Tanto blade

[Kurniadion]

I love the look of a tanto blade but Im thinking that it won't be that easy to touch up using sharpmaker. I don't think it would be a problem if I do have wicked edge or a clamp system, but at this moment I dont.

Any comments guys?

 

[omgomgyouguys]

Tantos are ridiculously easy to sharpen on a stone though.

 

[kidcongo]

I love the look of a tanto blade but Im thinking that it won't be that easy to touch up using sharpmaker. I don't think it would be a problem if I do have wicked edge or a clamp system, but at this moment I dont.

Any comments guys?

If you want to keep the extremely perfect CRK grind, the tanto is a challenge on the sharpmaker. I have a CRK tanto, and a sharpmaker, but lack the patience to keep the two grinds perfectly separate. I end up sharpening the long edge on the sharpmaker (carefully and only using the flats), and doing the tip on a strop.

I think to really enjoy the CRK tanto blade you need to be one of three kinds of people:

1- a person who is a collector and will not use the knife

2 - a free thinker who is totally OK with the tip morphing into some sort of spanto-ish shape after lots of hard use and random sharpening efforts.

3 - a reasonably skilled knife sharpener with patience.

I fit none of these categories, so I'm still a little unsure of the tanto. I like it mostly because I think it has something to teach me, if that makes sense.

 

[kidcongo]

I should mention that what I perceive as an additional challenge for getting the CRK tanto blade sharpened properly, and looking good, is that both the long cutting edge, and the tip edge have belly (IE they are both curved).

 

[Kurniadion]

Man! You are right on bro.
Hate to spend more on a more sophisticated sharpening system ;(
But since skill is def harder to build, I guess it's a lot easier to spend...

If you want to keep the extremely perfect CRK grind, the tanto is a challenge on the sharpmaker. I have a CRK tanto, and a sharpmaker, but lack the patience to keep the two grinds perfectly separate. I end up sharpening the long edge'on the sharpmaker (carefully and only using the flats), and doing the tip on a strop.

I think to really enjoy the CRK tanto blade you need to be one of three kinds of people:

1- a person who is a collector and will not use the knife

2 - a free thinker who is totally OK with the tip morphing into some sort of spanto-ish shape after lots of hard use and random sharpening efforts.

3 - a reasonably skilled knife sharpener with patience.

I fit none of these categories, so I'm still a little unsure of the tanto. I like it mostly because I think it has something to teach me, if that makes sense.

 

[Kurniadion]

I think I'll for sure ruin it freehand

I should mention that what I perceive as an additional challenge for getting the CRK tanto blade sharpened properly, and looking good, is that both the long cutting edge, and the tip edge have belly (IE they are both curved).

 

[Haze]

The primary or main edge can be treated like any other CRK edge, the tanto point is basically a convex edge and needs to be sharpend as such. You can use the sharpmaker, stones or what ever it is you use on the main blade but you're better to use a bit of high grit paper and a soft backing to do the tip. I use a strip of 800 paper with a pice of neoprene (wetsuit material) under it and then just strop it to finish.

 

[BlackEnd]

The primary or main edge can be treated like any other CRK edge, the tanto point is basically a convex edge and needs to be sharpend as such. You can use the sharpmaker, stones or what ever it is you use on the main blade but you're better to use a bit of high grit paper and a soft backing to do the tip. I use a strip of 800 paper with a pice of neoprene (wetsuit material) under it and then just strop it to finish.

Agreed...to a point. Not to sound ridiculous but the edge is the edge. My EDC is a large tanto and I've found it to sharpen as easy as a standard blade. With novice sharpening skills, the tanto blade is not hard to keep a good edge. Why people are constantly wanting to reprofile the sebenza edge is beyond me.