Sharpening woes...wtf??

[AnimalHousePA]

I recently bought a GEC Easy Open knife and it came pretty dull out of the box. I tried to give it a decent edge with my Sharpmaker a few times but it still won't slice paper but rather it tears it. Is there any secret to sharpening this thing?

 

[yablanowitz]

Patience and a Sharpie marker. If the factory edge was over 40 degrees included (likely) it will take a long time even on the corners of the brown rods to cut a new bevel.

 

[Blues]

Thread moved to proper sub-forum...

It sounds like you haven't gotten to the actual edge with your sharpening efforts. Depending on how obtuse the edge was, it may take a while (way more than the recommended number of strokes that the Sharpmaker instructions recommend).

Your best bet is to work the bevels with a coarse hone (diamond, crystolon (silicon carbide), waterstone etc) until you get a burr (on each side) and then "finish" your sharpening on the Sharpmaker. Much faster and more efficient.

Once you've got your edge bevels set, you can maintain with your Sharpmaker.

 

[DennisStrickland]

the carbon steel is great but to get great bevels lots of work.i initially use motor equip then go to diamonds. however one whom has decent hones & lots of time & energy can achive the same results.i'm too lacking on energy to do it all by hand.1095 will take acute angle & cut tough stuff w/o chipping or turning.

 

[winbag338]

Diamonds,diamonds,diamonds. Now make sure you are removing enough metal to where you can see the scratch patterns all the way to the very, very, very edge. Until this happens there is no step 2, period. Now remove the burr you created and do the same thing to the other side. Now you may move to a finer grit and repeat the process. When your ready too strop, come back and let us know.