Trouble with 154CM on BM Mini-Grip

A

ak585479

Joined
Jun 9, 2014
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Good morning BF,

I got a Mini Grip at a local gun store a couple months back and used the hell out of it and cannot for the life of me get it back to push cutting paper sharp. Can't even get a great toothy edge either for that matter, it's just dull and won't sharpen up. It's the kind with the spydie hole and kind of a weird blade shape I don't even know what I'd call it, reverse tanto I guess? I use my Sharpmaker starting with diamond (if necessary) all the way down through UF then green loaded strop from woodcraft on the rough side then mothers mag on the smooth side then just smooth bare leather. This method of sharpening works outstanding for me with all my other knives which includes 8Cr13MoV, AUS-8, VG-10, 420HC, H1, M390, CPM-M4, 1095, and an unknown Gerber. I have no problem with any of those (admittedly haven't tried the H1 yet but that's beside the point) so why does this Mini Grip give me so much trouble? This is the only 154CM blade I own right now and here's my dilemma, I bought a Kershaw/Emerson CQC-7k and I love it. So much so that I really want to try out a real Emerson however with the trouble this 154CM is giving me on the mini grip I'm hesitant to shell out $200 for another knife in that steel (which I think is steep for that steel regardless but people swear by those knives so I'm not gonna knock it til I've tried it). Anyone else have issues with 154CM?


On an unrelated note,
I'm an alcoholic (53 days sober now :)), and as a result of my actions during that part of my life, along with many other consequences I will be going to jail for 3 months this Friday. I just want to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Festivus, etc, God bless you all.


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2 years 3 months. Hang in there.

Sounds like you are doing everything right, not sure what the problem is. My Grio had a terrible edge from the factory. The edge bevels were very unevenly ground. I
Reprofiled it and took it to as high a polish as I could and it's still stupid sharp a year later.
 
It is possible that you are not getting to the edge when sharpening. I took mine to a 1X30" belt sander the first time I Sharpened it. That made it easy. Another possibility is that you are producing a wire edge with too much pressure. I bet that the first suggestion is the answer. Try marking the edge with a marker and check to see of you need to alter the sharpening angle or reprofile the edge.
 
Have you tried coloring the edge with sharpie before strarting each step? That will let you see what's being ground off.
I'd guess your not hitting the apex on the sharpmaker. Could be you're rounding the edge with the strop, but probably not if you don't with the other knife steels mentioned.

154CM is pretty easy to get very sharp. Should be a piece of cake with your equipment once you're hitting the apex.

Edited to add: Arty beat me to it.
 
I'm thinking maybe it just came with a really bad grind and I didn't spend enough time in the beginning on the diamond rods. I do fine with the same setup on my Gayle Bradley in M4 so I figured 154CM would be a cakewalk but I guess if the grind was way off to begin with then the steel type doesn't really matter. But I am gonna try the sharpie trick when I get a chance thanks all
 
I have a 908 in 154cm, I sharpen it with a Coarse DMT. 154cm likes a coarse edge and it sounds like you are going too fine.

With that said, most makers don't take the steel to high enough hardness, Emerson knives is a great example of this and yields edge retention on par with AUS8.

Personally, I have never been pleased with Benchmades heat treatment, everything always seems a little on the soft side and my M390 Grip is showng such issues. It's sad and embarrassing to see my Griptilian in M390 getting beat by VG-10 and BM's own 154cm.
 
Jason B. said:
I have a 908 in 154cm, I sharpen it with a Coarse DMT. 154cm likes a coarse edge and it sounds like you are going too fine.

With that said, most makers don't take the steel to high enough hardness, Emerson knives is a great example of this and yields edge retention on par with AUS8.

Personally, I have never been pleased with Benchmades heat treatment, everything always seems a little on the soft side and my M390 Grip is showng such issues. It's sad and embarrassing to see my Griptilian in M390 getting beat by VG-10 and BM's own 154cm.
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Interesting. Yeah I've been going to a very fine edge on it or at least attempting to. I'll try a toothier edge. Would I still strop it if I'm going for the coarse edge or not? I've read of people taking the sharpmaker through the coarse rods then going straight to the strop.
 
I had to reprofile my Grippie in CM154 to get it to where it would cut (oddly enough, my D2 Grippie from Cabella's didn't need reprofiling). I recently picked up an Emerson CQC-7A which has CM154, and after altering it to a true V, am much more impressed with this steel. Takes an uber fine edge, cuts like a mother-in-law's screech. It doesn't hold an edge as well as S35VN, but it's still an excellent steel IMHO. I find Benchmark's D2 and S30V to be excellent, but I'm not so sure of its CM154. Good luck to you and keep on the right path.
 
food for thought...

you MUST make sure you truly apex your edge. To make sure you are doing this, flip your knife over, edge up under a BRIGHT light (preferably sunlight). Turn to where you are facing the light and try to get light to glint or reflect off of your edge. If you can then that either means:

1. you have not truly apexed your edge or
2. you have a burr that needs to be removed.

From here it is easy to figure out what to do.
 
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