Trying to identify a Ka-Bar folder.

[TheMightyGoat]

I got a Ka-Bar folding pocket knife a few years ago for a birthday present, it was from my brother, so it probably cost less than $15. I never knew what steel it was made of, and I didn't care until now. The problem is, I cannot manage to form a burr while sharpening no matter how many hundreds of strokes I preform! (Literally, hundreds, I counted). I can do this easily with 440C, ATS-34, various carbon steels like 1095 and uh... whatever the hell my HI khukuri is made of... but this mysterious Ka-Bar steel refuses to form a burr. I've looked for it on their homepage, but it's not listed, probably because it's a cheap knife that isn't widely looked for. I know the problem is just that it's crappy steel... but still... the extent of it's crappyness has piqued my curiosity.

It's a lockback, opened with a thumbnail slot, wood inlays, about a 2.5 inch blade, stamped "Ka-Bar 2792". That's kind of low to be a serial number, so it may be a model number, but I couldn't find anything to support that during my searches.

 

[Diamond Cut II]

These are close to the serial number you mentioned. Look at #2721.

 

[Don Luis]

The original edge may be at a large angle, you are probably just working on the base of the bevel and not touching the edge at all, you can use the magic marker trick or look at the edge under magnification to check for this.

If this is the case you may sharpen at the original angle or you may decide to reprofile the edge, for reprofiling you may want a coarse stone or sandpaper.