New guy question

C

Count Flatula

Joined
Nov 14, 2018
Messages
19
Hey everybody. I hope everyone's doing well.
I'd like to get a Spartan Blades Ares but I don't know if I can keep it right as I have zero patience for sharpening knives.
I can sit posted in a single stand all day for days on end if I believe strongly enough in a good deer showing up but sharpen a knife? Pfft. I've never had the patience for it and I'm too old to change now.
I've always been happy with my Buck knives because even I could get their 420HC to a very fine(enough) edge quickly and they've always gotten me through butchering an entire deer without resharpening.
Well I was looking around a few months ago and saw the Benchmade 808 Loco.
Man, that's nice. But it's made for a bigger man than me. O well.
Then I saw the 818BK blackened Mini-Loco. $204 later and it's in my pocket.
Now I want the Ares but I need to fix my sharpening problem so I bought a KME with the 4 gold diamond stones and base. It arrives Friday but before I touch my Mini-Loco I'll be practicing for a good month with the $1.00 Walmart surgical stainless steel knives I got.

My question to you guys is; Does an Ares have enough flat area on the blade to get a firm grip on with the KME clamp for sharpening?
Looks close to me but I'm new.
 
$1 knife probably has junk steel and poor heat treat and wont properly show you what your capable of doing sharpening.

I have dollar store knives, several actually and they refuse to take a good edge except on a worksharp or if conditions are perfect with diamond stones. Basically I can make good steel start to treetop hair if i work for it but the dollar store knives I own are not capable of that under any conditions from what I've seen. And

I would recommend using a halfway decent knife, to learn on. Most people use their kitchen knives. Though if you wanted a cheap dedicated one an Old Hickory or Victorinox paring knife would be good. Or if you want a practical folder out of this a Cold Steel Kudo. All 3 would serve their function in this role quite well and has a job afterwards.
 
Bob6794 said:
$1 knife probably has junk steel and poor heat treat and wont properly show you what your capable of doing sharpening.

I have dollar store knives, several actually and they refuse to take a good edge except on a worksharp or if conditions are perfect with diamond stones. Basically I can make good steel start to treetop hair if i work for it but the dollar store knives I own are not capable of that under any conditions from what I've seen. And

I would recommend using a halfway decent knife, to learn on. Most people use their kitchen knives. Though if you wanted a cheap dedicated one an Old Hickory or Victorinox paring knife would be good. Or if you want a practical folder out of this a Cold Steel Kudo. All 3 would serve their function in this role quite well and has a job afterwards.
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Gotcha. I've tried sharpening them on the Smith stones I have like I do my Bucks. I've caught pike with smaller teeth.
I agree with you that a good edge needs to be the goal and just so happen to have a sacrificial Buck 477T caper/guthook/useless as teats on a chicken beater that I've already tortured for years. Ugly as it is it still gets a great edge, at least to my limited eye.
I'll try to break in the diamond stones some with the Walmarters first then I'll teach myself the KME on the Buck.
Do knife shops sell patience?
 
No, but music helps I find. It help pass the time. That and a stupidly coarse stone, make sure it's sharp on that than move up the grits to refine your edge.

A knife sharpened on a coarse stone is just as sharp as one sharpened on a fine stone. Assuming you achieved your goal of making a fully apexed edge free of defects. The difference is the coarse leaves a toothy edge that excels in slicing and the finer stones leave a more polished edge excelling in push cuts.

Keep that in mind and you may find yourself not going through all the grits saving time. And you may find you like a more toothy edge.
 
Bob6794 said:
No, but music helps I find. It help pass the time. That and a stupidly coarse stone, make sure it's sharp on that than move up the grits to refine your edge.

A knife sharpened on a coarse stone is just as sharp as one sharpened on a fine stone. Assuming you achieved your goal of making a fully apexed edge free of defects. The difference is the coarse leaves a toothy edge that excels in slicing and the finer stones leave a more polished edge excelling in push cuts.

Keep that in mind and you may find yourself not going through all the grits saving time. And you may find you like a more toothy edge.
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Right. I've been at all the youtube videos learning the how to's there and then going elsewhere learning knife steels. I'm still green, green, green but I know some.
I have a tough time with music though. I do better without distraction but if the stuff I've always done doesn't work I'll try something different.
KME is hawking 50 and a hundred grit gold stones that I'll soon get along with an Arkansas translucent and several attachments but for right now I'm not worried about re-profiling and just want to develop the muscle memory I'll need to get my old, bored backside through another dismal sharpening session.
 
I'd avoid the Arkansas stones than, their slow at cutting compared to diamonds. Getting the blade reprofiled to your desired angle is the slowest part which is where the coarse stone excels . I would use a coase stone or at least a fine diamond to start off on at the start of repeat sharpenings to get the blade fully apexed before working up the grits if you don't like wasting time sharpening.

Edited in:
I would personally go with just the 50 grit to add to the other diamond stones, the included 140 grit should be enough to get rid of the 50 grit scratch pattern. And if patience is something you don't have I wouldn't bother chasing a polished edge, the 300 grit will leave a nice toothy edge. And the 600 grit a nice middle ground, maybe a quick strop after either if you feel the need to.
 
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I'm a hunter and think like one, I don't give a rat's ass if my knife is all shiny and looking like a muskie lure. The only reason I mentioned the Arkansas translucent stone was because the majority of YouTube people I guess I trust say to use it. I'm not buying anything more than what I get in this order until I get confident with the KME rig and that'll be at least a month. Or 6, it depends on both the time I take practicing it and when my Mini-Loco gets duller than me. Even with a toy I'll bet I'll still hate sharpening knives.
Those same YouBoobs talk about both the 50 grit beast and the 100 grit extra coarse stones but if you listen close you'll see none of them actually saying they own and use both.
Marketing?
Anyway I had it in mind to get the 50 and jump from that right to the 140... when I finally get to re-profile the nasty okc boat oar I have.
I'll have an 800 diamond stone, now I'm thinking I can use that to get to butchering sharp and forget the fishing lure stage altogether.
When I want shiny I already have a strop for the Work Sharp KO that'll give me an old carpenter's 'more power' hard on.
Thanks, I believe you're trying to steer me onto the course I want. Nice to not hear marketing.
 
Best advice I can give you ... no matter what playform or method of sharpening you choose ... practice with less expensive knives of course ... but practice and if you need a break take one walk away take a break and go back once you're refreshed ...

you will make mistakes ... but it's normal ... use the sharpie method and mark your knives edge so you can see where your sharpening stones are hitting the blade and where they may not be hitting it ... and adjust your angles accordingly ...

if you have patience to bowhunt you'll be fine sharpening ... just go slow and take breaks and practice ... before you know it you'll be getting good edges ... and from there you can learn more as you go.

And another tool that may help with a sharpener like a KME or such an angle cube to show you where you're at ... just another tool to help.

You don't need polished or crazy high grit stones a good working edge at 400 to 600 grit works better on many things such as meat over a mirror polished edge. Even at 320 you can get a good toothy working edge that may be all you ever need for your uses.
 
JJ_Colt45 said:
Best advice I can give you ... no matter what playform or method of sharpening you choose ... practice with less expensive knives of course ... but practice and if you need a break take one walk away take a break and go back once you're refreshed ...

you will make mistakes ... but it's normal ... use the sharpie method and mark your knives edge so you can see where your sharpening stones are hitting the blade and where they may not be hitting it ... and adjust your angles accordingly ...

if you have patience to bowhunt you'll be fine sharpening ... just go slow and take breaks and practice ... before you know it you'll be getting good edges ... and from there you can learn more as you go.

And another tool that may help with a sharpener like a KME or such an angle cube to show you where you're at ... just another tool to help.

You don't need polished or crazy high grit stones a good working edge at 400 to 600 grit works better on many things such as meat over a mirror polished edge. Even at 320 you can get a good toothy working edge that may be all you ever need for your uses.
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Yep, I get the toy tomorrow and after that it's just a matter of practice. I've been doing all this for well over 50 years now and still hate sharpening knives. It's a thing. I'm hoping the novelty of KME will fix me but it's a good thing I have my sacrificial beater Buck.
I will be getting a cube but seeing/understanding the sharpie method made me step back and wonder if I needed one.
I do. I need to know angles for the benchmark list. I'm getting a cube when I order the 50 grit stone and some attachments sometime after Christmas.
Thanks for the inspiration.
I think I may need to start another thread with a more pointed title though. I need to know about the Ares.
 
If I recall the Ares in S35VN steel? ... if that's right it shouldn't be too bad to sharpen ... and the Spartan blades I've handle came good and sharp so keeping it that way shouldn't be too bad.

But sounds like you have researched enough to know what you will need ... now it's just getting past the mental part which can be frustrating I understand.

But S35VN won't be a steel that takes hours to work with ... I think you'll be pleasantly surprised that it sharpens well.

Welcome to the forums and good luck with the sharpening ... if you find you just hate sharpening there are several very good sharpeners on the forums ... and some with experience on the KME specifically that will help I'm sure.

I believe @Mo2 uses the KME ? ... if my memory is right ... may have suggestions ... hopefully my memory is right and it's the KME he uses.
 
S35VN is a big reason for the wood I get when I look at an Ares.
I understand that, depending on the heat treatment, sharpening it shouldn't be too much different from sharpening my S30V Mini-Loco.
I also know my limitations, sharpening knives and keeping wives are two items right at the top of that list.
I will share what Spartan Blades says about the KME.
 
If you don't like sharpening, get one of the motorized sharpening machines. There's a good line of them that's advertised here all the time. It uses belts.

I find that sharpening by hand for touch-ups is rewarding, but re-profiling by hand is a drag.
 
Smaug said:
If you don't like sharpening, get one of the motorized sharpening machines. There's a good line of them that's advertised here all the time. It uses belts.

I find that sharpening by hand for touch-ups is rewarding, but re-profiling by hand is a drag.
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Thanks but no. Maybe with a Buck but I want to stick with the KME for the Mini-Loco and whatever other good stuff I get.
I have a Work Sharp KO and a grinding attachment but I only use it for the stuff I have with convex edges.
 
I got my reply from Kimberly Harper over at Spartan Blades custserv.
She says the KME should be fine. She didn't have information specific to the KME but she says all Spartan blades fit Wicked Edge system clamps.
I studied up on Wicked Edge systems some months ago when deciding which system to go with and already knew the KME methodology is very similar regarding what concerns me.
I still looked over both systems after Kimberly's reply and I'm confident that what fits in the WE will fit in the KME.
You need to study $330+ orders before you actually place it. I will be placing my Ares order shortly after the holidays.
 
Since you mentioned convex blades KME has a convex guide rob to allow for convex edges it might be worth picking up after some time to do those with the KME as well.
 
I already have a convexing system. I may get the KME convex guide for power blackouts though.
Thanks for the advice.
 
One really crucial piece of advice that may or may not be relevant to you:

Sharpening knives and boozing is not a great combination for so many reasons. I like to sharpen and I like a drink, just not at the same time. ;)
 
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