Sharpening Question

[Dark Nemesis]

I decided to test a sharpening experiment on two BM AFCK which were dulled badly. I used the Spyderco sharpmaker for both of them.

First

On this one I used the directions as stated with the strokes and alternating ceramic rods so that both sided of the blade were sharpened. I used this process for 20 strokes. After I was done I had a great edge, razor sharp and ready to go. All in all I was very happy with the results. Keep in mind this means that there were 80 strokes per blade side after switching stones and all, 160 strokes all together.

Second

This knife is where I decided to see what would happen if I only sharpened one side of the blade. I figured if is was bad I could just start over

So i did the same thing
just with only one side of the blade. As with the other one this knife had a razor sharp result.

After examining them both closly and using some round the house test I must say that the edge on knife number two seems to be far sharper than the edge onknife number one.

Is this a bad sharpening technique ? Does anyone have any pro's or con's for me. Thanks

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All of God's Critters may have knives, but most of them are Benchmade Knives

 

[Ken Cook]

Dark Nemisis,
(feel like I'm talking to Darth Vader

)
I'm a GOOD sharpener, but not a GREAT sharpener, so if somebody who knows more, disagrees with me, I will defer to the greater expertise.

The only problem that I could see arising from this is that you may develop a "wire" edge on the knife if you only sharpen one side.
What this means, is that the edge has a very fine curl of metal, (almost a burr) running the length of the blade.
A wire edge is incredibly sharp! Only problem is that the wire gets bent over and the edge dulls VERY rapidly.
If you choose to sharpen this way, I'd recommend that you finish the blade with a few strokes alternated on each side of the blade to knock the burr off. This may knock the wire off and leave you with a dull edge again, but better to do it while you're sharpening than have it happen when you NEED the sharp edge!

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I cut it, and I cut it, and it's STILL too short!

 

[Dark Nemesis]

Ken:

I guarantee that you sharpen better than I do

You are not alone, another member email me with their response and said that same thing, that I might get a sort of ledge effect by doing that. This is the information that I needed. I love my knives very much and do not want to do anything to hurt them, even if it seems better. Thanks for advice, think I will stay with the traditional way

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All of God's Critters may have knives, but most of them are Benchmade Knives

 

[JoeL]

My opinion is if you are sharpening with the rods set up at 25 degree on both sides, you'll end up with a knife edge of 50 degree.

But if you are only sharpening on one side, it's like the chisel grinds, it ends up with the edge with 25 degree and it will feel much sharper. In your case, as the AFCK is ground on both sides and you only run the knife 30 strokes or so.... so the edge angle won't be 25 deg but much be smaller than 50 deg.

Don't know if it is true?

just my opinion.

Joe Leung

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Dark, the one you only sharpened on one side has a lower total included angle than the one you sharpened on both sides. It will cut better so it is sharper of a sort. It will also dull faster.

In any case you can continue to do this with no problems. Just alternate the side that you are sharpening each time you use the sharpmaker. This way the cutting edge will stay aligned near the center.

-Cliff