sharpness out of the box - anyone?

E

edb

Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
740
Tonight I'm a bachelor (wife is with the daughter and grandkids at the beach; I'm watching our pup who's too little to go, and I'm too busy at work to go with them).

So, to cut to the chase - I finally had time tonight to try to sharpen a couple Case slipjoints I got in trade about 2 months ago (busy 2 months!). The work is done on a Sharpmaker with diamond, grey, and white stones. 40 degree slots, and I put magic marker on the edges to be sure I'm actually sharpening the edge, instead of the bevel above it.

I'm able to get most knives razor sharp (raise a burr, etc.). But these suckers are not even close. I spent 30 mins on one of them, and it doesn't even come close to slicing paper.

There are a couple other Case (stainless) slipjoints I have that I've been able to get paper-slicing shaving sharp, but as I recall, it may have taken hours to get them there.

Pretty as they are, I'm starting to sour a bit on these Case slipjoints. And, slipjoints in general. :rolleyes: I don't have the propensity to oil up 1095, so please don't suggest that.

So, what I'm wondering is, does anyone make a slipjoint that's as sharp as a Spyderco folder, right out of the box? I have owned quite a few Spydies, and all shaved right out of the box.

I am able to get SAKs that sharp, but they ain't as pretty as a slipjoint with jigged scales.

What to do? :(
 
Case Trusharp bladesteel is a sick joke where anything but corrosion resistance is an issue. Sharpness and/or edge holding aren't even considerations anymore when shopping for a modern Case knife, unfortunately. Handle materials seem to be all the rage. What a waste. Same seems to be going for the old German names like Eye Brand and so forth. Terrible trend. After all, a knife should be made to cut, first and foremost.

Queen is offering some slipjoints and traditional lockbacks that feature D2 tool steel blades. Good luck finding any however. Production seems to be limited to near custom numbers for some reason. Can't comment on out-of-the-box sharpness on these Queens as I haven't been able to find any. Maybe someday.
 
Can anyone comment on Queen D2 knives' sharpness out of the box? I realize that eventually I'll need to resharpen any knife, but it would be nice if it was actually sharp enough to slice paper when new. No, I don't go around looking for paper to slice - just seems like a good indicator.. ;)
 
Must be your technique. Maybe since slipjoints are smaller blades than you may be used to, you're not keeping the angle steady. Maybe you're getting a burr that you're not removing.

You can get Case stainless very sharp. I've done it more than once. More than a few people even find a serviceable steel. Case and case steel is the whipping boy of some knifeknuts, however there are lots of satisfied users of their knives.

Queen's D2 is hard steel and their angles are often obtuse. They do present a problem in sharpening for some people and there are some reports that sharpness out of the box can be hit or miss. My experience is they are sharp, not as good as some, but it took me a long time to resharpen due to the angle of the edge.
 
That's perplexing. I find Tru-sharp quite easy to get hair-popping using notoriously slow-cutting arjansas stones. Wonder what's up with that.

The problem with tru-sharp is you'll need to go back to that fine stone for a few strokes pretty regularly depending on your use. I have heard very few gripes about ease of sharpening (or lack thereof).
 
I have a few Queen D2 slipjoints, and in my opinion, they are not sharp right out of the box. Anytime I order one of those, I know that they need to be introduced to Mr. Sharpmaker before they go into my pocket.
 
I just bought a Queen three blade whittler. I reprofiled and sharpened the two smaller blades using an Edgepro in almost no time. I worked on the larger blade with a Sharpmaker for what seemed like forever. All three blades needed to be reprofiled. The blades were sharp out of the box, but the angle was very obtuse. The Sharpmaker will get you there, but be prepared to spend some time.

I do have one question about D2 and sharpness. Cutting up my daily apples (two of them) seems to dull the blade. The knife is shaving sharp before I do the apples, but won't shave after I cut the apples. Could there be some kind of chemical reaction between the D2 steel and the apples?
 
Interesting JM. I carve apples with a QD2 rather frequently. A carbon edge that is very fine is subject to dulling from acid, but my D2 edges are neither carbon nor very fine. I don't think I notice them dulling from apple slicing.

On the topic of the original post, I find out of the box sharpness to be a pleasant surprise. I usually expect to have to put my own edge on any knife I buy.
 
edb said:
I'm able to get most knives razor sharp (raise a burr, etc.). But these suckers are not even close. I spent 30 mins on one of them, and it doesn't even come close to slicing paper.

There are a couple other Case (stainless) slipjoints I have that I've been able to get paper-slicing shaving sharp, but as I recall, it may have taken hours to get them there.


I have a few case knives that I like that did not come very sharp out of the box at all. I also used a sharpmaker with diamond, coarse and fine stones to sharpen them.
It didn't take hours, but it did take a very long time.....it was around 200 strokes (with a good amount of pressure!) on the diamond rods to get a burr on ONE SIDE, and I needed a commensurate number of strokes on the other side.
It was a lot less strokes on the coarse and fine rods.
I used the 30 degree bevel on them.
They did get NICE and sharp, though.

As a sidenote, I bought an S&M barlow that took the same amount of effort to put a nice edge on....I don't think it is D2, though.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top