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Ka-bar 1245 not sharp enough

J

Jmsdf

Joined
Jun 27, 2023
Messages
2
So I'm relatively new to the blade community and i recently purchased a lansky professional system to sharpen the ka-bar, because it was seemingly foolproof in how it was intended to sharpen blades. However the results after sharpening on the 20⁰ yielded little to no success whatsoever, actually dulling it further. What am I doing wrong? My goal is to make it (the ka-bar) paper-cutting sharp but at the same time without buying anything else.

Any tips would be appreciated, thanks.
 
Try painting the edge with a sharpie to see if you are truly sharpening to the apex.

Use light pressure on your stones, and try to use them in the same direction: edge leading.

Start with a course grit, and don't move to higher grits until your knife is sharp.

A course grit can make a knife very sharp. The higher grits will only serve to refine that edge.
 
Use the coarsest grit, do 1 side until a slight bur develop, you should feel it on the opposite side with your fingernail. Then do the opposite side. That will ensure that you've reached the apex. Then you can either go progressively using finer and finer grit if you want a polished edge, or raise the angle slightly and go straight to the finest if you just want something that cuts well. Finish on a strop.
 
Your Ka-bar might not have come from the factory at exactly 20° per side either. If it was say, 18° on one side and 22° on the other, you’re actually doing more reprofiling than sharpening until you get it to 20° per side - so it’s going to take a lot longer.
 
celticrogues said:
Your Ka-bar might not have come from the factory at exactly 20° per side either. If it was say, 18° on one side and 22° on the other, you’re actually doing more reprofiling than sharpening until you get it to 20° per side - so it’s going to take a lot longer.
Click to expand...
The Case knife I just received had a nice instructions paper saying to hold the knife at about 15 degrees to the stone to sharpen it. But the edge the factory put on it was more like 35~40 degrees and had trouble cutting warm butter 🤣
 
MolokaiRider said:
Try painting the edge with a sharpie to see if you are truly sharpening to the apex.

Use light pressure on your stones, and try to use them in the same direction: edge leading.

Start with a course grit, and don't move to higher grits until your knife is sharp.

A course grit can make a knife very sharp. The higher grits will only serve to refine that edge.
Click to expand...
Never tried this before. The Sharpie won’t make a mess on the sharpening stone right?
 
The only Ka-Bar I played around with had some hysterically obtuse edge angle and I imagine it would have taken a ton of work to reprofile it. If your sharpening system is set to a more acute angle than the edge is ground at, then you won't get any results until you've reprofiled it. You should color the edge with a sharpie; it'll show you how much steel you have left to grind away.
 
Too much pressure on the stone will unintentionally round the apex. Light and steady, just the weight of the stone and some patience. Sharpie is mandatory. Make sure you get a burr prior to switching sides. Get some coffee. I’d practice on something you don’t care about ( most people have beater kitchen knives - destroy those learning).

MolokaiRider MolokaiRider said it perfectly in his response top of the page.
 
luethge said:
Sharpie is mandatory.
Click to expand...
Why?
You normally use a sharpie to find out the angle at which a blade was sharpened before and you want to replicate that angle in order to minimize the amount of material to be removed.
But when a blade come from the factory unsharp, and you know the angle you want to establish on it, I fail to see what a sharpie will accomplish, at all.
 
I used a fine file to re-profile the bevel on my Kabar Mark 1 deck knife as it was way too obtuse. Once I had reset it, it took a screaming sharp edge. I later removed the epoxy coating. I find freehand sharpening a lot more convenient that guided systems, although it doesn't have the same precision, if that's important to you.
 
Thanks guys! I think my ka-bar came with 2 different angles on each side. It looks like I've got a lot of work to do in terms of re-profiling

One last question though, what about this part of the knife? It's the point where the first and second edges of the blade meet.

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Floatingby said:
Why?
You normally use a sharpie to find out the angle at which a blade was sharpened before and you want to replicate that angle in order to minimize the amount of material to be removed.
But when a blade come from the factory unsharp, and you know the angle you want to establish on it, I fail to see what a sharpie will accomplish, at all.
Click to expand...

Maybe I should have have said - for me , sharpie is mandatory.

2 reasons : A system like the lansky is not fool proof, ka bar’s do not always come with the best ( or the most consistent secondary grinds ).

The lansky is probably going to have to be repositioned a few times to compensate for the length of the blade ( per side ). The sharpie will allow you to see exactly where the stone is hitting. Even with an angle cube you may still find that problems are possible.

Personally, I’ve messed up a few knives on a lansky. Using a sharpie was the game changer for me while using that particular sharpening system.

I chased all sorts of guided solutions for dull edges - these days I just prefer a stone , or diamond plates freehand. The guided systems are not user friendly when you first try them ( like any tool, I find a learning curve ).
 
Are you making sure to bring the edge to an apex, before moving on the the next higher grit stone? If you don't, it will never get sharp. Be sure to check for a burr along the entire edge of the blade, before changing to a finer stone.
 
luethge said:
Maybe I should have have said - for me , sharpie is mandatory.

2 reasons : A system like the lansky is not fool proof, ka bar’s do not always come with the best ( or the most consistent secondary grinds ).

The lansky is probably going to have to be repositioned a few times to compensate for the length of the blade ( per side ). The sharpie will allow you to see exactly where the stone is hitting. Even with an angle cube you may still find that problems are possible.

Personally, I’ve messed up a few knives on a lansky. Using a sharpie was the game changer for me while using that particular sharpening system.

I chased all sorts of guided solutions for dull edges - these days I just prefer a stone , or diamond plates freehand. The guided systems are not user friendly when you first try them ( like any tool, I find a learning curve ).
Click to expand...
Ah, ok. Yeah, it's like machinist Prussian blue, but for sharpening, but I don't personally mess about with that, when people bring me knives the edge is usually so far gone that I don't care to know where it once was. 😂
And I agree that guided system are a pain, but they make the edge so very pretty. I only use them on other people knives, or my fancier folders where look is as important as function. My users I always freehand, no time to muck about with guides, and they don't cut any less for it.
 
Floatingby said:
Ah, ok. Yeah, it's like machinist Prussian blue, but for sharpening, but I don't personally mess about with that, when people bring me knives the edge is usually so far gone that I don't care to know where it once was. 😂
And I agree that guided system are a pain, but they make the edge so very pretty. I only use them on other people knives, or my fancier folders where look is as important as function. My users I always freehand, no time to muck about with guides, and they don't cut any less for it.
Click to expand...

Well put 👍.
 
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