Sharpening a tanto blade with the Sharpmaker.

[Point Man]

I have really enjoyed my sharpmaker and have been having fun making my knives razor sharp. I have been impressed with the many shaped knives and tools it can sharpen with ease. I do have a question though. Do I need to take special precautions sharpening a tanto blade. A guy in a local store told me it is easy to round off the second point on the blade. I don't own a tanto style knife, but I was just curious. I would appreciate some input on this one. Thanks,
Matt Franklin

 

[Sal Glesser]

Point Man. I imagine it would be possible to "round" the "inside tip", but that would really take a lot of sharpening.

sal

 

[dogboye]

Speaking from experience, what Sal says is correct. I sharpen my tanto Cetan on the Sharpmaker sometimes, and it seems to do fine. I am careful to not drag the secondary tip off the side, though, as I know that you can round off the tip of a knife pretty quickly that way (or put a nice rounded slicing tip back on a Military that someone might have, oh, say, slammed into a glass dish by accident!

). The tanto Cetan has a nice, high hollow grind, with a very keen edge, so I imagine that particular tanto type might round off quicker if you aren't careful.

Lately, though, I have taken to just sharpening my tanto Cetan on the 303 Double-Stuff, which does and EXCELLENT job. Easier for me to control, too.

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iktomi

 

[Codeman]

Thanks for the tip on using a Double Stuff on tanto blades. I bought a DS a while back but have never used it. Now I have reason to.

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Knowledge without understanding is knowledge wasted.
Understanding without knowledge is a rare gift - but not an impossibility.
For the impossible is always possible through faith. - Bathroom graffiti, gas station, Grey, TN, Dec, 1988

AKTI Member #A000831

 

[Point Man]

Thanks for your input guys. I tanto blade is not on the top of my list for must buys, but it is good to know the Sharpmaker can handle it fine. Thanks again. Matt