I'm at wit's end...

B

Bjorhyn

Joined
Oct 15, 2007
Messages
13
First off, you probably have heard this more than once.
I have an EKI Combat Karambit, and I'm Having issues sharpening it, big surprise...
I can't seem to get an edge for the life of me.
Any help would be appreciated.

M.C.
 
the blade shape makes it inherently difficult to sharpen.

i have had the best results with a chef steel. a few strokes on the beveled side, followed by one on the flat side to remove any burrs.
 
Go to a hardware store and get some of the smaller and longer sharpening stones. Get one is brown which usually indicates a med grit. Try using that on it. The narrower the stone the better. It will go with the curve of the blade. Take your time sharpening it and wait until a burr is built up on the back side. Lay the blade at a sliglty flatter angle and stroke the back of the knife a couple of times and repeat a few times front and back. Should work for ya. keepem sharp
 
My philosophy is that an SD knife like the Karambit is used for that and nothing else! I would never use one to open a box or anything like that. That way, it is always factory sharp and ready to go.....and having to sharpen it isn't ever going to be an issue.

If I need to do cutting chores, I have a hundred other knives that I can use for stuff like that......
 
A stone with a round side will work best. You could send it back to EKI to be sharpened a a relaively low cost if you jsut cant get it like you want it. I understand they are very fast with turn around on this type of thing.
 
reconranger said:
My philosophy is that an SD knife like the Karambit is used for that and nothing else! I would never use one to open a box or anything like that. That way, it is always factory sharp and ready to go.....and having to sharpen it isn't ever going to be an issue.
Click to expand...

I completely agree. I have never used the blade except when I'm on duty. The reason it's dull is a buddy of mine was looking for a knife to cut something with and mine was on the counter. Turned out he wanted to cut some small cable. Needless to say, my blade now won't cut butter, so I think I'll send it back to Emerson this time, and find a croc stik or something to try on some of my other blades.

While I've got you all here, I'm looking for something to do to my cqc-7 to make it more personalized, what could I do to it?
 
Have Tom Krein grind the blade. You'll have a "close-to" custom Emerson.
Lycosa
 
Bjorhyn said:
I completely agree. I have never used the blade except when I'm on duty. The reason it's dull is a buddy of mine was looking for a knife to cut something with and mine was on the counter. Turned out he wanted to cut some small cable. Needless to say, my blade now won't cut butter, so I think I'll send it back to Emerson this time, and find a croc stik or something to try on some of my other blades.

While I've got you all here, I'm looking for something to do to my cqc-7 to make it more personalized, what could I do to it?
Click to expand...

Contact ferrrk/Phil. I had him put thicker Ti liners & Green Linen Micarta scales on mine.
 
Good looking files.

I'm liking the idea of coloured scales, and some sort of filed Ti liner. Would this ferrrk/Phil fella be able to do something like that?
 
Sounds like your knife is broken. Send it to me and buy yourself a new one! :)

Ok, here is my 2 cents for karambit sharpening:
If the knife edge is badly chipped, use a guide rod sharpening system (EdgePro, Lansky, Gatco) to grind the chips out and get a clean primary bevel. I've found the Lansky style thinner stones work better for these smallish concaved blades.

After aligning the burred edge, if you are not satisfied with it's sharpness, go to work on it with croc-sticks or a steel creating a "double" primary bevel as your cutting edge. I assume you have used croc-sticks/steels before as there can be a trial and error period for proficiency with them.

One article I read suggested that creating this double primary bevel actually increased the edges ability to retain sharpness. I never noticed much of a difference but sometimes I find it easier to sharpen a knife this way.

Also, the flat side of the Emerson lends well to cardboard stropping.
 
Cool your jets, bub. It's not broken yet. Just really close.

The "friend" of mine who dulled it in the first place is sending me the Gatco system, so I'll try that.
I'm assuming a "double" primary bevel is exactly what it sounds like.
I've got some experience with croc stiks, but not much. I've got a few beater knives to bust them up on.

Thanks, I'm now $.02 richer.
 
I generally use a fine grit diamond rod to sharpen my emersons. Usually brings the edge back pretty well, not shaving, but a pretty sharp edge. But fine grit wont do the job if the edge is really dull. Go with coarse grit and and use the fine to refine the edge after.
 
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