Received my Busse...

[FrankieCrabs]

And proceeded to dull the nice, shaving edge on my Sharpmaker.

I received my BB9 last week, and dinged the edge about 1/2 mm, approx. 3" back from the tip attempting to cut a soda can in twain (unless the edge was already dinged when I got it, I didn't look at it closely before trying the cut). So, I try to touch up the edge using the 20 degree angle, and promptly dull it to the point where it will not even slice shave. I tried sharpening the usual way [top to bottom of the stone], and the Busse way [bottom to top, like the video], but it didn't seem to matter.

I've ordered some SiC and CrO papers to help in bringing the edge from the factory 24 degrees (is this correct?) to the Sharpmakers 20. Also ordered a double sided leather strop w/some compound.

Perhaps I should have just waited for the strop, and used that alone? Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Frank

 

[Jerry Busse]

No worries. If you want it back to factory sharp, we'll do it for free. . . just send $6.95 return shipping and we'll get you hooked up.

Jerry Busse

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I have watched the video and one thing that can give the wrong impression is the ease at which Sal runs the Sharpmaker. It is not as trivial as it seems. He is carrying on a conversation while sharpening knives and doesn't really seem to be paying attention to what he is doing. He can do this because he has done it so many times. When you first start out it takes some care.

The first thing I would suggest is to take a black marker and color in the edge bevels. Now take a few passes on the Sharpmaker and see where the metal has been removed. If there is any color left on the bevel right next to the very edge the existing bevel on the knife is more obtuse than the Sharpmaker angle and you will need to do a significant amount of work just changing the profile before you actually being sharpening the knife.

Switch to the coarse stones and keep checking the edge to see if all the marker has been removed. Once it has switch back to the fine stones and they should now very quickly produce a fine shaving edge. When working with the very tip take care not to grind it against the hone as you finish the draw as that can cause it to be rounded out.

In regards to the edge deformation, generally you are better off trying to get it back to shape before sharpening. The best way to do this is to use a small hammer and light hits. However this takes a lot of skill and can cause more damage if you are not careful. The other method is to use something hard and push the metal back into shape. This can take a few minutes, however it will speed up sharpening quite a bit.


-Cliff

 

[FrankieCrabs]

Thanks, guys.
Jerry- If I can't get a good edge back on it, I'll definitely send it out for sharpening. Is it possible to put a 15 or 20 degree edge on it at your factory (for ease of use with the sharpmaker), or do you just use your standard edge?

Cliff- Thanks for the advice. I've tried the marker bit a few times, and of course I have to use the sharpener more frequently, to get the hang of it better.

As for the edge, I looked at it through a 15x loupe, and it looks chipped, not just rolled, as I think you're suggesting. I think it came this way, because I don't think a soda can would do something like that to this steel, would it? BTW, the knife was shaving sharp when I received it.

In any event, I'll keep trying with the knife, and if unsuccessful, will send it back to Poppa Jerry for sharpening.

Yours in expectation of nuclear knife sharpening skills,
Frank

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I don't think that a pop can would significantly damage the edge on the knife. It is possible but it would take a decently complicated cut. You would want to cut into the can and then violently twist on the blade while mashing the can down at the same time. If you compact the can enough the metal will be able to withstand the necessary level of force to damage the edge on the blade. There are parts that are harder to cut than others, but even if you hit them twist off tab, I can't see it doing visible damage to the edge on a normal cut. You would just send the can flying. I chopped up a bunch this weekend with no problems. Consider that most canned foods have containers are composed of far stronger metal and you can easily open them with a decent knife, which you would espect given that this is all that a can opener does.

You are probably just sharpening at an angle that is below the current edge bevel, the marker will reveal that problem. It will just take some time to remove the shoulders and let the stones actually hit the edge, this could be 15+ minutes depending on how close the current angle is to the Sharpmaker setting. Note as well that unless you rotate the blade as you come near the tip to keep the edge perpendicular to the hone you will be grinding at a more acute angle than the stones are set to. And this will mean that it will take even longer to sharpen the blade, and it will put a more acute edge along the tip. More importantly though you will be wasting a lot of metal along the base of the blade as it will be ground away while the tip is being brought down.

In general I would reconsider the stance that you have to remove all edge damage on work knives. Most of my large blades have areas that are damaged, if I ground them all out every time it happened I would have just nubs left of all my blades. They will eventually just be removed with normal sharpening.


-Cliff