Sharpening the Ka Bar USMC

B

BMann

Joined
Jun 21, 2012
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I have a Ka Bar USMC knife with serrations. I have used it a bit, and thus dulled it a bit, and wanted to re-sharpen it. I have been using a 3 stone Lansky sharpening system to sharpen it, but cannot seem to get it to a very fine edge- it can't even shave hair. I noticed that the angle on the blade is different on each side, one is about 20 degrees, and the other is about 30 degrees or so.

Does anyone have any advice?
 
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i had the same problem with my kabar 1214 its the same knife but with the rubber handle. i had it corrected so they are both 20 degresses. i use a two arkansas stones one medium and one fine. (use the fine more then the medium) and it gets razor sharp. i use a e z lap fine rod in the field when hunnting with this or most knives.
 
Yeah, I found that the belly was harder to get a hair popping edge on. I live in Vegas, and went to a local shop that sharpens for the Resorts, and for seven bucks, he completely re-profiled the secondary bevel, backing it up, but set the actual edge to 20 degrees each side. The knife now is as sharp as the devil, and is a breeze to resharpen. ow while there is more steel exposed as the finish has been ground off, I have personally found this 1095 CroVan alloy steel to be considerably more stain resistant than regular 1095-then again, I live in the desert.
 
Put some sharpie on the edge when you hit it on the Lansky, it will tell you where your stones are hitting.

Edge grind is usually off, from my Spyderco's to Kershaw to Kabar, it happens. I usually reprofile all my knives to fit my needs, so, I don't worry so much about it.

Its easy to do a reprofile with a Lansky, and Sharpie, and some time.

Load up your heaviest stone, sharpie the edge, make adjustments until it hits where you want, and sharpen one side til you get a burr on the other side. Flip and do it again. Then work your way up in grit, til its as sharp as you want it.

Then strop it on some cardboard, and your done.

Good luck.

Moose
 
I use an old Cutco sharpener I got at a yard sale. You line up the back of the blade with a raised edge (to set the angle) and you just pull through. I know there are probably better ways to sharpen my Kabar, but this works fine.

I've never had any luck with stones. I have two stones, made by Smith that I got at ACE hardware, and I tried to sharpen things like a normal person, but it just wasn't happening.

It looks like this:
il_fullxfull.132909285.jpg
 
I used the wet and dry sandpaper on mouse pad to convex my USMC, took over an hour and it is hair popping sharp now but I have no idea which degree it is in.
 
Ospreybucks said:
I used the wet and dry sandpaper on mouse pad to convex my USMC, took over an hour and it is hair popping sharp now but I have no idea which degree it is in.
Click to expand...

I agree. I have convexed the edge with sandpaper #400 and #1500 then used a leather strop with compound.
I will look for a picture to add later.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone, I haven't checked this in awhile. I'm still somewhat of a newbie when it comes to knives, I just received this as a birthday gift last year, and I'm still learning the ins and outs of taking care of your knife. I've never performed any stropping before, either. But Moose, I will try using a sharpie to see where I'm hitting the edge.

Also, is the Lansky Sharpening System really ideal for larger blades? What about the Spyderco Sharpmaker or some kind of rod?

Thanks again.
 
Of the two I'd choose the Sharpmaker, JMHO.
Check out Toooj's recent sharpening 101 video, here on another thread. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1082526-Toooj-s-Intro-to-Knife-Sharpening-Video
Also lots of good threads about knife sharpening can be seen in this sub-forum.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/794-Maintenance-Tinkering-amp-Embellishment
Stropping is something you learn. Different technics can produce good results. Good thread here that shows what you want to accomplish.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/750008-Stropping-angle-plus-pressure
 
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