I have a Lansky sharpener with 3 stones (coarse, medium, and fine). I has 4 different angles to choose from 17,20,25, and 30 degrees. I was wondering what would be the best angle for each Benchmade I use. I own a AFCK plain edge with ATS-34, a plain edge Benchmade 42 with 12c27, and a mini-afck with combo blade made of M2 steel. I am trying to get them all as sharp as possible for each different steel and yet not have them chip easily or become dull quickly. Also I would like to know about how many strokes is needed with each different stone I have after the blade is somewhat sharp. Thanks to all for your time, Jim.
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Sharpening my Benchmades?
- Thread starter jim c
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Most knife makers sharpen knives on a grinder using a very fine belt and then finish either by stropping or buffing. You can probably get more responses from people who use the lanksy system over in the general forum.
As for the number of passes it takes on each stone. Thats all dependant on how dull the knife is, what type of steel its made with, how hard the steel is, and what stoen your using. A good rule of thumb is to work on one side until you form a slight wire edge over the majority of the blade.Then switch to the ether side and do the same thing.That will flatten up your edge bevels and even them out. Once you've done that move to a finer stone and repeat the process.The burr should get smaller each time you move to a finer stone. Your fdinal step is to polish off the wire edge completely either by using an equal number of passes (2-3) to each side on your finest stone, or by stropping.
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I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer... but I've got the sharpest knife in the room.
As for the number of passes it takes on each stone. Thats all dependant on how dull the knife is, what type of steel its made with, how hard the steel is, and what stoen your using. A good rule of thumb is to work on one side until you form a slight wire edge over the majority of the blade.Then switch to the ether side and do the same thing.That will flatten up your edge bevels and even them out. Once you've done that move to a finer stone and repeat the process.The burr should get smaller each time you move to a finer stone. Your fdinal step is to polish off the wire edge completely either by using an equal number of passes (2-3) to each side on your finest stone, or by stropping.
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I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer... but I've got the sharpest knife in the room.
- Joined
- May 26, 2000
- Messages
- 1,922
17 can give you a wicked sharp edge once you learn how to sharpen, but you'll be there scrubbing for a while to reprofile to a clean 17. And you'll end up with an edge that is relatively more delicate than a steeper edge. I either do just a simple 25, or I do a 20 degree primary, with final edge at 25 degrees (double bevel). This produces a plenty sharp edge (not wicked hair popping), but lasts longer in REAL use (not shaving arm hair)...that is the tradeoff.
There is no answer to "how many strokes". Depends on the stones and the blade hardness and alloy content and how hard you scrub, etc. Diamond stones are definitely worth investing in IMHO. They cut faster, and the fine stones leave this great toothy, biting edge. Diamond is particularly useful if you have any steels that are beyond ATS-34 in alloy composition... D2, BG-42, CPM-anything.
Your question indicates you are a beginner, and that means you should buy this book and never look back, as it contains the "secret" of the burr and of stropping said burr... see Juranovich's book, but you don't need his system:
http://razoredgesystems.com/
Your goal is to:
1. reprofile the edge to suit your needs
2. create a burr along full edge
3. roll burr over to other side along full edge
4. strop off the burr and leave a great edge
This makes resharpening much quicker and more reliable.
Read the book. It will save you much time and hardship.
[This message has been edited by rdangerer (edited 02-08-2001).]