Sharpening a thick blade

MrCoffee

MrCoffee

Joined
Feb 17, 2007
Messages
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Of course the first blade that comes to mind for this group would be the RC-5, but for me I am actually thinking about some of the loaner blades I have like my Ontario Pilot's knife. The best I have ever been able to do with it is a rather whimpy at best, an edge that isnt very sharp.

Seems to me that if I can actually plug some additional knowledge into my old brain, I might be able to make the edge work out better, but for the life of me, nothing I have tried has worked.

I happen to really like this blade for my son, and as a loaner, so I do want to make some use of it. Is the some trick to working with the heavier blade that I missed during "Sharpening 101"?
 
Brother, I don't know if it will help you out but it's all about having good tools and patience. I use a Spyderco Sharpmaker and a set of Spyderco Pro-Filer Ceramics. I just paint the edge with a Sharpie and when the ink is gone, I tend to have a really, really sharp knife. I sit there with a couple pieces of notebook paper to do the rough test cuts on, drawing the edge through the paper starting at an edge of the paper and after that is achieved, repeat and get it until it can shave. Generally, when the ink I have painted on the bare metal of the edge itself is gone, stropping it on a small section of belt to remove the burr is all that is necessary. It's one of those things I could just sit down and show you faster than it takes to type all this out. :)

Just like filing a key (for a lock), it's incredibly easy to take too much off. So, go slow, you can always brush another stroke if you have to but once you have taken too many, you have to basically correct that, etc.
 
MrCoffee said:
Of course the first blade that comes to mind for this group would be the RC-5, but for me I am actually thinking about some of the loaner blades I have like my Ontario Pilot's knife. The best I have ever been able to do with it is a rather whimpy at best, an edge that isnt very sharp.

Seems to me that if I can actually plug some additional knowledge into my old brain, I might be able to make the edge work out better, but for the life of me, nothing I have tried has worked.

I happen to really like this blade for my son, and as a loaner, so I do want to make some use of it. Is the some trick to working with the heavier blade that I missed during "Sharpening 101"?
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It takes some reprofiling, don't try to stay with the original sharpening angle. It wasn't made to be the sharpest knife in the world...it was meant to take a lot of abuse and live to tell about it.
 
I was assuming he wanted to keep the edge at the same angle. :)

If you want to change it, it does take more work, obviously. I'm sorry I didn't understand the goal.
 
Don Rearic said:
I was assuming he wanted to keep the edge at the same angle. :)

If you want to change it, it does take more work, obviously. I'm sorry I didn't understand the goal.
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Lol, for all I know that is what he thinks he wants to do :) , but knowing what he is used to using...the only way to get anywhere close is to change the edge grind. Because of the heavy spine the original grind is at a less acute angle than what he is used to. It took me hours to get my first pilot's knife as sharp as I wanted it using a traditional stone. The second one I started out with a fine file to remove a lot more steel to start with and then switched to the stone.
 
You Old Timer. Anyone that has been in this game before diamonds became really popular has had a fight or two with a Mill Bastard File. :)
 
Don Rearic said:
You Old Timer. Anyone that has been in this game before diamonds became really popular has had a fight or two with a Mill Bastard File. :)
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Yep, used to fall back on a file a lot.

My daughter calls me ancient...I keep telling her she'll be forty some day too...if i don't strangle her first :)
 
What do you sharpen with? Some of the issues could be style-specific. For instance, if you use a stone, make sure you aren't changing the angle each pass. Similarly, if you strop, make sure you're not turning your wrist as you go along.

There are a few good tricks that I always keep in mind or use. One is the sharpie trick; mark the edge with a sharpie and make sure you're getting all the way to the edge. Since there really isn't a difference between sharpening thick and thin knives beyond the time it takes, I expect you're just not going far enough, so this is a good one to try if you haven't already. If you use oil or water on your stone, you'll need to re-mark it every so often if sharpening takes awhile because it'll wash off some. Another is to learn to recognize the burr that comes with getting down to the end. You should be able to feel a roughness on the opposite side as you sharpen, which means it's time to flip it over. Also, don't press too hard when you're getting down to the end, especially when you're just touching up the burr or straightening the edge.
 
Sorry this thread got lost in the general chitter chatter of the forum. What I am trying to do is put a edge on the Pilot's knife that does not resemble a butter knife.... :)

Seriously, I can't seem to get it right. Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I will give it a shot again tonight, and if I can't get it, screw it, the blade is getting reprofiled or convexed or something.
 
dude - cut your losses early.
everyone who's ever had one of these agrees they're bulletproof knives, but the factory grind sucks.
plan on reprofiling or convexing tonight and save yourself the extra hour or so of aggravation.
 
1066vik said:
dude - cut your losses early.
everyone who's ever had one of these agrees they're bulletproof knives, but the factory grind sucks.
plan on reprofiling or convexing tonight and save yourself the extra hour or so of aggrivation.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know, and I probably will....
 
2 minutes of light passes with 120 grit or better on the belt sander and you'll be well on your way to a glorous convex.
 
Coffee, I think getting a thick blade really sharp is mostly about having the right tools and techniques. My ESEE 5, that's 1/4", is CRAZY sharp! I put a convex edge on it and and can make feather sticks out of a sheet of paper using only sandpaper and a double sided strop. I also have the Lansky rod set up with the diamond sticks and it has worked great with all of my ESEE's. I also have some older Onterio K-Bar's that I've done the same thing with that are just as sharp.
 
Mr. C, what sharpening tools are you using?

Like some have already stated you get that blade razor sharp using various different methods. I originally reprofiled my RC-5 to 17* using a KME (handled the 1/4" blade w/no problem) sharpener, then later convexed the edge using waterstones and now like this even better...you can do it.
 
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