little help

C

Curtis_Lowe

Joined
Jan 8, 2012
Messages
368
I got a dagger for Christmas. Ya I know right.:eek: It's cool, but not quite my thing. Anyways, I'm not really sure how to sharpen it. Especially, without cutting myself. Any and all tips are welcome.
 
A pic of it would be a big plus. Depending on how thickly it's ground, some may be a lot easier than others to sharpen. Also, some 'dagger'-style knives are more ornamental (display knives) than functional. Depending on which, the ornamental ones are sometimes made with steel that's not very hard at all, and might not take or hold much of a true cutting edge.


David
 
If it's a use quality blade and needs sharpening out of the box id tape one side then flip it and tape the other.

I've never had to sharpen a dagger because they were either:

1. A thrower

Or

2. Sharp from the factory and I never used it enough to dull an edge

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
A pic of it would be a big plus. Depending on how thickly it's ground, some may be a lot easier than others to sharpen. Also, some 'dagger'-style knives are more ornamental (display knives) than functional. Depending on which, the ornamental ones are sometimes made with steel that's not very hard at all, and might not take or hold much of a true cutting edge.


David
Click to expand...

I already sharpened one side and it took a nice edge. The angle is about 22-25 degrees. The edges were not sharp and seemed rounded. Whoever ground an edge on it had the shakes. The factory edge is bit wavy. This is my first time sharpening a dagger. So, I'm just not sure if I'm doing anything wrong.

Not sure it'll help, but here's a quick pic of it off the internet.
7423b.jpg
 
Curtis_Lowe said:
I already sharpened one side and it took a nice edge. The angle is about 22-25 degrees. The edges were not sharp and seemed rounded. Whoever ground an edge on it had the shakes. The factory edge is bit wavy. This is my first time sharpening a dagger. So, I'm just not sure if I'm doing anything wrong.
(...)
Click to expand...

I'm trying to make out the stamp on the tang, to see who the brand/maker is? Can't quite see it, but was hoping to search for info on the maker, and/or some details regarding steel type. That might shed some light on sharpening it, and also on how well a new edge might hold up.

Regarding what I said earlier about how it's ground, these relatively narrow (edge-to-edge) & thick blades will limit how acute the edge can get, unless it were completely re-ground to a thinner profile. It's often difficult or impossible to make real slicers out of these, like a thinner blade, due to the thicker grind.

What did you use, to sharpen the one side? If you've already found it takes a decent edge, I'd say you're on the right track.


David
 
Strigamort said:
Looks to be an Mtech 440c
Click to expand...

If it's actually 440C, and heat-treated decently, it should hold up pretty well. If the knife is an import marked as '440' or '440C', it may or may not be 440C. The '440' mark on a lot of 'inexpensive' imported knives is always kind of suspect, because the 440A/B/C labels are A.I.S.I. (American Iron and Steel Institute) designators of American-made steels, meaning if the steel was manufactured outside the U.S., it can't actually be called as such. Might be similar in alloy content (a lot of the Chinese steels are similar, and some are pretty good), but not the same thing. There are some reputable makers from Germany and elsewhere, that actually use American-produced steel in their knives (Boker is one; some of theirs are 440C in actuality).

At any rate, I'd say just test/use the knife for a while and see how it holds up.


David
 
hum...

the 440 stuff is just a norm, not a trademark or anything, if a steel fits in the (rather wide) range it'll be 440 a, b or c according to this standard regardless who made it and where. and call be called anything the foudry wants aside that.

for exemple n688 is 440c made by bohler, t10mo is 440c from bonpertuis. its still 440c with another name.
 
The potential upside, if it's at least equivalent to 440C, is that the 440C definition implies a higher carbon content than 440B or 440A, which are otherwise identical, but with decreasing levels of carbon (440A is the lowest of the three). 440C's higher carbon would help the steel hold an edge better, IF it's heat-treated pretty well. If it's just marked as '440', it's anybody's guess as to which one of the three it most closely approximates.


David
 
Yeah I don't actually know anything about that knife. I just tracked it down and the ad copy says 440C.

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=400378465134&cmd=VIDESC
 
Right, it's an Mtech Extreme Dagger. 440c is stamped on the blade. Is it really 440c? Dunno, but It sharpens almost like 440c. Doesn't really matter to me, I don't plan on using it. I just wanna put a nice edge on it and maybe learn something about sharpening a dagger. I used a Norton Crystolon, to sharpen the one side. Then, I did some light stropping with white compound on newspaper then bare newspaper. It's pretty darn sharp for almost 25 degrees per side.


Leeble611 said:
play me a song Curtis Lowe tune up ur Dubrow
Click to expand...

If only I could play a Dobro.
 
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