kabar.....

James w

James w

Joined
Aug 6, 2015
Messages
951
So i have a kabar short sitting in my drawer doing absoulutly nothing its just not a good cutter for well anything i was wondering if anyone has taken the coating off of a kabar and if so plez post pics so I can see if its worth it the problem was that the tip of the blade the coating is pealing upwards and moisture is getting under and its a high carbon steal so well yeah


also towards the end of the sharp part of the blade it is like a differnt angle i have a lansky 70 grit stone and have spent over a hour on it but cant get it down to a 20 angle i use a sharpy to tell if im hitting the edge yet but im not so any suggestions to help ???:confused:

thx for any help

James
 
I took the coating off of my Becker bk11, not sure if it is the same coating. I like it better without the coating, but I found that the finish was not the greatest once you got the coating off. I did not care because I was going to etch the blade anyways. It came off easy with paint stripper. Not sure about the sharpening. They are the same steel and yours should not be any harder to sharpen. I use a edge pro and did not have any problems sharpening.
qMjSs1p.jpg
 
Use a coarser stone and pay attention. You can see lots of Beckers (Kabar) with the finish removed over in the Becker sub-forum. Enjoy. Not hard to take the coating off.
 
James w said:
Sorry but how do I post pics here I'm kinda new
Click to expand...
Setup an account on an image hosting site (photobucket, imgur, etc).
Upload you pics there the copy the url address to that pic.
Paste it here in between
tags.
 
That's the same Lansky system I used to sharpen the swedge of my Kabar using the top "30°" hole.

Well ... clean n' oil the stone frequently and keep at it. Or move up one hole to "25°" and put a double bevel on it.
 
I saw someone explain why the tips of knives get weird angles on these guided sharpening systems...

I think Jason B can explain it, but the bevel will almost always be wider at the tips using guided systems.
 
BladesB4Firearms said:
I saw someone explain why the tips of knives get weird angles on these guided sharpening systems...

I think Jason B can explain it, but the bevel will almost always be wider at the tips using guided systems.
Click to expand...

I'm not Jason, but the farther away the edge is from the hole of the clamp, the more acute the angle.
 
jpm2 said:
I'm not Jason, but the farther away the edge is from the hole of the clamp, the more acute the angle.
Click to expand...
Yep, basic trigonometry.

With a guided system, the farther the stone moves away from the clamp point, the more shallow the angle becomes. Starting at 20° at the clamp, then moving 2" down the blade, the angle could be be 15° or less.
 
TravisH said:
Yep, basic trigonometry.

With a guided system, the farther the stone moves away from the clamp point, the more shallow the angle becomes. Starting at 20° at the clamp, then moving 2" down the blade, the angle could be be 15° or less.
Click to expand...

Then why does the sharpy mark on the tip of the blade not come off see pic
 
James w said:
Then why does the sharpy mark on the tip of the blade not come off see pic
Click to expand...
Because the angle has dropped to where the stone is no longer hitting the apex of the edge but riding on the shoulder. (See top pic) It's thinning behind the edge, not sharpening its apex.

Note that the Sharpie is gone from the edge closer to the clamp point and that the bevel is starting to widen as it gets closer to the tip. Keep grinding and it will become wider and wider.

When I use my Lanksy or DMT system, I try to stay within 1.5" of the clamp point. A single clamp point mid-blade is fine for 3" folders but with a 7" Kabar, I use 3 different clamp points.

If you moved the clamp closer to the tip, the Sharpie marks would be gone in the first couple of passes.


Here's a thread that address this issue - http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1309628-Help-with-wide-bevel-at-tip-please

Note post #5 where razor-edge-knives illustrates the issue and a outstanding Kabar edge.
 
Last edited:
TravisH said:
Because the angle has dropped to where the stone is no longer hitting the apex of the edge but riding on the shoulder. (See top pic) It's thinning behind the edge, not sharpening its apex.

Note that the Sharpie is gone from the edge closer to the clamp point and that the bevel is starting to widen as it gets closer to the tip. Keep grinding and it will become wider and wider.

When I use my Lanksy or DMT system, I try to stay within 1.5" of the clamp point. A single clamp point mid-blade is fine for 3" folders but with a 7" Kabar, I use 3 different clamp points.

If you moved the clamp closer to the tip, the Sharpie marks would be gone in the first couple of passes.


Here's a thread that address this issue - http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1309628-Help-with-wide-bevel-at-tip-please

Note post #5 where razor-edge-knives illustrates the issue and a outstanding Kabar edge.
Click to expand...

Thx would that still be necessary even though it's a kabar short
 
James w said:
Thx would that still be necessary even though it's a kabar short
Click to expand...
IMO, yes.

The short Kabars are 5.25". So I would use 2 clamp points. One clamp point about 1.25" to the left of the edge's midpoint, the other about 1.25" to the right.
 
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