Just got my first Busse-A fatty ASH-1!!! Question?

A

alpha6164

Joined
Jun 28, 2009
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Just purchased a black on black fatty ASH-1 from a member here. It was sold to me new with a nice kydex sheath. The question i have is that the blade is not very sharp at all. I barely cuts paper and kind of shreds it. There is no evidence that the knife has been used.

What i do notice is that the left side of the edge has a much sharper angle vs the left. Is that common? It almost looks like the left side has a 20deg profile and the right side is a 40degree. All inputs appreciated. Thanks.
 
It's an asymetrical edge,,,,,,,,, a hard duty edge,,,,,,chopping . NOT slicing...... You'll never carve a turkey with that beast,,,,,, Not what it's made for, hacking away at timber is it's game. Rather than reprofiling it,,,,,,try polishing the edge with a knife steel or a leather strop...make it a bit sharper .... It's an excellent blade ..... Congrats on your score !!!!!!!!! :thumbup::thumbup:
 
^^^Ahhh i see. Are all the big Busse knives like that? I though with its medium length it would be more of an all around knife vs. a bigger knife such as the the 8-10" blades that would be pure chopping knives. So you dont think i should sharpen the other side to 20deg?
 
I blatantly stole this line, but...


Most INFI knives I own came to me with an edge so sharp they could easily cut through.....




butter.


Like a hot knife through butter.






If you heat the knife up first.
 
Quite a few of my old Busse's came like that,,,,,,I've only polished em after useage ,,,,,, left the edge geometry the way Jerry designed it. They all work gr8. However it is your blade,,,,,,, you need ta do what you want to make yourself happy with it !!!!!! Instead of cutting paper,,,,,,take the beast to a woodpile and tear into it,,,,,, see if it's not sharp enough,,,,then decide.
 
I agree - put the edge you want on it. When I first got my NMSFNO, it came with that very obtuse Busse factory edge. I took it into the backyard for a little chopoff, and was incredibly disappointed by how poorly it performed compared to a whole pile of other knives.


Then I put a nice shaving sharp convex edge on it, and did some more chopping, and the performance was WAY better, and the knife still held an edge well enough to shave hair after some chopping and wood splitting.

My opinion is - try the knife at the jobs you're actually gonna use it for, and if you're happy with the performance, great. If you aren't happy with the performance, then put whatever edge profile on it you like.

The one good part of coming with a thick edge - you can always remove steel to make the edge thinner. You can't put steel back on to make it thicker.
 
"Not crazy sharp" edges are common. Asymmetrical edges like what you are describing are not. That sounds a little weird to me. I've never seen a Busse that was ground that unevenly. Can you post pics?

At any rate, if the edge bothers you, you can always send it in to the shop. I'm sure they will be more than happy to make it right.
 
I will definitely try to take some pics when i get home later. I am not sure how well it will show up in pics, but there is definitely a difference between either side of the edges.
 
Consider it an opportunity to put your favorite working edge on the knife with plenty of steel behind the edge, or thin it down if that's how you like it. Busse gives you a supreme platform for making the knife your own.
 
Welcome the the club! :thumbup::cool:

An asymmetric edge on a newer Busse would be very unusual. Sounds like it might have been a mis-grind that snuck out of the shop by accident. (Inspector 13 was probably drunk) Your options are to reprofile to your preference or contact Busse and they will absolutely take care of you.
 
I tend to disagree that its got an asymmetrical edge. The Asym's have almost NO bevel on one of the sides. And I also disagree that the Asym edges are only good for chopping... they are as functional as the V ground in all tasks and some they do even better IMHO.

Sounds like your CG ASH-1, just has an uneven V grind. I've gotten one or two from the shop that way myself.

I'm sure Busse would be happy to put whatever edge you would like on it, if you can handle being without it for the trip to the compound. You can also put whatever edge you want yourself... assuming you have the time and skill to do it.

Me... I would recommend a nice convex edge. :thumbup:

.
 
I hit my nmsfno's with a sharpmaker a couple of times and it improved the edge right now. I haven't tried a strop yet. Take it outside and do some chopping and you'll forget about it. As said before it's a very durable edge.
 
One of them came with the grind un-even, so I spent some time on my stones and got it just right.

RickJ
 
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