Sharpening an Emerson with Sharpmaker

T

TacGuy

Joined
Jul 17, 2014
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44
Hi all,

I am attempting to sharpen and Emerson CQC-7 with a Spyderco Sharpmaker, and I can not seem to develop a burr. I had previously tried to touch up the edge with a Lansky system, which went badly. (All I managed to do was scratch the coating of the edge side of the blade and somehow make the edge much duller.) With the Spyderco, I have managed to get somewhat of an edge back, but have not been able to get that burr on it. It could be that I just need to work on it longer. Also, the Sharmaker is brand new, and I know it should be easier after it gets broken in. I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue. I don't want to go about wrecking the edge any worse than I did with the Lansky. Any comments are appreciated.

Thanks,

TG
 
I use a Sharpmaker on my Emersons from time to time. I should say here that all my Emersons are V-ground, not chisel ground. They're still single-beveled blades, however, and the SM works on them. But you have to make sure you're mating the bevel to the rod properly. In my very limited experience, Emersons usually have a steeper bevel angle than other knives, so the blade has to be turned away from vertical until the edge bevel is squarely on the SM rod.

This is best done initially by marking the edge bevel with a black marker. Try a few light strokes to get the right angle. Once you're taking off the marker consistently from shoulder to apex of knife bevel, that's the angle to hold when sharpening. I do all the strokes I think I need on the beveled side first, then go the unbeveled side to remove the burr. I use a SM rod at the 15 degree setting and raise the blade off the rod just a hair. You can even use a strop to deburr if you don't create too big a burr.
 
I tried using my Sharpmaker on my Emersons, both chisel and V grind, and it was more difficult than it was worth.

I got some flat ceramic stones from Spyderco, specifically to sharpen my Emerson knives. I use the medium first, then the fine, ceramic stones, then finish off by stropping with 6000grit polish on leather on a board. The edges of all of my Emersons now gleam, and hair jumps off of my arm before the blade even contacts it :D

Get the right stuff, any flat stone of the proper grit will work great with either a chisel or V grind.
 
MatthewSB said:
I tried using my Sharpmaker on my Emersons, both chisel and V grind, and it was more difficult than it was worth.

I got some flat ceramic stones from Spyderco, specifically to sharpen my Emerson knives. I use the medium first, then the fine, ceramic stones, then finish off by stropping with 6000grit polish on leather on a board. The edges of all of my Emersons now gleam, and hair jumps off of my arm before the blade even contacts it :D

Get the right stuff, any flat stone of the proper grit will work great with either a chisel or V grind.
Click to expand...

I use flat stones most of the time now as well. I started with a Sharpmaker, but I do better on Emersons using a flat stone with my left hand. I have a Spyderco Doublestuff and a couple of the old 801 profile rods with large flat sides that get used most of the time for my Emersons. I've also gotten a DMT F diamond sharpener that works well. I go from there to a bare leather strop to finish up. I end up with a somewhat toothy edge that isn't real good on phone book paper but it cuts through shrubs and man made materials like a laser.
 
One option that works extremely well on the hard to sharpen recurve of things like the Commander is the Ken Onion Worksharp with the blade grinding attachment.

Here is a Super Commander after only a few minutes work and it is hairsplitting sharp. I could have shined it up even more with a leather belt, but I was in a hurry and didn't bother:



I use this on all my Emersons and Striders etc. and they are all a LOT sharper than a brand new knife.

~John
 
Thanks all. I've never been great at sharpening. Thought the sharpmaker would be the way to go here, but I may have to invest in some stones and do it free style. Anyone either use or attempted to use the recommended approach on the Emerson website? If so, what diamond stick do you use? I used my kitchen steel and got ok results (which I then ruined on the back of a legal pad – mental note to self – buy a damn strop).

Again, thanks for the input.
 
This might be a dumb question, if you try and re-profile the secondary bevel cutting edge to 15 degrees; would it mess up the chisel grind in any way?

I'm really on the fence about getting an Emerson CQC-7B, Horseman or a Commander. But I want to make sure I'll be able to keep an effective edge on it when I sharpen it.
 
TacGuy said:
Thanks all. I've never been great at sharpening. Thought the sharpmaker would be the way to go here, but I may have to invest in some stones and do it free style. Anyone either use or attempted to use the recommended approach on the Emerson website? If so, what diamond stick do you use? I used my kitchen steel and got ok results (which I then ruined on the back of a legal pad – mental note to self – buy a damn strop).

Again, thanks for the input.
Click to expand...

The diamond stick is the easiest way to a sharp edge, but I often get too steep an angle so that while the blade is sharp, it isn't 'right' as it's adding another bevel at too steep an angle.
 
MatthewSB said:
The diamond stick is the easiest way to a sharp edge, but I often get too steep an angle so that while the blade is sharp, it isn't 'right' as it's adding another bevel at too steep an angle.
Click to expand...

What diamond stick(s) do you use? I'm now thinking that I should get bench stones in medium and fine grit & maybe a super fine (1000 grit plus). And then maybe a honing strop. However, given my limitations and the fact that I have a Lansky system AND now a Spyder Sharpmaker, my best option might be a high quality stick and leather strop specifically for the Emerson. I haven't tried the Sharpmaker on my kitchen knives yet, but I'm sure it'll be great for those.
 
The saga continues... After managing to basically ruin the edge and hours of feeling like I was making no progress whatsoever, I threw in the towel last night. I then threw the sharpmaker into the dishwasher. This morning I went back to work on the blade using the now clean SM rods. I used the steeper setting and paid very close attention to where the rods were contacting the edge. I've now at least got an edge that (sort of) cut paper. Maybe I just need to be a lot more patient. Think I'll try working on it with the ceramic rods and see what happens. If I can't get it sharper, I'll look into getting a fine/extra fine diamond stick. Still appreciate any tips or suggestions.

TG
 
SUCCSESS! , I've gotten my Emerson CQC-7 back to it's original razor-sharp edge, as shown by the various bare spots on my arms and legs. It only took a mere 98 hours from the time I first "touched it up" (and managed to blunt the edge) :rolleyes:. I bought a dual-sided DMT folding diamond paddle ("course" and "fine"). I used the course side like a diamond stick until I had some semblence of an edge. Then I went back to the Sharpmaker and went through the 4 step process as per the instruction video. (4 strokes on edge side, one on back.) I started making progress when (a) I finally figured out the right angle (holding the blade almost verticle); (b) I decided not to feel for the developing burr, and trust that the SM would take care of it; and (c) (most importantly) realized that I was wreaking my progress by periodically catching the wrong angle. Then I forced myself to be patient (NOT a virtue that I'm blessed with) by washing the rods after each round. (I.e. silver rod corners. Finished? Was the rods. Dry. Move on to the flat sides. Wash. Move to white corner, and so forth). Once I got to where it was sort of cutting but mostly tearing a sheet of paper, I just kept repeating using the corners of the white sides until it mostly cut the paper. Then did the same thing on the flat side of the white rod.

The total time from when I managed to get some kind of edge to being able to shave hair was about 3 hours, including all the washing and drying times. One word of caution: The rods are so damn hard that one accidental swipe at the wrong angle can completely ruin the progress. :eek: But, as ares1488 suggests, practice will certainly help. I have no doubt that the edge can be better polished and probably still has plenty of micro serrations, but it's taken off hair as well as my more easily sharpened kitchen knives. I'm happy. As long as I don't look at all the scratches I caused in the begining of this simply-touchup-turned-into-epic-quest. Guess I'll be spending more time than usual watching for rust....
 
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