Sharpening novice hoping for some advice

S

snakemanc6

Joined
Jan 26, 2017
Messages
4
Hello,
This post may be a bit long, but I thought I'd be better off giving a bit of detail.

I have been working on my sharpening skills for about a year now. My usual EDC knives are a variety of Kershaw Leeks and Blurs. Recently I started getting into Benchmade knives, and aside from my Zero Tolerance 0301, the Benchmades are my first knives of higher end steel (and value).

For sharpening I've put together a couple of Lansky sets, and now have the diamond stones from extra coarse to fine, ceramics stones from extra coarse to sapphire. I also just picked up the Spyderco Sharpmaker and a Knives Plus strop block.

With my Kershaws and other miscellaneous knives I have gotten pretty decent with the Lansky setup. I try to take my time, sharpie check for full contact, check the burr, etc... I've even done pretty well with my ZT0301 in S30V. The Benchmades have been a bit of another story, in particular my 698 Foray in CPM 20CV.

With the Foray, I just can't seem to get the edge to match that on my other knives. I really struggle to develop a burr, and have often went to the next stone in hopes that maybe the really coarse ones were just "too rough". I'm also wondering if I could just be greatly underestimating the about of time that such a knife takes to achieve the initial sharp edge. Needless to say I'm not getting anywhere. I can even see some small knicks on the edge under magnification.

In hindsight I probably should have developed a better grasp on fundamentals of sharpening before I attempted that knife, but I'm a bit impulsive on such things and this knife was a display model and a bit dulled when I purchased it. I've kind of gotten myself confused by YouTube and some various sharpening threads that often contradict one another.

Again, I apologize for such a long post. Im just hoping that with some background info, some of you may be willing to share some advice. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
 
Under magnification, are you removing the Sharpie both over the entire width of the bevel right to the edge, and along the entire length of the blade?
 
If you don't get a burr even with the extra coarse or coarse diamond, then I would assume that your sharpening angle is way too shallow (not hitting the apex), or that your method of detecting a burr is not appropriate. I do not own the particular sharpening kit or knives, so it is a pure educational guess here.


Miso
 
Hi,
snakemanc6 said:
Hello,
This post may be a bit long, but I thought I'd be better off giving a bit of detail.

I have been working on my sharpening skills for about a year now. My usual EDC knives are a variety of Kershaw Leeks and Blurs. Recently I started getting into Benchmade knives, and aside from my Zero Tolerance 0301, the Benchmades are my first knives of higher end steel (and value).

For sharpening I've put together a couple of Lansky sets, and now have the diamond stones from extra coarse to fine, ceramics stones from extra coarse to sapphire. I also just picked up the Spyderco Sharpmaker and a Knives Plus strop block.

With my Kershaws and other miscellaneous knives I have gotten pretty decent with the Lansky setup. I try to take my time, sharpie check for full contact, check the burr, etc... I've even done pretty well with my ZT0301 in S30V. The Benchmades have been a bit of another story, in particular my 698 Foray in CPM 20CV.

With the Foray, I just can't seem to get the edge to match that on my other knives. I really struggle to develop a burr, and have often went to the next stone in hopes that maybe the really coarse ones were just "too rough". I'm also wondering if I could just be greatly underestimating the about of time that such a knife takes to achieve the initial sharp edge. Needless to say I'm not getting anywhere. I can even see some small knicks on the edge under magnification.

In hindsight I probably should have developed a better grasp on fundamentals of sharpening before I attempted that knife, but I'm a bit impulsive on such things and this knife was a display model and a bit dulled when I purchased it. I've kind of gotten myself confused by YouTube and some various sharpening threads that often contradict one another.

Again, I apologize for such a long post. Im just hoping that with some background info, some of you may be willing to share some advice. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Hi,
So you're sharpening at the existing blade angle? Know the angle number?
Whats the coarsest stone that you use?
Have you tried increasing the angle slightly to speed things up?
How many times have you sharpened this knife?


Sounds like, burnt edge (overheated during factory sharpening) or carbide tearout (apex full of carbides that "fall" out )
 
20cv is hard steel. It will take more time to remove steel from the edge than average blade steel.
 
Thanks for the info everyone.

The 25 degree preset seems to remove the sharpie best, accept for slightly missing the apex at the very tip of the blade. If I adjust the blade in the clamp a little I can get it to hit the apex there as well. I know Benchmade claims a 15-17 degree angle per side, but I'm not sure on this one.

The angle has actually confused me a bit. I know that the guide slots on the Lansky are going to be an approximation, based on how far the edge is sticking out of the clamp. With that in mind I try to clamp the blade centered lengthwise, and leave about 1/2-3/4 of an inch of the blade sticking out of the front (from clamp jaw tip to the blade edge). I'd imagine that would equal about a 22-23 degree when using the 25 degree guide.

I use my fingernail to check for burr along the blade length, works well for most blades but not this one.

Is it possible that I'm mayne just expecting results faster than I should considering that steel? Also, could using the extra coarse diamond hones have cause the tiny knicks that I see under magnification?
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the advice everyone! Im happy to say that i was able to do it! lol

I ended up using the 20 degree slot, so I'm guessing that put it around 17-18 degrees at the apex of the blade. I started with the extra coarse diamond, altered the stroke i was using previously, and just took my time.

It took awhile to develop the burr initially, but i kept at it until i could duplicate it on each side with each stone. I think i had really underestimated the time that i should have expected to put into it initially.

Really excited to have gotten it done myself. Now i can add one of my favorite blades back into my EDC rotation

Thanks again
 
So, you figured out you had to use the diamond stones, and be patient, right? LOL. Yes, I tell people this all the time about CPM20CV. I use it exclusively to make kitchen knives. It is a considerably tough stainless steel, with a fair amount of Vanadium. Takes a bit more work than 1095, A2 or even D2, but once the edge is achieved, it will last quite some time. And it takes a superb edge. My favorite of all stainless, truely a "Super Steel".
 
I was already using diamond, but nowhere near enough patience! Lol I also altered the way I was working the stones and was more meticulous with the burr.

I really need a lot more experience sharpening before I'd feel proficient. I know the knife can hold a better edge than I put on it, but it'll come in time. I'm just glad to have it make in the rotation cause I really like that one. :thumbup:
 
@snakemanc6 Did you get both bevels even on your BM or did you just follow the factory grind?
 
I'd suggest to read the sticky on 'what sharpening is all about ' on the top of this subforum. It will help you understand the basics.

All the advices are correct: you need to form a burr with the coarsest stone you have. However long it takes ;).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top