OMG! Has anyone ever spent 3 hours sharpening a knife...

Surfingringo

Surfingringo

Joined
May 25, 2013
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Only to make it duller than when u started?? I'm losing my mind! I had my green pm2 hair popping sharp, but I was sure I could get a bit more out of it. I re profiled and lowered the primary bevel on diamond stones then tried to set a new 40 degree micro bevel with the sharpmaker. It ended up not as sharp as before! So I repeated the whole process and guess what? I think it's even worse! Hahahah. 3 hours of OCD and I've made the knife significantly less sharp than when I started. I know I have to be missing something. I would love some input. I do notice that when I run my fingernail down the length of the edge it is not smooth. Does mean I have a tiny burr? If so, I don't seem to be able to get rid of it. I'm exasperated! I think I might just have to put it down for the night!!
 
Yes. Been there.

I find on two issues regardless of steel or sharpener cause me to not get the knife sharp. Wire burrs and/or not hitting the edge.

good idea. Take a break start fresh tomorrow. Will make a world of difference.
 
Whenever I have encountered the same problem I put the knife down and come back later. It has worked well for me too.
 
Yeah definately time to go have a drink and watch a movie or something.

When you come back to it i would debur on a piece of wood or something and then start fresh. How are you checking for a burr? Reading whats going on is critical when your doing any kind of reprofiling. Move on too soon and you dont apex properly. Too late and your bevel gets large and you waste metal.

Too me it sounds like you havent apexed properly. Reprofiling of any kind with the sharpmaker is a chore..
 
If you think you have a wire edge or strong burr (from not hitting the edge apex I'd assume) then run the edge through the end grain of a block of wood a couple times.
 
As long as you have a fairly thin edge sharpening should not take long at all. Remember to strop well. Try hitting it on a ceramic stone for a few passes and then stropping on a leather belt. I tend to use my belt grinder + paper wheels to sharpen but when I don't have those at hand I just use the bottom of a ceramic mug and a leather belt. I can sharpen just about any steel this way and it only takes a couple minutes.
 
KalEl said:
As long as you have a fairly thin edge sharpening should not take long at all. Remember to strop well. Try hitting it on a ceramic stone for a few passes and then stropping on a leather belt. I tend to use my belt grinder + paper wheels to sharpen but when I don't have those at hand I just use the bottom of a ceramic mug and a leather belt. I can sharpen just about any steel this way and it only takes a couple minutes.
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Yeah, I hear you man. I stay on top of my knives and I can usually bring back a hair popping edge in a minute or two. I can't say exactly what is going on. Maybe, like others have said, I've got a stubborn wire edge. Whatever, I've got a decent shaving edge on it now, it's totally functional. I'm just frustrated that I can't get that last bit out of it.
 
Surfingringo said:
Yeah, I hear you man. I stay on top of my knives and I can usually bring back a hair popping edge in a minute or two. I can't say exactly what is going on. Maybe, like others have said, I've got a stubborn wire edge. Whatever, I've got a decent shaving edge on it now, it's totally functional. I'm just frustrated that I can't get that last bit out of it.
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I did the same thing with my new domino, thought I could get it a little sharper on the sharp maker but I was wrong. Spent about 3 hrs over 2 days going from the brown stones all the way to the UF's then stropping it. I finally got it popping hairs again but its still not where it was when I got it. I feel like an idiot and may send it off to seattle edge to fix it for me. He has fixed some of my screw ups and I think this may be one that goes up to him. Love the domino.

Sucks being OCD.
 
I have a Benchmade that I took to the stones to reprofile. I haven't gotten off of the coarsest diamond yet and the bevels are super uneven for one side of the blade to the other. Not sure how it happened but I am working to fix it. Unfortunately, I have no grip strength in my left hand tonight and that is the bevel that needs work. No sharpening tonight.
 
I use a small, dense felt block to remove any remaining burr I miss on the strop.

I simply cut into the block a couple times and its good to go.

You may also be missing the apex most of the time and not actually making it sharper.

Pick up a small magnifier or loupe, that will let you know what's going on. Get at least a 20x, if not 40x or better.
 
Squashfan said:
I have a Benchmade that I took to the stones to reprofile. I haven't gotten off of the coarsest diamond yet and the bevels are super uneven for one side of the blade to the other. Not sure how it happened but I am working to fix it. Unfortunately, I have no grip strength in my left hand tonight and that is the bevel that needs work. No sharpening tonight.
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That can happen when the apex wasn't ground centered to begin with, but not something I'd try while fatigued. Also, I'd recommend an XXC diamond stone, or a Nubutama 24 grit stone if you plan to reprofile a lot. Would save you a lot of time and pain(unless you enjoy it;)).
 
This happens when you reprofiled knives and raise a burr on one side before touching the other , you need to remove so much material that you actually off center the bevel raising the burr , you need to flip several times before raising the burr to keep it center. Most production knives aren't perfect so that doesn't help either.

That 24 grit Nubatama is a BEAST , should only really be used by those who know what they are doing.... That stone can remove a lot of metal in a hurry..
 
Sadden said:
This happens when you reprofiled knives and raise a burr on one side before touching the other , you need to remove so much material that you actually off center the bevel raising the burr , you need to flip several times before raising the burr to keep it center. Most production knives aren't perfect so that doesn't help either.

That 24 grit Nubatama is a BEAST , should only really be used by those who know what they are doing.... That stone can remove a lot of metal in a hurry..
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Yes, which is why it's commonly recommended that we practice all new toys with cheap knives first;).
 
Noctis3880 said:
That can happen when the apex wasn't ground centered to begin with, but not something I'd try while fatigued. Also, I'd recommend an XXC diamond stone, or a Nubutama 24 grit stone if you plan to reprofile a lot. Would save you a lot of time and pain(unless you enjoy it;)).
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That is a good idea.
I need to start a new thread with a similar question.
 
Maybe 40 degrees is the wrong angle for the type of sharpness you like. My last two spydercos came new at a little under 30 degrees. I sharpen at 30 and end with a few swipes on the 40 degree.
 
brownshoe said:
Maybe 40 degrees is the wrong angle for the type of sharpness you like. My last two spydercos came new at a little under 30 degrees. I sharpen at 30 and end with a few swipes on the 40 degree.
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That could be the case. I've got the knife back to being able to treetop hairs now, which is a relief, but it's still not quite as sharp as some of my other blades which is frustrating. Sometimes I think I make problems for myself when I compare my other edges to my manix 2 in bd-1. Has anyone used that steel? Not the best edge holder but I can get it bizarrely sharp!

Anyway, I think my obsessive moment has mostly passed. I was like a man possessed last night. Lol, my girlfriend was watching me like I was nuts! And this morning I woke up as hairless as an olympic swimmer! At the end I was having to contort myself like a yogi to get to the backs of my legs...lol, maybe the girlfriend is right. Thanks for the advice all!
 
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The only time I have come close to 3 hrs on a single knife was when I changed a TOPS C.A.T. from a saber grind to a full convex, by hand. Had to remove a ton of steel and then polish out the deeper gouges.

Are you doing the bevel work with a diamond bench stone, or diamond rods on the Sharpmaker?

I once spent over half an hour trying to lower the angle on 154cm using a Washita Arkansas stone. Switched to a SIC stone and had it done in under 10 minutes. Sometimes you just need to use a faster stone.
 
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