Riddle Me This: A Sharpening Question

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Jan 9, 2006
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I hope this is in the right place!

Since joining this forum I have been renovating my knife collection, sharpening and removing rust and such. So last night after finishing work on my cheapest knives I started on my Schrade Old Timer made in the USA 1040T, it is small and has a clip and a spay blade. I was using a two sided benchstone but it refused to get sharp. For both my father and I it just wouldn’t sharpen up to a decent edge. So this morning I take a pull though V sharpener and run the blade through it and it is sharp! Why is this, is it something with the steel? It did seem reluctant to form a burr on the stones could this mean something?
Musk
 
Paint the edge with a magic marker to see where you are removing metal, chances are that it is not where you think it is, plus the V rods usually hit the very edge, thus making the most impact.
 
The magic marker will likely show that your angle is too large on the benchstone and that you are hitting the shoulder of the bevel instead of the edge.
 
Yup, if it got sharp with something, it will. Try alternating strokes, and try not to press down too hard. Make sure you're hitting the edge EVERY time at the same angle. Takes some muscle memory
 
FlyingMuskrat said:
I hope this is in the right place!

Since joining this forum I have been renovating my knife collection, sharpening and removing rust and such. So last night after finishing work on my cheapest knives I started on my Schrade Old Timer made in the USA 1040T, it is small and has a clip and a spay blade. I was using a two sided benchstone but it refused to get sharp. For both my father and I it just wouldn’t sharpen up to a decent edge. So this morning I take a pull though V sharpener and run the blade through it and it is sharp! Why is this, is it something with the steel? It did seem reluctant to form a burr on the stones could this mean something?
Musk

Maybe you already did all the tedious work on the benchstones, and not much more was needed when you switched to the pull through sharpener.
 
A trick that I have used with Benchstones is to take a small alligator clip like you use to hold a bunch of papers together and put this on the spine of the knife (tape to blade to avoid any scratches). This will hold the angle constant at about 15 degrees with the smallest clip. You can get clips in different sizes at any office supply store for pennies. As was said it is hard to hold a constant angle freehand. I had a tendancy to roll up when I first tried it and inadvertantly rounded the edges.
 
And another thing my other old timer, basicly the same thing except in a stockman configuration sharpened up well. :confused:
 
Got to be one of two things, bad steel or bad technique. 1095 is well known for taking a grand edge. All of my OTs are razor sharp from stones. So, unless you got a knife with some kind of junk steel (which is unlikely since you already said it started to come to life with your V-sharpener), it has to be your technique. This isn't a slam towards you or anything, just using the process of elimination.
 
A final note: I with my various attempts I have ground enough steel off of it that it now looks like I have been using it for 30 years :rolleyes:. So I used the V sharpener and then had it steeled by someone who knows how and now it is razor sharp. Not in the class of my BM Grip but I don't expect it to be. Other knives have responded to my benchstone technique but this one seems to respond better the the pull through V...truth is stranger than fiction.
Thanks for the replies
Musk
 
It's always possible that you ended up with a bad one. It could also be stainless because as you may know, Schrade sometimes used stainless in their final years but didn't mark the blades as such. Some people have trouble getting 420HC sharp.

I personally have trouble with angle control on bench stones although I'm better than I once was.
 
When I sharpened free hand i would hit or miss sometimes with my knives. Some days i would hold the knife at a higher angle and it would come out less sharp than my others and some days I would get it just right and have a razor sharp knife. Save yourself some trouble and garauntee a razor sharp edge with the spyderco sharpmaker :thumbup:
 
Most carbon steel is more flexible than stainless and will allow a very fine ribbon to develope on the edge. As you sharpen you push the ribbon from side to side and never seem to get a truly sharp edge. You have to break off that ribbon. Then the blade suddenly becomes very sharp. That's probably what happened when you pulled it through the Vee. You applied pressure to both sides simultaniously breaking the ribbon. A chef's steel also accomplishes the same effect.
 
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