Sharpening my first GEC

C

catfish579

Joined
Jan 8, 2013
Messages
166
hi all. after being on this place for for a while and hearing all the good things about GEC i decided to get one myself. it a tidioute #85 very nice, solid, smooth, beautiful. i wanted to know from you all if there is any recommended methods for sharpening the blades (for when time comes), whether a stone or rod would be more preferable. any oils that you like to use and such. would like to hear your thoughts on the matters. thank you!
 
I'm going to move this to "Maintenance, Tinkering & Embellishment".
 
Your questions are best served by browsing the stickies at the top of this subforum. knifenut1013 has excellent reads in his sig line, too.

As far as what to use, you can use anything to sharpen, as long as it will abrade steel. A $5,000 natural Japanese water stone or a piece of reclaimed sidewalk pavement. 99% of sharpening is skill: knowing the core concept and developing the muscle memory in the hands, just like playing an instrument. The stones you use are secondary.

That said you can skip the learning curve and get a guided system (Sharp Maker, Lansky, Edge Pro, etc.), but freehand sharpening is an art that many people find extremely rewarding. There are plently of folks here who can help you learn.

If you want to freehand sharpen (and being a traditional kind of guy, you might), many of us recommend a simple Norton stone. The combo India stone costs $20, I believe. Get that and a bottle of Lansky honing oil ($4), and you're ready to get started. As for what to do with them, read the stickies first, watch a ton of YouTube videos, try sharpening, and come back when you have specific, experience-based questions to ask.

Cheers,

Mag
 
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Mag pretty much covered all the bases worth covering, and I would only add to get a cheap beater with similar type of steel and practice your chosen method on. That way you can learn and fine tune your method on it before going to your pride and joy. Congratulations on your choice of a fine knife.

Blessings,

Omar
 
I have a customer that collects and has me sharpen many of his GEC knives, with most being D2 tool steel. I typically use waterstones to produce the requested edge but have found in experimentation that the fine side of a silicon carbide stone then a stropping using the leftover fine silicon slurry on some leather produces a amazing level of sharpness with a very simple method.

I would recommend a Norton combo Sic stone and a leather strop.
 
knifenut1013 said:
I have a customer that collects and has me sharpen many of his GEC knives, with most being D2 tool steel. I typically use waterstones to produce the requested edge but have found in experimentation that the fine side of a silicon carbide stone then a stropping using the leftover fine silicon slurry on some leather produces a amazing level of sharpness with a very simple method.

I would recommend a Norton combo Sic stone and a leather strop.
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Perhaps you are referring to Queen knives? or if not maybe you meant 1095 or 440C steel? GEC does not produce knives in D2 tool steel (or at least non of the knives that have the GEC name on them are D2, maybe they have some limited SFOs with D2)
 
The D2 blades are probably Queen; I don't think GEC has used anything other than 1095, O1 (limited runs) and 440C.

Assuming 1095 for the Tidioute #85, very straightforward. Silicon carbide works very well (wet/dry sandpaper or stones, such as Norton's crystolon stones). The wet/dry sandpaper is my favorite for maintaining 1095 blades. I'm sure Norton's aluminum oxide stones (India) would do well. Natural stones (Arkansas) should also work, but will be somewhat slower. Diamond would be overkill in coarser grits, though a Fine diamond like DMT's 25 micron (600 mesh) also handles 1095 with ease.

Silicon carbide also handles 440C very well, as will diamond. But, natural stones (Arkansas) will be very slow for anything other than light touch-ups.


David
 
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so many people are keen to sharpen a knife that merely needs a minute or two of stropping! with such a decent knife, I'd sharpen once from new with high quality ceramic /oil/whet stones then just strop it for a few months untill it no longer gives that true edge after use. Then lightly take it to the stone again for a few passes, and repeat with the stropping!

with carbon steel, 1095, 01 etc I suggest cleaning then stropping shortly after using the blade on anything acidic or green. My opinel dulls after cutting up an ornage but is brough back to life with a few strokes ona well pasted strop! :)

Remember, the rythmic and patient stropping is your friend! :D
 
And yes, a strop is definitely a good thing, after a good edge is established on the stones. Sometimes the factory edges might be a tad thick and or incomplete (not apexed), in which case a strop might not be as helpful by itself.

Green compound (chromium oxide) on a strop works very well with 1095. My 'best' strop for 1095 is one of my leather belts with green compound applied to the inside face (rough side) of the leather. I use it like a hanging strop (no hard backing), with the belt looped around a bedrail or towel bar, or something similar.


David
 
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knifenut1013 said:
I have a customer that collects and has me sharpen many of his GEC knives, with most being D2 tool steel. I typically use waterstones to produce the requested edge but have found in experimentation that the fine side of a silicon carbide stone then a stropping using the leftover fine silicon slurry on some leather produces a amazing level of sharpness with a very simple method.

I would recommend a Norton combo Sic stone and a leather strop.
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The Razor's Edge 'Super Ultra Fine Hone' works very well in this capacity too - very refined edge for SiC and whips up a mean slurry that is mighty fine and aggressive. The imperfect seconds are dirt cheap too. If I don't whip up enough slurry when sharpening I'll use a piece of hacksaw blade to help.
 
confucius37 said:
Perhaps you are referring to Queen knives? or if not maybe you meant 1095 or 440C steel? GEC does not produce knives in D2 tool steel (or at least non of the knives that have the GEC name on them are D2, maybe they have some limited SFOs with D2)
Click to expand...


Yes, my mistake. You are correct.
 
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