So I'm doing pretty well at freehanding nice edges on my folders tat this point. Esp. if they are less than 4". But I haven't yet figured out how to do as good of a job on blades longer than 4 inches. One thing I did quickly learn from somebody here, and that's the idea of doing a longer blade in sections (versus trying to sharpen it with single, uniform strokes that run the whole length of the edge). That's a life-saver, but I still have some learning curve issues.
Last night I tried to sharpen an old Buck hunting knife for a friend (6" blade, est. about 0.175" thick stock). The thing was dull as a spoon, it was terrible, but after an hour of work I got it modestly sharp, with a nice primary bevel and it would shave arm hair (this was after going over EC, C, and F DMT bench stones). But.....there were still some problems. It won't cleanly slash through a piece of paper in my hand (it "sticks" at points). And at the point where the blade curves up near the tip, you can see under bright light a shiny spot, and you can feel as well, it's just not quite as sharp at that point. Much much better than it was, but not nearly as sharp as many of my personal blades.
Here were the 2 things I found that made it hard:
* Slight recurve. Not sure how or why, but this old blade (perhaps thru excessive years of sharpening?) had a slight recurve near the very rear of the edge. Thus this section was REALLY hard to get sharp on a bench stone. Here's how I finally got it to work: I began making long smooth strokes (edge-leading) away from myself, going over the recurved section. As I would do the stroke, I moved the knife at a 45 degree angle (relative to the stone) so that the entire recurve portion would get sharpened with each pass as I'd grind it over the very edge of the bench stone and then off the stone. This seems like a good way to sharpen a mild recurve on bench stones. I assume others have used this same way?
* Problems with the curve near the tip. On a long blade, especially with thick stock, I find it really hard to get the curve near the tip super sharp, while at the same time, keeping a consistent angle on the edge bevel. What I've been trying lately is choking up on the actual blade--grabbing the rear part of the blade itself--so I can get a better grip and angle for doing the tip. Any suggestions/thoughts on how to best sharpen the curve section and the tip, on a long thick-bladed knife?
Last night I tried to sharpen an old Buck hunting knife for a friend (6" blade, est. about 0.175" thick stock). The thing was dull as a spoon, it was terrible, but after an hour of work I got it modestly sharp, with a nice primary bevel and it would shave arm hair (this was after going over EC, C, and F DMT bench stones). But.....there were still some problems. It won't cleanly slash through a piece of paper in my hand (it "sticks" at points). And at the point where the blade curves up near the tip, you can see under bright light a shiny spot, and you can feel as well, it's just not quite as sharp at that point. Much much better than it was, but not nearly as sharp as many of my personal blades.
Here were the 2 things I found that made it hard:
* Slight recurve. Not sure how or why, but this old blade (perhaps thru excessive years of sharpening?) had a slight recurve near the very rear of the edge. Thus this section was REALLY hard to get sharp on a bench stone. Here's how I finally got it to work: I began making long smooth strokes (edge-leading) away from myself, going over the recurved section. As I would do the stroke, I moved the knife at a 45 degree angle (relative to the stone) so that the entire recurve portion would get sharpened with each pass as I'd grind it over the very edge of the bench stone and then off the stone. This seems like a good way to sharpen a mild recurve on bench stones. I assume others have used this same way?
* Problems with the curve near the tip. On a long blade, especially with thick stock, I find it really hard to get the curve near the tip super sharp, while at the same time, keeping a consistent angle on the edge bevel. What I've been trying lately is choking up on the actual blade--grabbing the rear part of the blade itself--so I can get a better grip and angle for doing the tip. Any suggestions/thoughts on how to best sharpen the curve section and the tip, on a long thick-bladed knife?
