Totally redoing Benchmade edges with a Spydie Sharpmaker

Let's say I have a Benchmade 710 plain blade (it's a recurved blade) and it came from the factory with lousy edges (imagine that!). Let's say that (1) the grind angles are too thick and (2) the face of the grind on the left side is about three times wider than the grind on the right--it's hard to see that the right side has a grind at all, for that matter.
Is it completely insane to sit down with a Sharpmaker's medium grit setup and try to re-do the whole thing? If I was happy with the angle of the grind and only wanted to make the left and right match, I could probably just work away on the right side until the edges met in the center. But, like I said, Benchmade ground them too thick.
Since the blade is recurved, I don't (think I) have the option of faster metal removal with a wide stone.
 
Not insane. Have done similar work with other knives. Just remember not to switch angles or rods until you get to where you want to be. I thought I had done enough of a back bevel and started on the cutting edge too soon. Had to go back and redo the back bevel all over again.

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It is not the fall that kills you. It is the realization that "yes, you did something that stupid."
 
J

Joe Talmadge

Joined
Oct 3, 1998
Messages
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DMT makes reasonably-priced 4" hones. Do yourself a favor and get the x-coarse model. It's a little too wide to be perfect, but will very quickly reprofile 80% of the blade. The small remaining section, the high point of the recurve, you can do with the medium Sharpmaker's stones. But the time saved using the DMT hone makes it well worth it.

Joe
 
Shmackey,

Insane? No

Time Consuming? Very

I did it on a 750 and it took several hours.

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AKTI Member No. A000370
Email: DouglasSctt@Netscape.net
 
I did the same thing on a 710. Mine had similar problems with uneven and excessively thick edge bevels. Joe's suggestion is a Very good one. BM's ATS-34 is a little hard. Use a coarse stone free hand to thin the bevels out. It will save A LOT of time. Then switch to the sharpmaker.

Tip: use a black tip felt marker to mark the edge bevels. It will allow you to quickly see if you have done enough work with the coarse stone before starting to work on the edge bevels. You want to see the the black area is worn off the edge. If the bevels are to thick or uneven, one side may look OK. But the other side will show a thin ribbon of black on the edge where the stone is not making contact. Work on that side with a coarse stone until the black is all gone. Then finish your edge bevels.

Good luck. It does take some time. But it's worth it.

Paracelsus

 
I've found that the Lansky will do a reasonable job in less than an hour. Just make sure you have an extra coarse stone.

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Chang the Asian Janitorial Apparatus
 
Not having the patience to use the Sharpmaker to do such work, I've turned to my Lansky set to accomplish this job on BM 750,710 and 705.....starting with the extra coarse stone and continuing with the coarse and medium stones. After that I went to the Sharpmaker to finish and continue using it to maintain the edge. The 705 & 710 have a 30 degree back bevel. I opted to maintain a single bevel(40 degree inclusive) on the 750.
 
Hmm...Joe, is this something you might do for a fee? I assume that after the reprofiling is done (correctly--i.e., by someone good at it, like not me), the sharpmaker will suffice for a good long time. Anyone?

Shmackey
 
It would be insane. One thing you could do is get some 220 grit wet/dry and wrap in around the triangle rods.

Quickest way to reprofile a blade is to go to the hardware store and buy a course stone file for sharpening lawnmower blades. They come in round shapes. Use a felt marker and your Sharpmaker to keep the angles right, and grind the edges on by hand. I color the edge, give it a couple swipes on the Sharpmaker to mark where the steel needs to come off, then put the knife in a vice and start filing to match the angle indicated. Keep filing until you get a burr, then do the other side.

My next re-edging project is a 9" Mad Dog Bayou Hunter with a 62 RcH edge. Ouch.
 
I'm offering cash money here! Anyone capable and interested in doing a reprofiling job for me?
 
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