Native VG-10 wont take and edge...

T

Tostig

Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Messages
2,586
Well .... i'm embarrassed to say the least.

I've been a knife guy for a long time , my Grandpa Reynolds painstakingly taught me how to sharpen when I was a kid.

I have had absolutly zero problem ever sharpening a knife , unless it was a gas station jobber with poopy steel....

So last year I gave my co-worker/buddy Juan my Native on the promise he wouldnt lose it , abuse it and come to me when it needed sharpening , when I had it I always put a poppin edge back on it the moment it dulled.

Well I hadnt seen him for a week or so he was working down in L.A. and when he came back his knife was duller than Osama's sense of humor.

No big I thought , I pulled out one of my trusty Arkansas stones and went to work.... to absolutly no avail.

I was :o..... this knife cant beat me I thought , what the heck !!

So the next day I brought one of the big guns , one of my double sided aluminum oxide stones and went back to work........ NADA !

THe more I tried the more frustrated I got , I finally got it to where it would jaggedly cut paper but I could not get it back to a burr so I can finish the job.
I've never enountered a good knife I couldnt sharpen... and I refuse to drink the sharpening kit koolaid - and the Native with its great grind should theoretically be somewhat easy to sharpen as opposed to a knife with a more obtuse edge..


Any ideas ? suggestions ?

Thanks!

Tostig
 
I hate to see someone frustrated like this. This knife is clearly a dud....send it to me and I'll dispose of it properly. d:)

I've had this happen to me as well. Going back to basics always solved my problems. I bust out my sharpie....color the edge and slow down and look at exactly what I'm doing.
 
You might have better luck with a ceramic or diamond stone. The Native blade is S30V which contains a fair amout of Vanadium carbide, which is harder than your Arkansas stone.
 
Going by your post you shouldent have a problem unless you gramps was showing you how to sharpen a burr.
 
winbag338 said:
Going by your post you shouldent have a problem unless you gramps was showing you how to sharpen a burr.
Click to expand...

Okay, that made no sense to me. :confused:

Anyway, I think morrowj_98 has the right idea. Get back to basics. Mark the edge, check your angles, work to a burr, and strop it off. If you have diamond hones, those would be good to start with. Personally, I would use a belt sander to startn then finish with stones, or sandpaper on a mousepad. Either way, back to basics is, I think, the right idea.
 
knarfeng said:
You might have better luck with a ceramic or diamond stone. The Native blade is S30V which contains a fair amout of Vanadium carbide, which is harder than your Arkansas stone.
Click to expand...

There are 2 different Native models. The Golden Colorado made Native ( C-41) is currently being made with CPM S 30V. But there is a Native III ( C-78 that is made in Japan for Spyderco and it does have a VG-10 blade. I know that for a fact because I've owned both of them and have used both models.

The Golden Co USA Native is the C-41 model. The Japan made one is the C-78. I'll bet the brother has the Japan made version which has been made with VG-10 for some time.

There are occasionally bad blades that even come from the best knife companys. I once had a Benchmade model 640 which was made from ATS-34. During that era Benchmade's ATS-34 was super steel and well known to be a great user steel. I sent that knife to Benchmade and they sent me a replacement with few questions asked. But that knife, just like the Native this brother is talking about just would not take an edge either. If the man is skilled at sharpening which it sounds like he is then I'll bet he's just got a dudd of a blade. I would send it back to Spyderco and let them check it out. They do stand behind their products and I've never had a problem with them in that regard at all. I'm sure that they would even want to look at it and test it to determine what is wrong.

I will admit that this is the first time I've ever heard of a bad VG-10 blade. But we don't live in a perfect world and that's why good companys have factory warrantys.
 
I hate to tell you this but blaming the steel doesn't make sense at all. A butter knife will take an edge. I'm afraid you need to take a look at your technique or get a review from your grandfather.
 
Hey folks.

It's the VG-10 Native , my Grandpa passed many years ago so contacting him would be a real chore !

As I said my buddy let the knife get pretty dull and as I said I have never had a problem with sharpening a knife aside from this little guy.

Thanks for the replies !

Tostig
 
The edge just sounds used, use the coarse side of the stone and establish a new bevel on the knife. After a new bevel has been set finish up with your finer stones and it should be sharp again.
 
I'm guessing your aluminum oxide stone isn't terribly coarse. That, or you're not spending enough time to get to the edge. I've never worked with VG-10 but (I think) I've read that it's very hard, so difficult to sharpen if it gets very dull.

Keep at it. Do 20 strokes per side for a while. Use a sharpie to see how close you are getting to the edge. If you can hold a consistent angle, and your stone can remove metal from that blade, you *can* get it sharp.

Brian.
 
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