Sharpening angle on the Srk

H

hjalmar

Joined
Dec 4, 2003
Messages
5
I got a Srk knife for christmas and have some questions about it.
I find the angle on the edge quite thick - 45 degrees something. Is this normal on these kinds of knives? Im thinking about thining it a little but maybe I´m being too picky. If I´m to lessen the angle how much should I take it down?

Regards
Erik
 
Yes, I think that´s a normal edge for that kind of knife.

I believe this is a strong thick blade for tough jobs like chopping, wood splitting, etc. If I was to use it for that I would probably work the bevel to 40 degrees (20 per side, since that´s what my jig gives me) and make a secondary bevel at 45 degrees (since that´s what my crock sticks give me) this would make it strong and easy to touch up when needed.

If you are not going to be rough on the knife you may want to reprofile to a thinner edge, then again, for a thinner edge you may want a thinner knife.
 
I re-profiled an SRK to an included-angle of about 25 degrees.

Total time to a polished edge was about 3 hours. I used a course Carborundum stone for the re-profiling and a progression of finer-grit stones to remove wire-edge and grind marks. Preliminary polishing done with a rough-surface leather strop loaded with 600-grit abrasive powder. Final polish with a smooth-surface leather strop loaded with 10,000-grit chromium oxide abrasive powder.

The finished blade push-cuts through newsprint paper with barely a whisper.

A lot of metal has to be removed, so concentrate on taking both sides of the taper to a complete wire-edge with a really coarse-grit stone, sandpaper or diamond hone before moving on to finer stones. If you try to re-profile this blade with medium-grit stones it'll take many hours.

Hope this helps!
 
The SRK was one of the first knives that saw extensive edge modifications and the results of the performance discussed on the forums. The modification was done by Joe Talmadge who used an x-coarse DMT stone if I remember correctly. You will see a massive improvement in cutting ability if you lower the edge angle, for a lot of cutting the improvement percentage will be the same as the change in angle. So half the angle and double the cutting performance. You figure out where to stop by using the knife and seeing the damage it takes, if it is too much then you need to raise the angle a little (generally a secondary edge bevel is all that is needed), if it takes none then you can go a bit further. Experience helps a lot here.

-Cliff
 
I reprofiled my SRK recently, but I forget what angle I put on it. :) It took awhile, that's all I know. I used the Edge Pro coarse stone and then moved to finer grits to polish the first bevel to help prevent it from rusting. Then I put on the 2nd bevel for the final edge. I'll try to post a picture later, but it's not pretty. :)

Okay, editing to insert pictures:

srk01.jpg


I said it wasn't pretty. :)

srk02.jpg


However, it performs well and pops hair off my arms. What little arm hair I have left. ;)
 
I just sent it away to the man behind Fallkniven knives to get it resharpened. for 8 bucks he gives the knife a better working edge - thinner and convex. I dont know what you call the machinery in use when you make a Moran edge but it´s some kind of abrasive belt instead of a stone but you guys maybe got an idea.

The last knife i sent to him was a Gerber lmf which came out of the box, new, almost feeling kind of like a practicing knife for children but after I resharpened it it´s great.

By the way, do you think my estimation of the factory edge being 45 degrees is somewhat accurate?

Regards
Erik
 
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