&*#! Sheath dulls blade

D

Dr. Pepper

Joined
Sep 26, 2006
Messages
167
Does anybody have sheaths that dull fixed blades when being drawn or just from flopping around around while walking? I have a couple that do. Very frustrating to sharpen a while, put a hair shaver in and get a butter knife out.

Are there anyway tricks or ideas on how to fix things of this nature beside getting a different sheath?

I love fixed blades but If I can't keep them sharp until I am ready to use them, then I have to use folders instead. For me this is terrible, because I love to choke up around the choil right where folders are always built up with finger guards/ grooves and junk like that, not to mention this is also the moving pivot area.

I know this is general and non-specific. I just want to hear/read someone else talk about this.
 
i noticed the same thing with all of my personal collection of custom made knives. i used to take them with me and show them off for my buddy who made the knives. even though they were good knives, the sheaths seemed to slightly dull the edge just from bouncing around in the sheath, even ones with a high rockwell.

the customs that i make seem to have the same problem since i take them wherever i go in case i run into someone looking to buy a knife. leather "is" used to strop a blade so in my opinion a sheath can take that fine edge off but a quick hit on the cardboard buffing wheel brings it back and ready to go.
 
I once had a sheath that had a snap that scraped the blade every time you put it in if you weren't careful. Got rid of it!
 
okbohn said:
I once had a sheath that had a snap that scraped the blade every time you put it in if you weren't careful. Got rid of it!
Click to expand...
Derrick, just glue a small piece of leather on the back side of the snap, where it hits the knife.
 
never put a carbon steel knife in a wet sheath unless you wrap it in plastic. it will rust before the sheath can dry.
 
Thanks to all who have replied. I am just posting to kick it up again and see if anyone else has comments.
 
This is part of the reason I started making my own sheaths. I wet mold, and add a welt just along the area of the cutting edge. This lifts the leather off the blade, but does not allow the knife to wiggle in the sheath.
 
This is a problem that occurs mostly with blades that are, in my opinion, oversharpened. Most fixed knife blades are probably better suited for a "working edge" rather than a "wicked edge." It doesn't take much to dull a wicked edge, even if the blade is made from a super steel. Fixed blades are usually thicker than folding knife blades and I'd think they could chip if sharpened to too much of a sharp angle.

For many people, if laying a blade edge down on the palm doesn't make them gasp, it's not sharp enough; however, I've found that the vast majority of the fixed knives I've seen new just don't have a "scary sharp" edge. I don't think that a good working edge will be dulled by a sheath. If you're going to be cutting, chopping and hunting, such an edge will quickly dull anyway. A working edge, as provided for by Spyderco's Sharpmaker and other sharpeners, will allow you to sharpen to a 30° working edge.

I have a Cold Steel Peacemaker II that has a cheap 420 stainless blade. It easily can be sharpened to scary sharp but, alas, it doesn't hold it when used to the degree a heavy working knife would be. Some folks think they can avoid this by going to a better steel, but as stated above, this doesn't seem to work well, either.
 
The blades I carry most get carried in home-made sheaths made from Kydex in the "Dozier" pattern. The edges do not touch the sheath at all (except by accident) and the knives come out as sharp as when they went in.
At the same time I have also noticed that knives can dull just sitting around. With carbon steel blades this is understandable because corrosion (rust) is very easy to get on a very sharp edge--there is a lot of surface area and a little corrosion makes a big difference.
I have also noticed the same phenomenon on stainless blades--both fixed and folding--although this does seem to reduce if the edges are honed sharp a number of times over a couple of weeks.
I don't know the process but I wonder if the edges are actually 'stretched' into sharpness rather than just worn by the hones, and that they 'relax' into a state of lesser sharpness. This would account for repeated honing doing away with the 'spontaneous' dulling. ---But as I said--this is just speculation.
Are there any engineeers or physicists that could comment?
Greg
 
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