KA-BAR USMC knife edge angle

J

jyeagley

Joined
Dec 4, 2006
Messages
3
Howdy, y'all. Went in to work yesterday and saw this big old knife sittin on a table, turns out a friend gave it to the boss. The edge is in sorry shape, deep knicks in what you can hardly call an edge. I offered to put a new edge on the knife, for practice with my Gatco Edgemate Pro. Anyhow, I'm hardly an expert, but the construction of this knife seems solid but on the cheap side, don't imagine it's great steel.

So, on to my question. I could use an angle recommendation. I'm thinking of grinding to 19 degrees a side, and figured to leave it there, or if you recommend it, maybe putting a 22 degree primary edge on top of that. Angle recommendations, anyone?

This knife will likely get used to cut up cardboard boxes in the warehouse.
 
If it's actually a Ka-Bar and not a look alike, the blade alloy is 1095 Cro-Van hardened to about 57HRC. That should take and hold an excellent edge.

Especially since you want to slice cardboard with it, I might put a thinner edge on it.

No matter the edge, a Ka-Bar does not have a really good blade design for cutting cardboard. Cardboard wants a thin blade and while the Ka-Bar is many things, thin isn't one of them.
 
I get the impression you think a Ka-Bar is some sort of a piece of junk. Nothing could be further from the truth. It has stood the test of time for 66 years now, and is still trucking along quite nicely, thank you.

I'd go for the 19-degree angle; it can easily handle 15 if that's an option on your dingus. Agree that it's a poor choice for opening boxes, though. Any cheap Chinese knife can handle that job.
 
Thanks for the tips. As far as use of the knife goes, I'm just guessing that's all the boss will use it for, as he doesn't really have much of a need for a large knife.

Didn't mean to offend anyone, and I'm glad to hear Ka-bar is high quality. I really just didn't know.
 
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