Insingo tip dull, how to sharpen?

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dkblade

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Nov 7, 2014
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The tip on my insingo is pretty dull, diminishing its piercing abilities, any recommendations for sharping the point on this thing? Thanks!

edit: I own sharp maker with brown and white rods, that's my only sharpener. Maybe some tricks of the trade?
 
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I have a suggestion on what NOT to do; when using the Sharpmakes to sharpen the tip, do not run the tip off the rods. For tips, I use the flat of the rods instead of the corners, and always finish the stroke before the tip goes off the rod's surface. Running the tip off the rods will tend to round the tip.

Jim
 
James Y said:
I have a suggestion on what NOT to do; when using the Sharpmakes to sharpen the tip, do not run the tip off the rods. For tips, I use the flat of the rods instead of the corners, and always finish the stroke before the tip goes off the rod's surface. Running the tip off the rods will tend to round the tip.

Jim
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Thanks for the heads up, I noticed that a while go but I think that's how the tip got dull to begin with!
 
Heres what I do with my insingo.....

I use the white Sharpmaker Rod. I hold it in my left hand while free hand sharpening it with my right. I start out with the corner of the rod and then switch to the flat side. All free hand. And then I finish up on my strop thats loaded with Green and black Bark River compound. I never have an issue getting the tip sharpened.

Maybe give that a try.
 
Maybe try another type of sharpening system that will not round your blade tip.
I find that either a KME or Lansky, which are guided systems, offsets my lack of paying attention to the details.
I never could master the Sharpmaker for that very reason.
 
Ajack60 said:
Maybe try another type of sharpening system that will not round your blade tip.
I find that either a KME or Lansky, which are guided systems, offsets my lack of paying attention to the details.
I never could master the Sharpmaker for that very reason.
Click to expand...

Does the Lansky system work pretty well? I've watched a few videos...almost looks like a cheap version of the edge pro..
 
dkblade said:
Does the Lansky system work pretty well? I've watched a few videos...almost looks like a cheap version of the edge pro..
Click to expand...

I've had good luck with the Lansky, I bought the KME about a year ago and use both systems. On the Lansky, you have four angle slots to choose from, 17,20,25,30
The slots are larger than the rod, which can cause a couple degrees of drift. I either hold the rod tight to the top or bottom. For less than 100.00, you can get the diamond stones and the ultra fine and sapphire stones. Like anything else, it takes a little time to master it. With the Lansky, you'll like it or hate it.
The KME is several steps above the Lansky, the rod holder is tight, so there is no wobble. You can go from 17 degrees to 30 degrees, in one degree increments. The stones are wider, the stand is better.
But, you pay more also.
I mostly free hand sharpen, but, that's more of tuning the edge and finishing up with a strop. I turn to the guided system if I flatten/roll the edge or if a re profile is needed.
 
I can confirm most of what is already said above. I also use the sharpmaker and I noticed that I tend to round the tip if I do not pay attention. But still for me the sharpmaker is the easiest and most comfortable sharpening system. I used to have a Lansky set and I was not satisfied with that. Too much "construction" stuff on the table and not really a stable system. One general disadvantage of such systems like Lansky is with longer blades. Maybe not that relevant for a Sebenza. But with longer blades you need to adjust the knife's position in that clamp, in order to avoid having different sharpening angles near the tip. If you understand what I mean (sorry. not a native english speaker).

@ Ajack, what is KME?

Another system, similar to Lansky, I've heard about is Wicked Edge.
 
Many years ago, when I was first learning how to use my Sharpmaker, I used it to completely reprofile my large regular Sebenza. It had come dull brand new OOB. And especially duller at the tip. It took a lot of time, but I was able to thin the edge out and even made the tip sharper as a result. I'd already heard that running the tips off the rods could round a tip, so I was careful enough and never rounded a tip on any knife using the SM. Because CRK uses convex edge bevels, it took longest to work down the "shoulders" and start working the edge itself, first reprofiling at 15 DPS, then finishing at 20 DPS.

It wasn't because the then-S30V blade was hard in itself that made it take a while to do; it was the thick, convex bevels. It actually took me several days, off and on. My Insingo's blade came noticeably thinner and more consistently sharp at the edge than my 2002 large regular. So I know when it comes time to resharpen my Insingo, it will be much easier. I like using the SM because it only removes a little metal at a time. I don't want to accidentally remove too much at once or incorrectly. And it's not necessary to use lots of pressure on your strokes with the SM. My mentality is, 'easy does it'.

Jim
 
I use the Lansky system and it's worked pretty well. I might upgrade someday, but for the price the Lansky system does everything I need it to. I would advise also getting the super-sapphire stone and the leather strop hone.
 
Thanks for the advice! I've been using my sharp maker, I use the white rods with a pretty good amount of pressure on the end of the base, left hand a few times, then right hand a few times, I stopped using the upright angles a while ago. Then I check the edges for burrs, then go soft on the burr sections. I clean the rods pretty frequently too. After that a few strops on green compound leather strop and the edge is sharp enough for me, that is easily hair shaving sharp--not hair popping sharp though...haven't gotten that edge yet. But even if I pay close attention to the tip not coming off the rod, I still can't get the tip super pointy. I kind of gave up on it because I don't want to remove too much metal...I feel like I need to almost sharpen the end of the swedge....
 
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