Need advice on sharpening my Military

MadAxeMan

MadAxeMan

Joined
May 10, 2003
Messages
114
Hi all...
I've had my brand new Military PE in S30V steel for about a week now and I am really impressed with everything about this knife. The edge is a scary, hair-popping sharp like no other I have seen. So sharp I've been hesitant to use it for fear of dulling it even a little. I'm know I'm going to have to break it in eventually. What I want to know is what you Military owners use to maintain and/or resharpen the edge. What angle do you use? Would you recommend the Sharpmaker for this model? What grit rods? Diamond or ceramic? I currently use a Lansky diamond system and get good results with my Kershaw's and Gerber's but this Military is a special case and I want to handle the edge with extra care. Any help will be appreciated!!

Thanks
 
I was taught to sharpen knives by my Grandpa, using washita stones and doing it by hand. I do the same thing now, but modern high tech stainless steels require diamond stones(unless you have a really long time). Get yourself a DMT 6" fine(red) benchstone and go to work.
 
You're Lansky should handle it just fine, CPM steels are actually sharpened best with diamonds from what I'm told. I use an Edge Pro for all of my sharpening, so I haven't used my Lansky in a while, but I see no reason for it not to work if you're careful. As far as what grit to use, check out this FAQ by Joe Talmadge http://www.edcknives.com/pdf-files/Sharpen_v2.pdf . It's an update to the one in the FAQ section here on BF and should be able to answer nearly any question you may have. Joe has a talent for both sharpening and putting into words how to do it. A very rare and potent combination. I'm one of those guys who usually ends up having to just show you how to do something because I can't describe it. Good luck.
 
I recently got an old CPM440V Military, serrated, which was tearfully dull. I simply used the Sharpmaker as directed in the video with first medium and then fine ceramic stones, and now in push-cuts through paper with ease. It may not be scary sharp, but it'll get most jobs done admirably. Actually, with all the horror stories I hears about CPM steel sharpening I was prepared for anything, but it was very easy to do in under half hour... :)
 
Here ya go, I use the Sharpmaker with the standard triangle stones to sharpen my S30V Millie. It is now scary sharp every time I use it. After following all the steps, it passed the Free Hanging TP test (do a search on it with questions) with ease. It actually scared me when it worked the first time.
 
I had been using the spydie double stuff greys to touch my edge up. If I used the whites I needed touchups every few days at that point(30-50boxes a night, as well as 5gallon pails to get liquid in the dishmachine)... shaved though.

I've since killed the tip(actually, had it killed on me), resharped the edge into the tip, convexed it... and now it's off for work and has been cleaned up a bit.
 
Timely thread Madaxe. I've just recently adressed this problem myself. I've got the CPM 440V version.I used a fine ezelap diamond stone to touch up the factory edge for the first few weeks. I was able to get a good shaving sharp edge but noticed that this was holding for progressively less time. When I expected the edge closely I also realised how sloppy my technique is.

I wasn't expecting my Lansky to be much use as I had heard that diamond stones are best for this sort of steel. I was wrong. I did a couple of minutes hard work on the coarse, a few swipes on each side with the medium and then a minute or two with the fine - all on 25 deg. The blade is now sharper than when it got it. Not only will it shave, it will pop a hair in half when I touch the blade against it. I've used this edge for 2 days now, as a paper knife, shaving old tape off a wood frame (I'm framing some photos), to cut fruit, cutting up one cardboard box, busting a couple of plastic ties and cutting some oranges - it hasn't lost this sharpness yet.

So yes, lansky works good. Should be able to maintain it with just the medium and fine from now on. I've heard it said that the fine stone in a standard lansky kit is next to useless. I don't find this to be the case. When I use it the edge goes from scary sharp to spine tingly sharp and the edge seems to last a lot longer.

Also I'm setting the knife in the jaws so that the edge of the jaws nearest the handle is adjacent to the 'A' on MILITARY.
 
While this is contrary to some people's strongly held beliefs, there is no steel made that requires diamonds to sharpen. Diamonds are used for sharpening carbides and refractory materials like ceramics.

CPM440V sharpens fine with conventional abrasives. I've kept a shaving sharp edge on both my Native and my Military very easily with a Lansky, I'm sure any other conventional sharpening system would do as well.

There's some kind of myth these days that Crucible Steels require dimaonds to work with; while they're capable of taking hardness values up to about RC61, they're still just tool steels and conventional natural or manufactured sharpening media work just fine.

~Z~
 
I use a 204 on 30 degrees only.Just touch it up about once a week and you will have no problem keeping a good edge.Oh and on the 440V,I can get a better edge by useing the brown stones only but the S30V will take a little finer edge by useing the whites lightly after sharpening with the browns.
Also after all I sharpen mine I strop it on my levis and it really brings the edge out.
 
Thanks to all for the replies. I think I am going to order a Sharpmaker since I have heard so many positive things about them. Doesn't hurt to have another sharpener in the house, it looks easy to use, and I want to see that video that comes with it.
 
the sharpmaker does a fine job for me, especially with serrated edges. i'm still working out the best way to keep the tip frighteningly sharp. it never hurts to have another tool if you can afford it.
 
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