Small sebenza insingo

[tbabbitt]

Hey guys, I have a small Insingo user that has a blunted tip. It is only 5 months old, but has been used constantly, never abused. I realized a little too late that my technique with the sharpmaker was dulling the tip on the sebenza and now I am stuck with this.
Has anyone ever re-done a tip on the insingo? Is it even worth to try repairing myself (no experience other than sharpmaker)
I just hate to think it will be gone for a few weeks (if CRK even repairs just tips)
Please let me know what you guys think, thanks. :thumbup:

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[cbwx34]

What are you using to sharpen?

Looks to me that you could just lower the angle as you approach the tip... reprofiling it until it matches the rest of the edge.

 

[tbabbitt]

I am using the sharpmaker with meduim and fine stones.
When you say that, do you mean grind away at the edge and grind up towards the spine?
Is this easily accomplishable on the sharpmaker??

 

[cbwx34]

Oops, I see you said Sharpmaker, and also that the very tip is gone. (I thought you were meaning the narrow bevel as it approached the tip).

It's common to "sharpen the tip off" with the Sharpmaker, if you let the tip run off the stone, especially using the corners of the triangle. My .02, only use the flats and stop with the tip in the middle of the stone.

You could eventually retip it on the Sharpmaker, (mostly by correcting the technique) but it could take a long time.

I'm not familiar with that particular knife... is it common for the edge to narrow as it approaches the tip? It kinda looks to me like it needs to be reprofiled... I personally wouldn't use the Sharpmaker for that.

Maybe someone with more experience with that particular knife will chime in.

 

[tbabbitt]

Yeah it narrows towards the tip and has almost a sharpened swedge that is more narrow than the rest of the blade. It's been reprofiled to 30 degrees (took forever) but overall yeah nothing extreme has been done and is the normal design of the CR sebenza small Insingo. The edge form factory was not at 20 or 30, so I had to reprofile to be able to use on the sharp maker. Should have practiced technique on a crappy knife!!
Well hopefully someone has ran into this issue and has fixed it themselves.
3 weeks without my sebenza sounds crappy!!

 

[bflying]

If you are here, you are probably into knives. If you are really into knives, you may want to consider a fixed/guided sharpening system. They make it much easier to fix or re-profile edges. Take a look at KMESharp. Personally I think it's the best bang for the buck in sharpening systems. Can even make a novice look like a pro sharpener, with a relatively small learning curve. Start out with the Gold Diamond Stones/Hones, and maybe a couple of strops.

Don't get rid of the Sharpmaker though. Once you have a perfect edge from the KME, a blade can be touched up and kept sharp for a very long time with minimal swipes on the SM.

 

[cbwx34]

Yeah it narrows towards the tip and has almost a sharpened swedge that is more narrow than the rest of the blade. It's been reprofiled to 30 degrees (took forever) but overall yeah nothing extreme has been done and is the normal design of the CR sebenza small Insingo. The edge form factory was not at 20 or 30, so I had to reprofile to be able to use on the sharp maker. Should have practiced technique on a crappy knife!!
Well hopefully someone has ran into this issue and has fixed it themselves.
3 weeks without my sebenza sounds crappy!!

Ah, I see now... I looked up some pictures. I thought you were holding it with the edge up... I get it now.

So, forget the reprofile part. What I said before would work... just pay attention to your sharpening technique, and eventually the tip will come back. You could do a little extra work near the tip area, but it would cause it to sweep up a bit (doesn't look like much). The key is to not just grind right at the tip, but the last inch or so, so it blends. If you can do any grinding on the spine/swedge side, it would be an easy fix... but again, I've never seen one in person, so don't know.

I don't think it's worth sending back, but that's up to you of course.

And I'll add to what bflying said... you might consider a better sharpener.

 

[tbabbitt]

If you are here, you are probably into knives. If you are really into knives, you may want to consider a fixed/guided sharpening system. They make it much easier to fix or re-profile edges. Take a look at KMESharp. Personally I think it's the best bang for the buck in sharpening systems. Can even make a novice look like a pro sharpener, with a relatively small learning curve. Start out with the Gold Diamond Stones/Hones, and maybe a couple of strops.

Don't get rid of the Sharpmaker though. Once you have a perfect edge from the KME, a blade can be touched up and kept sharp for a very long time with minimal swipes on the SM.

I am most definitely into knives! I will take note of that sharpening system, ever since purchasing the sebenza it has made me want to get a "pro" sharpener. I will have to do my research though. So far I have liked the wicked edge the most.
Can repairs such as my own be accomplished on these types of systems? Seems kinda card to do when the guided angles don't look like they are meant to grind directly on spine/cutting edge.

 

[tbabbitt]

Ah, I see now... I looked up some pictures. I thought you were holding it with the edge up... I get it now.

So, forget the reprofile part. What I said before would work... just pay attention to your sharpening technique, and eventually the tip will come back. You could do a little extra work near the tip area, but it would cause it to sweep up a bit (doesn't look like much). The key is to not just grind right at the tip, but the last inch or so, so it blends. If you can do any grinding on the spine/swedge side, it would be an easy fix... but again, I've never seen one in person, so don't know.

I don't think it's worth sending back, but that's up to you of course.

And I'll add to what bflying said... you might consider a better sharpener.

Thanks for the reply guys!
I cannot visualize this being repaired as i continue to sharpen it lol, wouldn't I just be grinding away at the sides and creating a more "razor" like tip instead of a point?
and yeah I thought about grinding that area but the swedge part comes to a thick blade like end and I would be creating a flat edge if i were to grind there, I am all for function over form but that would just be plain ugly ona pricey knife!

 

[cbwx34]

Thanks for the reply guys!
I cannot visualize this being repaired as i continue to sharpen it lol, wouldn't I just be grinding away at the sides and creating a more "razor" like tip instead of a point?
and yeah I thought about grinding that area but the swedge part comes to a thick blade like end and I would be creating a flat edge if i were to grind there, I am all for function over form but that would just be plain ugly ona pricey knife!

No... as you sharpen, you're removing metal from the edge and sides at the same angle, so eventually the tip will reform. You could 'flat grind' the edge if you want, and then grind in a new bevel... the end result would be the same, although it would be easier and faster to reform the tip. Like I said though, don't grind right at the tip.

On the back/swedge side... could you match the swedge as it approaches the tip? You wouldn't have to flat grind it. You could also do a little of both (from the edge and back side) to reform the tip.

Edit to add:

Here's an example I saved from another thread... in this example the area in black is where metal would be removed to reform the tip. (More than your knife needs I know... the point being work up toward the tip, not right at it).

 

[tbabbitt]

No... as you sharpen, you're removing metal from the edge and sides at the same angle, so eventually the tip will reform. You could 'flat grind' the edge if you want, and then grind in a new bevel... the end result would be the same, although it would be easier and faster to reform the tip. Like I said though, don't grind right at the tip.

On the back/swedge side... could you match the swedge as it approaches the tip? You wouldn't have to flat grind it. You could also do a little of both (from the edge and back side) to reform the tip.

Oh duh yeah that makes sense...it just would take a while.
When you say don't grind at the tip, you mean on my last bit of blade when sweeping downwards on the stone, I should let the edge trail down and stop when it is 50-75% ish on the stone correct? and not solely sharpening that 1/4 inch of tip? Sorry Just want tp understand!

 

[cbwx34]

Oh duh yeah that makes sense...it just would take a while.
When you say don't grind at the tip, you mean on my last bit of blade when sweeping downwards on the stone, I should let the edge trail down and stop when it is 50-75% ish on the stone correct? and not solely sharpening that 1/4 inch of tip? Sorry Just want tp understand!

I added a pic in the previous post that should answer this. Sorry if I confused you... not looking at the picture right initially kinda threw me off.

 

[bflying]

I am most definitely into knives! I will take note of that sharpening system, ever since purchasing the sebenza it has made me want to get a "pro" sharpener. I will have to do my research though. So far I have liked the wicked edge the most.
Can repairs such as my own be accomplished on these types of systems? Seems kinda card to do when the guided angles don't look like they are meant to grind directly on spine/cutting edge.

The Wicked Edge is definitely a high quality setup. But a little more money to start, and a bit more expensive down the road for supply and stone replacements.

When I decided I wanted something that clamped the knife in place, what steered me away from the WE was the need for full ambidextrous function. It requires two stones of each grit to work both sides simultaneously.

The KME has the clamp on a rotating axis, so you only need to work with your dominant hand on both sides of the knife. And you can pick up the base for table top use, or just hold with your support hand and work with the other. I often find myself sitting in bed, watching tv, and sharpening with the KME. [emoji56]. Also, if a stone needs be replaced (way down the road), you only need one of each grit (KME) instead of two (WE).

 

[CPP]

I had the same thing happen with the same knife on a Sharpmaker. A while ago I was sharpening my VG10 Dragonfly on the edges and ended up blunting the tip so I mostly began using just the flat sides of the Sharpmaker. I sharpened several knives several times using the flat sides without any problems until I blunted the tip of my small Insingo. I sharpened it using the diamond rods and was able to get a tip back.

 

[tbabbitt]

I had the same thing happen with the same knife on a Sharpmaker. A while ago I was sharpening my VG10 Dragonfly on the edges and ended up blunting the tip so I mostly began using just the flat sides of the Sharpmaker. I sharpened several knives several times using the flat sides without any problems until I blunted the tip of my small Insingo. I sharpened it using the diamond rods and was able to get a tip back.

Ha I ruined the tip of the sebenza and bought a vg10 dragonfly a little bit after that, and am about to sharpen it, only I am pretty confident I have corrected my technique lol

 

[tbabbitt]

I added a pic in the previous post that should answer this. Sorry if I confused you... not looking at the picture right initially kinda threw me off.

Okay makes sense, I am going to just try and sharpen the tip/cutting edge part up until it blends with the rest and creates a new tip. Not confident to do the spine thanks for the help