Old Hickory

L

Lucky Bob

Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
956
I got an Old Hickory slicer for my mom, and it came with an ATROCIOUS edge. I decided to put a decent one on it, but am having some fairly heavy trouble creating, and then removing, a burr.

I know Old Hickory has been recommended for modification's sake, but how are their average steel/HT?
 
Very soft indeed. You can cut old hick knives with a file for crying out loud! I have a few and stropping seems to remove the burr pretty well. I've found they sharpen quickly, but dull even quicker.
 
I have several real old ones and they are certainly HT well. I have used them for choppers and everything else. These are thirty or forty years old.
 
DrThunder88 said:
The steel is 1095, but it's left pretty soft (mid 50s HRC), if memory serves.
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LJK said:
Very soft indeed. You can cut old hick knives with a file for crying out loud! I have a few and stropping seems to remove the burr pretty well. I've found they sharpen quickly, but dull even quicker.
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Oy! Well, I guess that explains why I can't get it nearly as sharp as the Opinels or mid-custom I designed. Bah :grumpy:
 
If you want, I'll send you one I just sharpened. I had gotten several of them off ebay.
 
The heat treat varies greatly. I find if you really work off the initial edge a bunch, the edge retention improves. They are hella cheap, which means you deal with some issues in terms of QC. You could always replace it with a large Mora.
 
hardheart said:
If you want, I'll send you one I just sharpened. I had gotten several of them off ebay.
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Thank you, but no thanks. This is just more proof of how awesome the knife community and its members are, but I want to do it myself, even if it is a challenge.

Who knows, I may even take the scales off and take a whack at home HT!
 
Lucky Bob said:
Thank you, but no thanks. This is just more proof of how awesome the knife community and its members are, but I want to do it myself, even if it is a challenge.

Who knows, I may even take the scales off and take a whack at home HT!
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I was wondering about redoing the HT on one myself. Would this be of any benefit/has anyone done this?

Jim L.
 
your liable to burn up the edge if your not careful. thinner edger have a higher probability of cracking during the quench.
 
My buddy's got one at the house several of us rent. His will take a scary sharp edge...then promptly loose it after working one quarter of a deer. But I can bring it back in under a minute.

I get teased for always sharpening the random knives/hatchets/axes in the house...it's my favorite because I always get a good result...and it nearly always needs it!
 
Hardheart; if you still have the Old Hickory, I'd like to have it. I'll pay you a fair amount (can't find Old Hickory here). Sorry if it sounds like I'm trying to turn this into a Trade thread; I'm really not.
 
Old Hickory- yes it seems the Heat Treatment varies from those when I was a kid...*sigh*.
Still the deal is, even the new ones do just fine for kitchen chores and even out on the property for garden duty, opening feed sacks and the like.

It does not take much to resharpen and even non-knife folks can maintain one with simple sharpening methods.

Norton Combo IB6/IB8 and strop on cardboard.
Arkansas stones from Washita, then Med/Soft and strop on cardboard or leather.
Wet Dry Sandpaper, and starting at about 220, then 400, 600 and strop is fine.

Some folks lost some Old Hickory's in a move, (not sentimental family pcs thank goodness, instead some they had bought).

They wanted the patina look and all...

I used Wet /Dry sandpaper on paint sticks (buff stick) and on a hard flat surface.

I taped off the blade except for edge, and with the blade flat, thinned down the blade edge starting with 220 and going to 800.

Then I did the Moran edge (Convex) by pulling spine back. This edge was scary sharp!

Cleaned and de-greased, I then used Oxy-Blue to "blue" the blade a nice patina.

Moran again on the edge with 800 and that edge is a nice shiny contrast to the patina and sharp!

Kitchen touch ups are easy, getting out the paint sticks (buff sticks) and pulling spine back to do the Moran (convex) edge - If - abrasive is needed.
600 grit works best on these, enough "teeth" to really slice tomatoes and the like.

Often just stropping is enough.
Strop is a 2" belt , bought new that was missing a buckle for $2.
Belt was cut and two 12" pcs were tossed in the sink to get wet.

Then stretched onto a smooth flat pc of scrap wood, and upholstery tacks hammer in. One is the rough side, the other smooth.
It is taut, and is used with NO dressing.

Grandparents did this with the knives back when, they were a bit surprised Grandparents knew Bill Moran and about the Moran Edge. *grin*

Just how folks used to sharpen back in the day - before gidgets and gadgets, bevels , angles and what-not.

Oh these folks have some nice stones...just for most uses this old system works on everything from kitchen to pocket to hunting knives to whatever.


Steve
 
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