Sharpening Emerson La Griffe -- a way that works

B

biogon

Joined
Jan 2, 2002
Messages
2,111
Ok, I found a decent way to sharpen the La Griffe.

First you need the crappy plastic <a href="http://www.dmtsharp.com/products/detail.php3?use=14" target="_blank"> DMT Aligner tool</a>.

Then you need a <a href="http://www.jewelstik.com/HTML/jsknifesharpener.html" target="_blank"> Hewlett 1-2-3 JewelStik</a>.

Magically, the crappy DMT Aligner happens to fit the 0.125" width of the LG well, and the steepest (widest) setting on it happens to match the weird angle on the LG.

The easy part: Screw the rod from the Jewelstik in, and you can sharpen away.

The hard part: The curved top of the LG, combined with the curved Hawkbill, means that you have to keep adjusting the position of the clamp on the aligner in order to keep the edge angle the same. Additionally, the area of the Jewelstik hone that you use seems to change the angle. Since it's an oval-ish edge, if you sharpen along the middle, you'll get a slightly different angle than if you sharpen near the "vertices" or "corners" of the hone.

If you're careful, you can put a nice pointy tip back on it, too. Just don't roll off the tip; instead, place the tip on the middle of the oval area of the sharpener, and sharpen straight perpendicular to the tip.

I finished off the edge with a couple passes on a Spyderco-style ceramic stick.

I managed to get my LG to pretty decently sharp this way. At least now it cuts paper cleanly, and the tip will score paper with very minimal pressure.

It's not perfect, and not nearly as good as a conventional blade, but it's a working edge.

Both of these items can be purchased from your favourite store; I managed to get one from Brian@DiscountKnives, and the other from Fred@KnifeOutlet.

Hope this helps!

-Jon
 
Thanks, Jon!

I've got one of those awful Lanksy kits and you're post just gave me the idea of using it with the corner of the stones to sharpen my La Griff.

I've not had good luck with my 204 on this knife, and it's the only one I've not been able to get a great edge with using the 204.

Been wondering why I've held onto that Lanksy POS...
 
Codeman,

Glad I could help.

However, there's a problem -- the Lansky kit only goes up to 30 degrees. :(

I have one of those Lanksy kits too. The largest angle doesn't go steep enough to match the La Griffe's factory angle.

When I got the DMT hones, I got the aligner too, which is even worse than the Lansky one. I stashed it away and never thought about it until I was fiddling with the LG.

I've read that some people have used a bit of plastic to extend the arm on the angle side to get up to the ~40deg on the chisel grind of the LG, but I'm not sure how doable it is.

It may also be possible to reprofile the edge to match the 30 deg angle on the Lansky. It would be ok probably because you'd be able to put a consistent angle on it with the guide...

Good luck. The LG is a great knife, but she's been an absolute nightmare to get a -sharp- edge.

-Jon
 
Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten that. Thanks for saving me some time! Next time I'm at Smoky Mountain Knife Works, I'll pick up one of the Aligners.
 
Practice, practice, practice. Ken (KVC135) stopped over at my place a few nights ago and picked up my Gatco Tri-Seps, a short version of a Spyderco triangle rod. While he was talking, he buffed the edge on his LG to a razor edge.
 
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