This is messed up, even my kitchen knife is sharper than Gerber knife

J

jzmtl

Joined
Jul 29, 2007
Messages
434
So I finally learned some good sharpening techniques here, and I dug out every knife in the house to sharpen them. :D

With exactly the same method, I sharpened my 7$ chef's knife, and my gerber gator. No matter how I do it, the gerber just can't get nearly as sharp as the kitchen knife. Hair shaving, paper slicing or what have you, the kitchen knife beats gerber by a long shot.

Now I know gerber make cheap knives, but come on, they can't even beat a 7$ kitchen knife?

I sure hope the applegate I ordered is better quality than this! :eek:

Anyway, just thought you guys might find this story funny.
 
Well... look at the thickness of the kitchen knives compared to just about any folding knife. Of course you can get a kitchen knife sharp with a lot less effort.

I have noticed that the Gators are hard to sharpen. I don't own one myself, but I've sharpened one for a friend. The edges are ground pretty obtuse and it took a lot of effort to pull the edge grind back and thin it out.

It'll take some work, but you should be able to get the Gator pretty sharp. They're not the best knives in the world, but they're pretty tough.
 
Learning how to sharpen using benchstones is an excercise in patience.

The thicker the blade the more of an excercise in patience.
 
I have a few gerbers,mainly lst models,but I have sharpend a gator for a friend,and like pyscho said, they have pretty thick bevels and take a little work,But will get shaving sharp.
 
Where are the gators made? A lot of Gerbers are made in Tiawan, out of pretty bad steel. I have both Applgate folders, The covert is razor sharp, and built tuff. I don`t think you have to worry.
 
Sucks to be you, I've had my gator shaving a few times, what makes it suck is that it looses it right away, In all honesty, a few cuts and its lost the shaving ability.


I think you need a gator in ats-34.
 
I have a gator from the first year they produced them and have been nothing but happy with it. Also it doesn't take much time at all to thin it out if you use diamonds, I used a handheld red dmt and it only took me about a minute.
 
use a belt sander, just be careful not to burn the temper.:eek: I put a cup of water next to me and after 5-6 seconds of grinding, dip the blade.

I have two Gerbers and it is true the blade is ground too thick. After you grind the edge down it will definitely beat your $7 kitchen knife.;)
 
johnny reb said:
Where are the gators made? A lot of Gerbers are made in Tiawan, out of pretty bad steel. I have both Applgate folders, The covert is razor sharp, and built tuff. I don`t think you have to worry.
Click to expand...

Most of the Taiwan made gerbers are of 440A steel, it's old but not a bad steel. 440A is a tad soft but it's very tough, I use my gerbers to chop and open wood crates, scrape grout, cut metal cans, hammering thru drywall. Not bad for a $40 knife.
 
The edge on the gerber is likely more obtuse than the angle you are applying with the abrasive.

-Cliff
 
Gators are made in USA, Portland Oregon. I have one I use to cut brush away on trails and cut sweet clover out of a field for my rabbits and it's not hard to sharpen. I use diamond V sticks and finish on ceramic fine sticks, while it doesn't hold an edge long it is easy to bring back as sharp as any. The drop point is 154cm and is only about 45 dollars in the Gerber store so you can find them at a discounter for around 36. The clip point is just regular stainless probably some sort of 440. Nothing fancy but good for a rough use knife. Good grip and the lockup seems fairly solid.
http://www.gerberstore.com/index.php?xpage=itempage&xid=360
That drop point with 154 looks like a deal for the money.
 
johnny reb said:
Where are the gators made? A lot of Gerbers are made in Tiawan, out of pretty bad steel. I have both Applgate folders, The covert is razor sharp, and built tuff. I don`t think you have to worry.
Click to expand...


Gerber Gator Folders are still made in the USA. I have always found the model to be very good.
 
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