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- Apr 12, 2009
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I've been trying to sharpen again and got my Opinel no8 to cut paper fairly easy so I'm going into the right direction BUT.
When I tried the same on my small Swiss knife on an angel of 20 degrees I stays dull ... Have been looking at it, feeling it, but no clue what's wrong.
What I would like to know is when you finish with the coarsest stone, the knife should already be sharp right? But sharp enough to cut sponge or paper?
Just for me to know whether it is the angle that's not right, or I go to the finer grit to quickly
Is this a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife? If so, those need a more delicate touch; both with the pressure used, and with the aggressiveness or coarseness of the abrasive used. Their steel runs pretty soft, and a lighter touch and finer abrasive will usually work better with them, especially if using more aggressive abrasive types like diamond hones. I'd never go any coarser than a 'Fine' diamond on them, even for re-bevelling blades on SAKs; an EF would work well for touching up. Coarser hones will cut deeply into those blades, and leave the edge even more ragged than would be seen on many other knives (like your Opinel), using the same hone. If a finer hone isn't available, then at the very least, make sure to go very, very light with pressure used, and with a minimum of strokes. Check for changes in sharpness after every pass.
David