Tips on sharpening my ODA knife

[Seaofsilence]

I have a nice CS ODA knife that came "dull" from the factory back when and i need some pointers on how to best sharpen it. It`s still like new and i heard since it says made in Taiwan on it this means the steel alloy is inferior to that of the more expensive issues of this knife. Maybe i have to consider these facts before sharpening the knife? I already have a 1000 grit Global ceramic stone but in my head i need something a little coarser than that to kick off the session?! Maybe 6 or 800? I may be reaching a little bit here but i am not very far off or am i? What grits do i need to properly prepare this knife? (i`m thinking like 3 different grits but i could be wrong) I \ve looked around but haven`t seen a whole lot. Thanks for any helpful pointers.

 

[PMQ]

If your edge is severely damaged or extremely dulled, then it's better to use a coarse stone 220-400 to fix it. You can fix your edge with a 1000 grit stone but it'll take a lot of time.

If your knife is kinda-sharp-not-razor-sharp, then a 1000 grit stone is enough to get it plenty sharp.

 

[Seaofsilence]

Sorry my bad, it says "made in China" on the knife. That`s what i meant to say that is is the cheaper edition with an "inferior" steel alloy. Does this mean it is stainless steel of some sort and not the AUS8 alloy? I really like the design of the ODA that`s why i have it. I`ve looked around on ebay for an example with the superior steel alloy but so far no luck. The metal on my knife is not black but "polished steel" i don`t like the black coloured Carbon V ones. My edge is sharp but not razor sharp. So using 1000 grit on this type of steel will suffice plenty? No need to think any longer about 3000 grit and so on?

 

[PMQ]

Welcome to the knife community, it's going to be confusing at first, but don't worry, everyone here also started out confused also.

Firstly, don't overthink about steel, an average user is not going to notice a difference. As long as it is hardened steel, it'll cut.

Secondly, one of the lie/myth that you'll hear first getting into the knife community is, higher grit = higher sharpness, this is total bs, sharpness depends on your skill, not grit. If you don't know how to sharpen a knife, buying 15.000 grit stone won't magically makes it sharp. Learning how to sharpen takes time, it's like learning how to ride a bike or learning how to swim, you will 100% mess up the first couple of times, but don't worry, practice and you'll eventually get better.

If you're worried that you'll mess up your ODA, practice on a cheap kitchen knife.

You said that your edge is sharp, but not razor sharp, you might want to read about "strop"

 

[bikerector]

Sorry my bad, it says "made in China" on the knife. That`s what i meant to say that is is the cheaper edition with an "inferior" steel alloy. Does this mean it is stainless steel of some sort and not the AUS8 alloy? I really like the design of the ODA that`s why i have it. I`ve looked around on ebay for an example with the superior steel alloy but so far no luck. The metal on my knife is not black but "polished steel" i don`t like the black coloured Carbon V ones. My edge is sharp but not razor sharp. So using 1000 grit on this type of steel will suffice plenty? No need to think any longer about 3000 grit and so on?

1000 is a decent one to finish with so if the edge is already sharp, you may be okay. If the edge is thick, then it won't work. Given the intent of that knife, it may just be a thicker edge intended for rougher use, not shaving and kitchen work.

If the steel is soft, then you can get more basic stones and it will work well for you. No need for diamonds and such though the diamond stones are a nice investment if you're looking at harder steels down the road, like S30v and so on.

The biggest problem, in my opinion, trying to use the fine stone you have is it will take so long to get to a fresh edge that you'll either give up before you get there, not know you've gotten there (harder to raise a noticeable bur), or the stone will clog up so much that you just won't make it there.

For a reference point, a DMT fine stone is considered a 730 grit stone and that's a common finishing stone for people putting a working edge on a knife for the harder, high carbide steels. Course is about 390 grit. I used a micro to grit calculator to get the grit numbers as DMT has micron and mesh numbers on their website. I find the DMT course to be rather slow for repairs and the extra course is much nicer to use, which is about 290 grit.

One of the sharpeners I like the most is a buck edgetek ultra steel sharpening rod as the movements are very similar to using a kitchen steel and it has 3 grits on it. It's not great for repairs but It's not too hard to get shaving sharp with it if the edge just needs sharpened. It won't get you all the way back to the start of the edge as the rod is curved so you'll still want to get to a stone every now and then but that's what I use for most touch ups and it works well with recurves, harkbills, and kuhkris as well. And the price is very reasonable. I can't find who makes the rod for buck as it just a rebrand of a common diamond sharpening rod that can also be found on various websites.