It still cut because it was serrated. But it wasn't impressive in any way. Well.. we also weren't quartering an animal so...
I took it home and sharpened it until the serrations would mostly push cut paper. Dad was very pleased, even when he cut himself testing sharpness (which I've never seen happen to him before). I think he was expecting that I couldn't make it sharper.
This long story to illustrate two things:
1. A coarse "toothy" edge will penetrate hide and other things you might cut, much more easily than a highly polished edge. There's a reason the old timers in this forum recommend toothy edges.
2. Serrated edges have a bad name in our hobby. They are cheap junk with silly tricks on commercials. Many of them can not be resharpened at all. Kitchens are full of these ridiculous knives that make me irritated just to see them.
But... A good serrated blade is a superior cutting tool. I said it. A serrated edge, for most cutting tasks, is SUPERIOR to a plain edge. Just try cutting something mildly difficult with a serrated versus a plain edge. The serrated edge will win every time if the task is simply to cut things into pieces. (As opposed to fine whittling or other push cutting centric tasks.)
Serrated blades have the double advantage of:
A. Many, many points which can all be used for penetration cuts simultaneously. Starting cuts with a serrated is easy.
B. The actual blade parts are curved and set back from the points. So the points take all of the abuse and the cutting arcs are protected. This makes them last longer as they don't get abused, rolled, impacted, etc like a normal plain edge would.
I'm not trying to say every hunter should have a serrated blade. But it wouldn't be the worst idea... I'm mostly saying "use a very toothy edge" for abusive hard cutting. Like cutting through the hide of a large animal.
Brian.
What he bought out really floored me: A Cutco Hunting knife. Orange handle and their trademark "double D" serrated edge. A serrated edge on *my* dad's hunting knife???? Huh?
Then he told me the story:
He was on a hunting trip out West, hunting elk. Predictably, he shot one and they were quite far from camp. Dragging the animal back was unrealistic. The normal thing the guides do is to quickly quarter the animal, then pack the quarters on their backs (4 people) and bring it back to camp that way.
So they all set about quartering it. Dad pulled out his razor sharp Randall knife. He was proud of the edge. He cut into the hide and made one big cut. Then a second. ...and about then, the force required to move the edge dramatically changed. Two cuts and his blade was dull. The hide, the hair, the dirt, and whatever, had almost instantly dulled his awesome edge.
The guides kept working, just *zipping* through the hide and made short work of it. They outpaced dad by a huge margin. When they got back to camp dad asked about the knives they were using and they showed him the Cutco serrated blades that they all carried. He bought one immediately and started using it.
If you want to look it up, it's the clip point hunter with the double D edge.
When I got to see this knife it was rather dull. He had been using it continuously for several years at that point. It still cut because it was serrated. But it wasn't impressive in any way. Well.. we also weren't quartering an animal so...
I took it home and sharpened it until the serrations would mostly push cut paper. Dad was very pleased, even when he cut himself testing sharpness (which I've never seen happen to him before). I think he was expecting that I couldn't make it sharper.
This long story to illustrate two things:
1. A coarse "toothy" edge will penetrate hide and other things you might cut, much more easily than a highly polished edge. There's a reason the old timers in this forum recommend toothy edges.
2. Serrated edges have a bad name in our hobby. They are cheap junk with silly tricks on commercials. Many of them can not be resharpened at all. Kitchens are full of these ridiculous knives that make me irritated just to see them.
But... A good serrated blade is a superior cutting tool. I said it. A serrated edge, for most cutting tasks, is SUPERIOR to a plain edge. Just try cutting something mildly difficult with a serrated versus a plain edge. The serrated edge will win every time if the task is simply to cut things into pieces. (As opposed to fine whittling or other push cutting centric tasks.)
Serrated blades have the double advantage of:
A. Many, many points which can all be used for penetration cuts simultaneously. Starting cuts with a serrated is easy.
B. The actual blade parts are curved and set back from the points. So the points take all of the abuse and the cutting arcs are protected. This makes them last longer as they don't get abused, rolled, impacted, etc like a normal plain edge would.
I'm not trying to say every hunter should have a serrated blade. But it wouldn't be the worst idea... I'm mostly saying "use a very toothy edge" for abusive hard cutting. Like cutting through the hide of a large animal.
Brian.
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You can maintain the edge with light passes of the fine stone until you notice the blade losing its slicing aggression, then reset the scratch pattern with the coarse stone again.
Jason B.
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Depends on the knife...
Buck with 420HC steel? probably a coarse edge.
Thin blade of 52100 @ 62+ HRc? I've used a 10k polish, field dressed 3 deer and needed nothing more than a strop.
Considering you have a 3G steel blade @62 HRc from a really good knife maker I would recommend keeping the convex edge with either waterstone sharpening or sandpaper over a softer surface. Take the finish up to at least 1000 grit then strop. I would go higher but that is just me, I prefer my convex edges to be more polished.
Buck with 420HC steel? probably a coarse edge.
Thin blade of 52100 @ 62+ HRc? I've used a 10k polish, field dressed 3 deer and needed nothing more than a strop.
Considering you have a 3G steel blade @62 HRc from a really good knife maker I would recommend keeping the convex edge with either waterstone sharpening or sandpaper over a softer surface. Take the finish up to at least 1000 grit then strop. I would go higher but that is just me, I prefer my convex edges to be more polished.
I dont have any stones. Ive considered using sandpaper to sharpen softer steels, but how difficult would it be use sandpaper to sharpen 3g at 62hrc?
Jason B.
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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You will need to get wet/dry sandpaper from the auto parts store. It's silicon carbide abrasive and will cut steel no problem, slower than a stone but still good enough.
Get the variety pack, something like 400, 800, 1000... either way I would recommend starting at 320 or 400, I would not recommend going coarser. Place a sheet of sandpaper over a leather strop, I do not recommend a mouse pad as it has too much give, Ideally, the JRE strop block is bee's knee's for this type of sharpening. Hold at a normal sharpening angle of 15 to 20 degrees per side and with even but somewhat light pressure us a stropping type edge trailing stroke and repeat until desired results are achieved. Strop with some compound for a nice polish.
Get the variety pack, something like 400, 800, 1000... either way I would recommend starting at 320 or 400, I would not recommend going coarser. Place a sheet of sandpaper over a leather strop, I do not recommend a mouse pad as it has too much give, Ideally, the JRE strop block is bee's knee's for this type of sharpening. Hold at a normal sharpening angle of 15 to 20 degrees per side and with even but somewhat light pressure us a stropping type edge trailing stroke and repeat until desired results are achieved. Strop with some compound for a nice polish.
If I use stroping strokes on the sandpaper how will I know when I should progress to the next grit? It's my understanding that a burr won't form when using stroping strokes.
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If anything edge trailing strokes are more likely to form a burr.