Sharpening cpm 3v...?

[romyarms22]

Hello. I am new to this site and really needing help on sharpening my 3v knives. I have bark river fixed blade in 3v and ZT folder in cpm 20cv, and cannot get them sharp for the life of me! I've only lightly used them since I received them so they were still pretty sharp. But when I stropped them they both went completely dull. I stropped a cheap buck knife and that was completely dull and that came out razor sharp. Not sure what I'm doing wrong but I need some advice please!!

 

[evancamp13]

you'll likely need to invest in some quality diamond sharpening stones. the DMT Aligner setup has been my go-to for a few years now, it's excellent. the newer "super steels" are far harder than some cheap 440 and require quite a bit more work to get an edge on

 

[yepimonfire]

The compound you're using may not be enough to cut the harder high carbide steels fast enough. If you are stropping on plain leather, forget about it. Diamonds are the best way to go about sharpening high carbide steels.

 

[JPM71]

We've all experienced this, so it's not just you or the knife or the stones. Most of the time, majority of issues are user induced. Once you've got the basics, and know what to look for, it will all come together. Most stones will get you there, good ones (Diamond) just do it quicker and better.

Read the sticky (7 secrets of sharpening). Get an eye loupe from harbor freight to look at your edge/bevel. Start with the low number stone to set your bevel profile. Use the sharpie marker technique to see if your bevel is reaching the edge. Look/feel for the burr. Once your bevel is all the way to the edge, up the stone grit and repeat until happy. Strops do no good if your bevel is not completely correct and to the edge. The stickies are some great resources.

Also, the sharpeners that hold precise angles are really great for consistency. Hand sharpening is fine, but does take practice to keep the bevel angle perfect. I have a Toohr3 and love it (but it takes a least a month for shipping and I spent 2X more on good stones than for the Toohr). The concept is the same as most of the rest of the manual sharpeners that hold the knife and control the stone action.

Once your bevel is good, a strop is all you need for quick touchup sharpening, unless you've got edge damage to correct.

 

[Father & Son Traditional Sharpening]

Going to put my money on the way these are ground and sharpened at the factory (no coolants used, high pressure/RPM grinding). Expect damaged steel at the edge and that it may take several full on sharpening sessions (or perhaps much more) to get past the damaged steel.