Nightmare sharpening a 722!!!

L

lagriffe

Joined
Aug 31, 2005
Messages
98
I've got a benchmade 722 which i gave to a good friend sometime ago. We caught up recently and when i looked at the blade, the edge had been worn over. I tried sharpening it but the steel would budge! I couldnt get the edge to cooperate with the sharpening sticks. Just how hard is the steel used for this knife? Any suggestions?
 
Ditch the sticks and start with a coarse benchstone and work up from there. Diamond hones work best for me on stainless steels.
 
+1 for using a different method. A flat, coarse stone is what you need to get started.
Eventually, you ought to learn to sharpen freehand on bench stones, and break free of those silly sticks.
 
There is nothing silly about the sticks. You need to use them as they were intended, for maintenance, not reprofiling.

(Moved to Maintenance, Tinkering, & Embellishment forum.)
 
puukkoman said:
+1 for using a different method. A flat, coarse stone is what you need to get started.
Eventually, you ought to learn to sharpen freehand on bench stones, and break free of those silly sticks.
Click to expand...

+2

to the OP , if your not use to bench stones , you could practice first on a cheap knife to build confidence and technique . you only want to remove enough material to reshape the edge . work both sides an equal amount of strokes (example :5 strokes per side to start with until you get close then 4,3,2,1,) and most importantly try to keep the same angle the on each stroke . take your time and be patient . good luck .
 
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When using the Sharpmaker (not sure you are though) always get a set of 204D's as well, the diamond-coated triangles. The whole thing is useless without them as you can otherwise only use it for touch-up maintenance.
 
Google says the 722 uses 154CM which I hear is fairly hard steel, but not crazy. I don't have any blades with that, but a friend of mine does. He never lets his knife get butter dull, but it gets way past "can't shave" and he brings it back with a Lansky in around 10 minutes. I'm not sure how bad off your friend's blade is, but it sounds VERY dull and possibly abused based on your description. If you're using the typical "crock sticks", it would totally make sense that you're not getting anywhere as they just won't remove enough metal to get that blade sharp again.

Everyone before me gave the right advice: Use something that removes metal faster, but make sure you know what you're doing! :)

Brian.
 
Depends on how old the 722 is, could be ats-34 as well, both steels are around 57 HRC.

Sounds like it needs to be re-profiled. I recommend using a setup made for re-profiling, or getting it sharpened by a professional.
 
154CM is quite brittle (at least on my 690) and once dull, needs a lot of effort to get shaving again. As it is right now though, my 690 is the sharpest knife I have.
 
Alberta Ed said:
Ditch the sticks and start with a coarse benchstone and work up from there. Diamond hones work best for me on stainless steels.
Click to expand...

+1 for Diamond sharpener. For stainless steel, I use DMT benchstone, coarse grit. When the edge is sharp enough, move to Norton India fine grit. Then finish the sharpening process by stropping it against cardboard. If you do it right, I guarantee you'll get hair-popping sharpness. :thumbup:
 
If you ever make it to one of those truck load sales, they will often have cheap diamond stones. Like three for five dollars. They remove metal quickly and get you ready for the sticks.

I use rubberbands and attach them to the sticks, to ensure the same angle.
 
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you can also get/use a combination silicon carbide sharpening stone , there cheap and they shape a new edge pretty quick .
 
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