Uneven blade grind

O

Old Ross

Joined
May 23, 2004
Messages
19
I am fairly certain my RC4 has a slightly different grind on each side of the blade, if I ink up the edge, using my sharpmaker the right hand (Rowen) side of the blade is 20 degrees with the ink coming off evenly but the left hand side seems to be between 20 & 30 degrees with the ink at the edge not being cleaned off. This results in a fine burr on the left hand edge, which is easily bent over, and edge sharpness is lost. I have not experienced this before on the sharpmaker so I'm pretty sure its not me being unequal in angle or pressure. It is not a major problem to me but I'm wondering if I just keep re-sharpening @ 20 degrees if the 2 sides will even up. Any thoughts?? P.S. RC 4 is the perfect "if I only had one" knife
 
It would not surprise me at all if one side is slightly different from the other since the edge is finished by hand. I would keep sharpening until I evened it up. Now, with that said, if you are using a Spyderco Sharpmaker (which I think is one of the best sharpeners in the industry), then it could be the way you are gripping the blade causing the difference in angles since the Sharpmaker depends on the user holding the blade straight up and down as it is used. You might try a different system such as a Smith Bros. which actually puts the hone at a specific angle when sharpening.
 
many thanks for such an instant reply, I'll keep going with the sharpmaker for a while, the knife at the moment is being used alternately for battening hardwood logs for the outdoor fire and preparing food in the kitchen so it gets touched up fairly often. Needless to say it performs both tasks very well!
 
R.A.T. said:
It would not surprise me at all if one side is slightly different from the other since the edge is finished by hand. I would keep sharpening until I evened it up. Now, with that said, if you are using a Spyderco Sharpmaker (which I think is one of the best sharpeners in the industry), then it could be the way you are gripping the blade causing the difference in angles since the Sharpmaker depends on the user holding the blade straight up and down as it is used. You might try a different system such as a Smith Bros. which actually puts the hone at a specific angle when sharpening.
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I've tried Google, but I'm not quite sure that the items I found are what you're recommending.
 
The company may be out of business. The one I had was years ago. Try Lansky since I know they have this type system.
 
My personal opinion, YMMV;

Skip the Lansky sharpeners. The stones are very nice but the sharpening apparatus would not stay on any of my knives, no matter how much they were tightened. It's a pretty "clunky" system. I ended up going back to a whet stone, with better results.
 
I use a diamond stone to set the angle, then sandpaper to clean it up and make it shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrppppppppppppppppp. :D
 
Gatco do a simalar system to Lanskeys, both with oil stones and with diamond & ceramic , which is less mess. It can be difficult especially with a larger knife to get it gripped in the sharpening vice but I have managed with my RC4. However I far and away prefer the ease of my Spyderco sharpmaker for any size knife/axe scissors etc. The onlydrawback is there are only 2 fixed angles 30 + 40 (total) angle
 
I use a sharpmaker and a leather strop on almost everything I have (1/4" thick beasts aside) - they're pretty foolproof. I agree with Jeff that it is pretty easy to tilt the blade some on one side - I tend to do so when I'm sharpening the left side of the blade - the right side is easier for me to keep "up and down," I tend to tilt left on the left side if I'm not paying attention.
 
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