Single-edged knife sharpening

[amcardon]

Hey guys, I've been watching this forum for a couple months now and have learned a lot. I don't have any custom knives myself (yet!) but try to keep the ones I have in good working order.

I am able to get my knives sharp enough for my tastes with a lansky and a strop... all except 1. It is a CRKT single-edged knife (I believe the model is KISS). I really like this knife but can't get a good edge on the sucker to save my life. I have googled, searched, asked, read and can't find crap on sharpening single-edged knives. Wouldn't it be like sharpening scissors? Why can I get a wicked edge on my wife's sewing scissors but can't get a reasonable edge on my knife?!?

If you have any pointers or can instruct me as to where to look I'd really appreciate it.

I have read every thread with a new post for the past couple months and haven't seen anything about sharpening single-edged knives but if this is a "dead-horse" subject please let me know...

 

[Lucky Bob]

A) this belongs in Tinkering and Embellishment, not here, and B) The phrase you're looking for is "chisel ground," not "single-edged." Single edged just means it's not sharpened on two edges like a dagger.

 

[amcardon]

See? Ya learn something new every day! Thanks Bob, I'd close the thread if I could.

 

[silver_pilate]

I don't know, we've had plenty of sharpening questions here over the years.

Because of the angle of the edge with most chisel ground blades, it's hard to get them as keen as a standard edge. They are typically built for stoutness.

A hint would be to take the sharpened bevel to your finish grit, raising a burr along the entire edge, and then make a few very light passes at a shallow angle on the unsharpened side with the high finish grit. This will remove the burr and also create a micro bevel along the unsharpened side. Don't work to remove any material really, just a few very light passes. Then strop the sharpened bevel well, finishing with a few back and forth strops to both sides.

--nathan

 

[AcridSaint]

I have found that putting a secondary bevel on the ground side and then stropping or buffing the burr off of the back is the best way to get a very sharp chisel grind. I do it on a 240 grit belt with a contact wheel and then go to a buffer. If the finish on the back side cannot be buffed for some reason, then I will strop it off with a pad of leather and some green rouge. Works for me, but I don't know if you have that much tooling available. I would pull the back side on a stone if I didn't have any power tool options.