Sharpening problem

[manicreader]

Last night, I decided that my Benchmade 814 Mini AFCK (ATS 34 blade) needed resharpening. It appears that it came from the factory sharpened to about a 30 deg angle. I decided to make it a 25 deg angle

So, I get out my Lansky sharpener, clamp it to the blade and go to work with coarse, medium, then fine.

I examined my finished edge under 6x magnification, and was (unpleasantly) surprised to notice several places on the edge containing voids in the steel, like little pits. These voids were not on the sharp part of the edge, but on the angled sides.

Is this normal, or do I need to look for a better sharpener?

 

[Crayola]

I have no idea what you are talking about! But I think I can help. Take a magic marker and coat the edge of your knife, and then take a pass or 2 with your lansky rig. Wherever black is left, your stone is not touching, and where the magic marker is gone, the stone is touching. See if these "pits" are still black after a couple of passes. If so, then you know that you just aren't hitting them yet.

Good luck!

 

[DEA]

i think he reprofiled it only to find holes in the side of the reprofiled sides, sorta like air spaces

 

[cpirtle]

If you are not using enough fluid on your stones you could be dragging debris back and forth across your edge causing the gouges.

I would suggest wiping your blade and stones somewhat regularly and re-oiling as needed.

 

[Jeff Clark]

Sharpening did not create those voids. Either they were gouges/chips in the side of the blade that you didn't notice before you started to sharpen (from something you did to the blade previously) or the sharpening revealed voids in the steel. You don't need another sharpener. I would go back and sharpen with your coarse hone an see if you can get back to solid metal. Once you get to clean metal finish with medium and fine hones. If you don't get to clean metal with a reasonable amount of metal removal I would complain to the manufacturer.

 

[manicreader]

Thanks for the great replies, everybody! This forum has been a great source of information and opinions ever since I started reading it.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Edges are often formed of poor steel and the initial sharpening can reveal all kinds of problems both in geometry and composition. I have commonly seen a problem similar to what you have described, scallops in the edge like someone hit them with a round file for a few passes. Usually they are shallow and can be ground out without too much difficulty. If they are not then do as Jeff advised and complain to the manufacturer.

-Cliff