Trouble sharpening my GEC 15! (title change)

Parke1

Parke1

Joined
Feb 11, 2003
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I'm not sure if this post fits best here or in the maintenance and tinkering forum, but I always turn to my traditional family first.

Have you ever had a traditional that you have trouble with? For me, it's this one:

20130623_140609_zps888992cf.jpg


I CANNOT get this thing shaving sharp. I must confess, I've relied too heavily on my sharpmaker for too long. I recently stumbled across Carl's wonderful instinctive sharpening video, and it helped me greatly (THANK YOU Carl!!!). I took my #85 jack from a so-so edge to shaving sharp in no time at all with a Fallkniven dc4 stone, which I considered to be a great success. The above pictured #15, though, is beating me soundly.

I tried for way way too long on the sharpmaker to get a good edge on it, to no avail. I have osteoarthritis, so using a sharpmaker for long periods of time is very difficult. I switched to the dc4 stone, and can get it pretty sharp, but it absolutely won't shave hair.

Any ideas what I might be doing wrong? Does anyone else have any traditionals that consistently prove stubborn?

Thanks for reading gang!
-Dan
 
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Mark the edge with a sharpie, take a few strokes on the Sharpmaker, then examine the edge. If the cutting edge is still colored from the sharpie, then the edge angles aren't matching the angles on the Sharpmaker. Until they match, you are only refining the angles, which can take a very long time on the Sharpmaker.

If this indeed is your problem, get some 180 grit aluminum oxide paper, wrap it around the flat side of the stone, and draw the knife up the stone in a reverse cutting stroke. Try 50 strokes each side for 1095. Then try the Sharpie trick. Repeat until the sharpie is removed at the cutting edge.

You can also contact one of the fellas on the maintenance forum who sharpen knives as a business. Tell them you want the edge bevel set to match the Sharpmaker. Shouldn't cost much to do so.
 
Dan - which instruction by Carl you are thinking of? I have propably the same problem with my Puma Stockman made in good ol' Solingen.

I´d be pleased with a link to this.

What Frank mentions above is also a good tip, I´ve done it myself several times. I always use to sharpen my knives at 20° per side. :)
 
You know, as I sit here at work (hey, it's a slow day), I just colored the edge with a marker and lightly honed it in a circular fashion on a smith's diamond stone. I polished the marker right off, and it feels darned sharp, but still won't do a thing to any hair. It's really strange. Since I've been practicing with various knives on this Smith sharpener and my DC4 stone I've been doing very well. My other GEC's or SAK's, Opinels, etc pose no issue when it comes to getting a shaving sharp edge freehand. It's just this darned 15!

I'll color the edge again tonight and run it on the Sharpmaker and see what I'm coming up with. Thanks Frank!
-Dan
 
There is nothing troublesome about those #15 pattern knives!
The thread title is very misleading, Parke1!! You are not asking if a knife is any good - you are asking how to sharpen the knife, if I read you right!
Those #15s are nicely ground as many here have noted.
A few strokes on my EZELAP bench hone, and my barber could make a living with the results.
And those 1095 blades cut a lot of cardboard before they need a touch up!
When you find the right angle, all will be revealed!!
 
You might find a magnifying glass useful, you will be able to really see where your knife is hitting the stone.

Pete
 
Charlie, my apologies! There certainly isn't anything wrong with the knife, it's the owner that has a screw loose! :p This 15 is actually my most carried knife, and I've mentioned before that I consider it to be my favorite. I drool over the pictures of your beautiful charlows constantly. I was actually gearing up to buy one at the next opportunity, but since we found out we're expecting I'm going to have to be content with my 15 for a while...

I agree with what you said above, I must just be getting an angle a hair off. Pete, the magnifying glass is a good idea! I have a feeling I know what I'll be doing tonight...

Thanks for the replies, everyone! Charlie, please accept my apologies again!
-Dan
 
Parke1 said:
Charlie, my apologies! There certainly isn't anything wrong with the knife, it's the owner that has a screw loose! :p This 15 is actually my most carried knife, and I've mentioned before that I consider it to be my favorite. I drool over the pictures of your beautiful charlows constantly. I was actually gearing up to buy one at the next opportunity, but since we found out we're expecting I'm going to have to be content with my 15 for a while...

I agree with what you said above, I must just be getting an angle a hair off. Pete, the magnifying glass is a good idea! I have a feeling I know what I'll be doing tonight...

Thanks for the replies, everyone! Charlie, please accept my apologies again!
-Dan
Click to expand...

No offense taken! I accept on behalf of #15s everywhere!:D

I must admit, I have written my share of bloopers!

I too, have a tip. If there is a source of light high and in front of you, it will reflect off your edge when it is dull, but the edge will disappear when it is sharp!! Kinda like magic!:D
 
Parke1 said:
You know, as I sit here at work (hey, it's a slow day), I just colored the edge with a marker and lightly honed it in a circular fashion on a smith's diamond stone. I polished the marker right off, and it feels darned sharp, but still won't do a thing to any hair. It's really strange. Since I've been practicing with various knives on this Smith sharpener and my DC4 stone I've been doing very well. My other GEC's or SAK's, Opinels, etc pose no issue when it comes to getting a shaving sharp edge freehand. It's just this darned 15!

I'll color the edge again tonight and run it on the Sharpmaker and see what I'm coming up with. Thanks Frank!
-Dan
Click to expand...

Dan, you may be just on the cusp of getting there to the shaving edge. That's the problem with those gadget sharpeners, they only go to certain angles, and you can end up trying to sharpen a bevel shoulder if you don't match up perfectly. I've had a problem or two with knives that have a weird or other than standard bevel angle. Put the blade on the stone, and look very carefully at how close it matches up. Do the marker thing, and then with a new shiny bevel, look closely for any marker left right up at the very edge with a magnifier glass. I'm betting the RC is maybe a bit higher than the SAK's and Opinel's you had success with, and your close but not quite there.

Take a break, relax, and give it a go again with the stone free hand, and stay away from those sharp makers.

Carl.
 
Well, I want to say thank you again to everyone above. Carl, I took your advice and didn't touch that sharpmaker. Charlie, I edited my thread title to not confuse anyone.

I got it!

I broke out the marker and magnifying glass, and sure enough, I was lying the knife just a teensy bit too flat on the stone. I raised it just a hair, reprofiled (kinda) on the diamond side of the dc4 stone, and then smoothed it out on the ceramic side. Holy moley, I can't believe this! I honestly believe that this is now my sharpest knife. I kept on slicing up newsprint and shaving off arm hair until Katie told me to lay off...

Thanks again for the advice everyone. You're all what makes this place so great. :)

-Dan
 
Dan, most freehand sharpeners end up with multiple bevels on their edges. If I have a blade which doesn't want to get sharp, I first lay it pretty flat (12-15°) on my course bench stone and do small circles to reprofile the edge. Then I take my 600 grit (fine) diamond steel and do long, light strokes starting at the flat angle and working up a couple degrees at a time until I'm at around 20-25° per side. I end up with a convex sort of edge that lasts long and only needs stropping to keep it good.
 
Gee Dan, I love what you have done with the place!!
Nice title!
And man that knife is sharp!!
But you need to vacuum or something. There's hair all over the place!!
:D:D
 
This thread had been fairly refreshing for me. Lately I've been having a bit of a dry spell with my sharpening, I've gone from being half decent at it to being unable to get my knives sharp, or at least unable to stay sharp. Some of the advice on here has put me back on track. And sometimes you really do need to walk away from the sharpening for a while and come back later, even if it means a couple of days of dull knives.
 
Glad to hear you got it going sharply and you can tell your better half about that shaving hair stuff, what I always tell my wife when she catches me doing that...

"I have a Constitutional Right to Bare Arms" :)
G2
 
People used to ask me if I had mange, now they ask if I've been sharpening knives again. It embarrasses my wife, but she bears it patiently. Glad you got your knife sharp.
 
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