How To Sharpening Ernie custom's zero grind for daily use?

[Angmar]

Hello,

Recently I have finally scored my grail knife - Emerson custom mini cqc-15 - and I actually intend on carrying it EDC. As it came rather dull I'm thinking what is the actual best approach to sharpening it, so question to those in similar situation. Do you keep the zero grind and sharpen it flat on stone or do you make a micro bevel or perhaps even a full one? On that note I have seen that quite a few custom Emersons with "normal" edge like here:

Custom Mini Seax

This custom Mini Seax by Emerson Knives features a satin finished blade with notched thumbrest, thumbdisc and wave feature. The handle has dovetailed bead blasted titanium bolsters and liners, green canvas micarta scales, standoffs and tip up stainless steel clip, tip up carry. Comes with...

www.arizonacustomknives.com

Custom CQC-12

This is the CQC-12 Comrade, this design was based on Ernies study of the AK-47 Bayonet. This is the same Model that Ernie himself carries. A true classic and a very rare opportunity for the serious Emerson collector. Satin finished clip point blade with thumbdisc and wave feature. The handle has...

www.arizonacustomknives.com

Custom CQC-10

This custom CQC-10 by Ernie Emerson features a hand-ground satin finish blade, dovetailed bead blast titanium bolsters and liners, green canvas micarta scales, black G-10 backspacer, and tip up stainless steel clip. Thumbhole and Wave feature. Includes original box. New from maker at the 2021...

www.arizonacustomknives.com

http://guns.com.pl/eks_best/emerson_kwaiken-1.jpg

Not sure though if they came like that, or was that also owner's decision.

Thanks

 

[harvey554]

Not all custom Emerson's come with a zero ground edge. Those are usually done on customs where he chisel grounds the blades (one side flat). Most of the custom tantos will have a zero ground chisel edge like the CQC-7, Bulldog, Roadhouse, and some CQC-15. However, the CQC-10, CQC-12, and Seax are V-ground with a chisel edge like their production counterparts.

As for sharpening... Adding a micro bevel or using a strop is ok for touch ups as long as you don't mind how it looks on a zero ground edge. But if it is really dull, I use sand paper of various grits mounted on a very flat surface like my DMT Diamond plates. Then I lay the blade bevel flat on it to regrind it until sharp. Change sand paper to polish the bevel to the level you want after initial grind.

Try not to sharpen the flat side of course. Doing the recurve on the cqc-15 could be tricky and you may need to mount the sand paper on a slightly curved surface to do it.

 

[harvey554]

Some pictures of my sharpened Bulldog and Government Mule-B

 

[Angmar]

Thanks for the reply!
Those look very nice, amazing job. Could you tell me which grits do you use?

 

[Yo Mama]

For the price you paid for it, Ernie should put a better edge on it himself.

 

[Angmar]

It is already owned and used knife, not a new one.

 

[Yo Mama]

It is already owned and used knife, not a new one.

Got ya!

 

[harvey554]

According to my notes, I used 120 grit, then 220 on those customs pictured. Occasionally deburring on a Spyderco ultra fine bench stone during sanding. Then finishing off on an unloaded leather strop.

On another knife, I used just 150 grit start to finish and it looks pretty good too. Same deburring and finishing process.

You can of course use higher grit sandpaper for a more polished look, but I was trying to keep a similar look to the original grinding.

 

[Angmar]

Yo Mama
Yeah, if it came like that brand new, I'd definitely send it back!

H harvey554
That make sense, just from the pictures I thought it was more like 200-400 grits but that would probably be more satin look.
I experimented with Spyderco Triangle a bit and finally got nice result using diamond rods in "benchstone mode". They are rather fine so worked well for both sharpening and deburring with super light strops.

 

[Murindo]

Once you get it sharp, strop it after every use and the edge will last a long time.

 

[harvey554]

Been playing around a bit more, 120 grit then a quick polish on 400 grit looks really good too. Thanks for the suggestion and thoughts so that I could test things out.