Need help sharpening Habilis Nessmuk

[Gil P.]

Hello, I am new to this forum and pretty new to sharpening.

I am having trouble sharpening a Habilis Nessmuk. I start with a DMT Diasharp Course stone, followed by a fine stone (its actually a double-side 6 inch DMT diarsharp course/fine stone), then a 1000 grit King water stone. I try to take care and keep my angles the same but I cant get this knife very sharp at all. I can run my finger up and down the blade while putting a fair amount of pressure on it and not get cut.

I sharpened a RAT-3 the same way, and I can at least get that one paper-cutting sharp. It still wont shave the hair on my arm though; I am still new to sharpening.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have tried to keep the Nessmuk at the factory 30 degree sharpening angle, but I may have gone slightly below that, as I have ground the bevel slightly higher than when I first received it.

P.S. I have gone through and read the relevant "sticky" articles.

 

[awestib]

Hello, I am new to this forum and pretty new to sharpening.

I am having trouble sharpening a Habilis Nessmuk. I start with a DMT Diasharp Course stone, followed by a fine stone (its actually a double-side 6 inch DMT diarsharp course/fine stone), then a 1000 grit King water stone. I try to take care and keep my angles the same but I cant get this knife very sharp at all. I can run my finger up and down the blade while putting a fair amount of pressure on it and not get cut.

I sharpened a RAT-3 the same way, and I can at least get that one paper-cutting sharp. It still wont shave the hair on my arm though; I am still new to sharpening.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have tried to keep the Nessmuk at the factory 30 degree sharpening angle, but I may have gone slightly below that, as I have ground the bevel slightly higher than when I first received it.

P.S. I have gone through and read the relevant "sticky" articles.

Take a sharpie, mark the edge, start with the coarse stone again and see where you are at the bevel. Use the marker as often as needed. If you see that you are indeed at or near the apex then you angle seems right. Continue until you have a burr along the entire edge, then do the same on the other side. Try to maintain your angle as much as you can. Then move on to the next stone and do the same. At the end remove the burr on your last stone with edge leading strokes only until you have a sharp edge. Use sharpie often, can't stress that out enoug. Your edge will be convex to some degree and even if it is only a degree or two, beeing "flush" on the bevel may not mean that you are actually hitting the apex. Try this, then come back with more questions.

 

[Gil P.]

I tried using the magic marker trick several times. I am removing metal along the edge, but now it seems that my knives are duller than before. I can press the blade and run my thumb up and down the edge and I wont get cut. I must still be doing something wrong. Maybe my angle is too high? But when I try to reduce the angle, the sharpie doesnt get removed along the edge of the blade.

 

[jerrinfla]

I was unable to get any kind of an edge on anything for a very long time. I finally figured out that I was using WAY too much pressure when I tried to sharpen an edge. Now I use not much pressure at all, and if I don't start getting some bite on the edge within 15 strokes on one side, I raise the angle a little bit more obtuse and then try again. I sharpen one side to my liking and then do the other side, once again without using very much pressure. I can slice computer paper quickly and though I can't shave as cleanly as I'd like, I can shave with my carry knife now. Too much pressure may be your problem, too. Let me know if this was helpful to you.
-Jerry

 

[Gil P.]

I tried your suggestion, but still no luck. This time I used less pressure, and used the 600 mesh fine stone only. I also set up a folded and cut piece of card stock paper that I used to make sure I was keeping the same angle throughout the process. I still havent had any luck though. I looked at my blade with an LED light and it reflects light down its entire length, I must still be doing something wrong.

Should I stick with the Course stone? I heard that these may be rough on 1095 knives.

My knife blade is 5 inches long, while the DMT stone is only 6 inches long. Could the short length of the stone be causing a problem? Should I be using a different technique with this stone? I have not been able to build an obvious burr yet.