Question????

G

G-Force

Joined
Nov 22, 2001
Messages
8
Hello all. I'm sort of new to knife collecting, and so far I only have 3 knives, but I've been bitten by the knife bug, so I can't get enough of them. Anyway, I bought an Outdoor Edge Magna which I received yesterday by UPS, but when I opened the box, I noticed that the edge had a section that was a bit ragged. I showed it to my brother-in-law who said he could fix it by using a kitchen crock stick. The edge is now very sharp, but there are scratches all along the edge where he ran the blade across the stick. I know that every knife will need sharpening from time to time, but I wanted to know, is there is a way to polish the edge or to remove the scratches without ruining the sharpened edge?
 
I'm definitely not an expert but I think if you used a sharperner with a finer grain then those scratches would reduce. You can also 'push' the blade forward as well as 'pull' the blade back during sharpening and if you use a finer grain it should make those scratches so fine that they are not noticeable. That's just a guess though as I've never used anything but the Sharpmaker and it doesn't seem to do that. I also strop my blades using an old belt and a bit of Flitz polish only doing two passes down each side of the edge and that may work for you as well. Do a search of sharpening and stropping here and you should come up with some good info!

Good Luck and Happy Thanksgiving!

Shawn
 
Emanym, I just finished stropping it on a leather belt using a small amount of metal polish. Now the edge is very shiny and the scratches are not very visible, but the blade is not as sharp as it was before. Did I do something wrong? :confused:
 
When stropping, remember to draw the blade with the edge facing away as not to cause the edge to "dig" into the leather. Second, try Veritas Compound available at Lee Valley and Tool. This is a true stropping compound that will leave a mirror polish. Third, when stropping, hold the angle as consistently as possible and take your time. Don't slap it like the barbers do their razors. Remember, even though you are just stropping, you are removing metal (granted you are using a stropping compound). Don't over do it. This is probably why the knife isn't as sharp, you've rounded the sharp edge over. Practice makes perfect.
 
The only thing I can add is to make sure to pull HARD on your strop so that you make as tight and straight a surface as possible. Otherwise the edge will round as the leather flexes around your knife. Sounds like you're well on your way and reading the link Horus gave plus a search around here will get you going in no time.

Shawn

BTW, Welcome to BFC!
 
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