Terrible Factory Edges

C

CubistHamster

Joined
Feb 25, 2008
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227
I'm currently deployed in Kuwait, and don't have all that much to do. I picked up a Gatco Edgemate at the PX a couple days ago, just to try it out and kill some time.

I brought a Spyderco Sharpmaker with me, and with it I'm able to keep most of my knives shaving sharp without much difficulty. There are a couple that I've had trouble with, though, and I figured I could use the Gatco to do some reprofiling.

I started this morning on an Endura 4 Wave, and quickly discovered that the factory bevel was ground to between 60 and 70 degrees inclusive along the entire length of the blade:eek: No wonder I couldn't do anything with the sharpmaker.

I decided that would be way too much work, so I moved on to my 550 Griptilian. The angle was better (about 50 degrees inclusive) but the bevel was off center to the point that it was almost nonexistent on one side.

After 4 hours with the extra course stone, I was able to get reasonably even bevels at 40 degrees inclusive. I definitely have a new appreciation for how good modern knife steels are. I can't imagine trying to do anything like that with one of my S30V blades, especially since most of them are also made from thicker stock.

I suppose this post is just about me letting off steam, and I do feel somewhat less annoyed. However, I'd be curious to know if anybody else has had similarly bad factory edges.
 
If you want to give your sharpening equipment a workout, pick up some Queen Cutlery knives in D2.
 
Even some of the most expensive, sought after and traded knives on this forum have uneven edges, 25 degrees one side and 35 degrees on the other, but most don't complain because most don't use them, they collect and trade and a knife that is sharpened fetches a lower price. Having said that I have also found that some of the least expensive knives come out the sharpest. Cold Steel 2010 range are awesome for out of the box sharpness.

I am a user and collector but not a trader so I sharpen all my knives and have worn out diamond steels on INFI, S101 Waki Sword, and other steels getting the angles even so that I can touch them up very quickly afterwords. I started with Lansky & Smith clamps, but now use a Wicked Edge, which for me it is perfect.



But the sweat, real sweat, was and is worth it because once they are where you want them, they are a real pleasure to use and the edges last MUCH longer before needing a touch-up.
 
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Just got a Busse Game Warden, it was so blunt that it wouldn't even cut paper, it took me a few hours on the Sharpmaker to get it right, now it's shaving sharp :)
 
I like 30 degrees inclusive, so one day I decided to reprofile my Endura ZDP-189 with my DMT Aligner. The factory edge was not nearly as sharp as ZDP can be, and the grind was slightly uneven. Because I had to break for work and sleep and eat, the process took two days.
 
CubistHamster said:
I suppose this post is just about me letting off steam, and I do feel somewhat less annoyed. However, I'd be curious to know if anybody else has had similarly bad factory edges.
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You're finding out what I found out. Pretty much all production knives are really sloppily profiled and usually not very sharp. Even the much-vaunted Spydercos are often not very well profiled (though they are usually reasonably sharp). I've never received a new Benchmade that was either sharp or properly profiled - nice knives, but you have to fix them when you get them, unless you buy them just to look at. :p I could go on about other brands (CRKT, Zero Tolerance, Ka-Bar, Kershaw).

I guess in a production environment they just don't have the time to do a really good job. Just buzz it till it's sort of sharp (or not) and on to the next one. "Good enough." :grumpy: You'd think they would set up some sort of CNC profiler/sharpener, but so far it just isn't happening. Too expensive, I suppose...

I use a set of Gatco diamond hones to re-profile, a SharpMaker to clean up after that and a leather strop (with just the Lee Valley green compound) for final sharpening and touch-ups. The strop is the best thing I ever bought. Gives the edges a nice mirror polish and makes them VERY sharp! Just takes a bit of practice to get a feel for it.
 
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Yeah. The problems really show themselves at the tip. Explaining the asymmetry to a new owner can be a real problem. They are very hard to convince that the factory edge was off but you are doing it correctly and fixing a factory defect.
 
futz said:
You're finding out what I found out. Pretty much all production knives are really sloppily profiled and usually not very sharp. Even the much-vaunted Spydercos are often not very well profiled (though they are usually reasonably sharp). I've never received a new Benchmade that was either sharp or properly profiled - nice knives, but you have to fix them when you get them, unless you buy them just to look at. :p I could go on about other brands (CRKT, Zero Tolerance, Ka-Bar, Kershaw).
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Ya I agree. For me, Benchmade is the biggest culprit for this.
 
futz said:
You're finding out what I found out. Pretty much all production knives are really sloppily profiled and usually not very sharp. Even the much-vaunted Spydercos are often not very well profiled (though they are usually reasonably sharp). I've never received a new Benchmade that was either sharp or properly profiled - nice knives, but you have to fix them when you get them, unless you buy them just to look at. :p I could go on about other brands (CRKT, Zero Tolerance, Ka-Bar, Kershaw).
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Weird. I've never received a Spyderco or Benchmade that wasn't really sharp out of the box. Granted, I haven't needed to sharpen most of them, but out of those that I have sharpened, I never had a problem on the Sharpmaker so they must have been profiled fairly well.

I can't make an excuses for the OP's Endura and Griptilian, but I think most production knives form good companies are done pretty well.
 
I love TOPS knives but their edges from the factory have been terrible on both the Anaconda and Screaming Eagle....Scrapyard Knives, I love my DF LE and Regulator but those factory edges are (I know blasphemy here, Guyon avert your delicate eye;)...just the one that doesn't wander) ca-ca, poopy.
 
i strongly advise individuals to get the large dmt diamond stones. i like the 10 in. combo stones like blue [coarse] & red [medium]. you can probably get by with 8 in. stones but the bigger ones make the job easier.if i did'nt have power equipment i would'nt even attempt queen's d2.s30 can be real tuff also.
dennis
 
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