Uneven grind on BK7

C

connorr93

Joined
Jul 8, 2011
Messages
253
Well after much trial and error I have come to the conclusion that the grind on my BK7 is uneven. My sharpener (Spyderco sharp maker) will not sharpen my right side edge unless I really cock my wrist in a weird way. I have been trying to sharpen it for at least 2 hours with no progress. I can see the effects of the sharpener on my left side edge and on the right side I can see where its been taking off steel but it's still a millimeter or so away from the edge.

I suppose that this knife may be a bit of a lemon. First time I had it out battoning the finish on the knife started flaking off instead of the smooth wear I was expecting and my handle screw nut got lost because of a screw not being tight enough from the factory (I know I should have checked this before heading out).

Anyways, this being my first becker, I was not initially impressed with the brand. However seeing the fan base and reputation the brand had a changed my mind. Now I'm not so sure. I suppose this knife may just have been one of those special ones but incorrect heat treating and a uneven grind? Haha I would like to know who let this one pass. Anyways I would like to hear some impute on this. Is this a common occurrence?
 
I can tell you right off the bat that you are gunna have to post pictures to get the response you want.
But it does happen from time to time.
 
Take it to some diamond stones for a while. Took me a week to get my 7 how I wanted it but I only spent like half an hour every other day on it.
 
Ok the photos aren't very good because of the lighting (its late here) but here ya go. This is after I had been working it.

You can see where there is no glare.

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This is the other side. You can see the grind is even here.

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Now that I am actually examining it I can clearly tell just feeling it with my finger that the factory grind is Way off. One side is close to flat while the other has a huge angle to it. It almost seems like a chisel grind.
 
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Hey Connorr93.......

Sorry that you are unhappy......Hunter is right, picures will help in dignosing the problem......I cannot imagine spending two hours on a fresh factory edge to make it sharp but, feces occur and we will make it work for you......the coating problem you are expriencing also confuses me.....pictures please......What grit stone are you using any way ?.......I will be happy to send you a new 10-24 nc nut..........Looking forward to solvig your problem.......

Ethan
 
Send it in for sharpening. I wouldn't bother trying to profile anything thicker than an opinel blade on a sharpmaker.
 
Hey Connorr....

Ah....pics.......first off please bear in mind that sharpening of the final bevel is done by hand and not by machine and I know of no factory that machines that final bevel......So almost all factory sharpening is "off " a degree or two or three.....If you want to send the blade back to KaBar you are welcome to, but before you go to the trouble please call me at 423 295 2500..... I may have some tips .....

Ethan
 
Ethan Becker said:
Hey Connorr93.......

Sorry that you are unhappy......Hunter is right, picures will help in dignosing the problem......I cannot imagine spending two hours on a fresh factory edge to make it sharp but, feces occur and we will make it work for you......the coating problem you are expriencing also confuses me.....pictures please......What grit stone are you using any way ?.......I will be happy to send you a new 10-24 nc nut..........Looking forward to solvig your problem.......

Ethan
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Hi Ethan. I dont have any pictures of the coating because I stripped it all but I did post pics of the blade. The knife arrived from the factory sharp but as the pictures show the grid is was off which makes it very hard to re-sharpen. As for the nut, I already replaced it but thanks anyways.
 
Ethan Becker said:
Hey Connorr....

Ah....pics.......first off please bear in mind that sharpening of the final bevel is done by hand and not by machine and I know of no factory that machines that final bevel......So almost all factory sharpening is "off " a degree or two or three.....If you want to send the blade back to KaBar you are welcome to, but before you go to the trouble please call me at 423 295 2500..... I may have some tips .....

Ethan
Click to expand...

Hi, the pictures I took were after I had tried sharpening it.
 
Yeah, I could tell.....give me a call ....I will be up a bit longer ....or give a call tomorrow during the day....

Ethan
 
If you want to see some REALLY uneven grind lines, you should see some of the stuff produced in the final days of Camillus. My BK-7 has grinds that are a little bit off but my brother's BK-7 looks like it was ground by drunk circus monkeys. It's only aesthetic. It doesn't really affect functionality. But it is a disappointment to see on something which cost $60+ rather than a $15 piece of crap from Pakistan.

So far what I've seen from Kabar looks much better.
 
Not sure if this would help or not but did you try using a sharpie on the bevel to see if it was wearing off evenly. I have had a few cheap knives (flea market specials) over the years that have had some pretty ugly bevels and I find the sharpie helped me. I still use them alot.
 
Which angle are you using? If it's 30, then I want to back up what has been posted already. Reprofiling on the Sharpmaker can be hard without the diamond stones.
 
connorr93 said:
I suppose this knife may just have been one of those special ones but incorrect heat treating and a uneven grind? Haha I would like to know who let this one pass. Anyways I would like to hear some impute on this. Is this a common occurrence?
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What makes you think the heat treat is incorrect? Also you may want to invest in a better sharpening system. If you don't want to spend much try using sandpaper instead of the sharpmaker it will be much easier and way faster.
 
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you can take some 320 grit sandpaper (or even coarser if you want) and wrap it around the sharpmaker's stones - it should speed up fixing that edge. if you have diamond bench stones (or can borrow) you can also make a wooden jig (something triangular shape, probably just some $8 piece of wood from home depot) to hold it vertically at 20° and you can use it the way you use the sharpmaker...last is that spyderco also sells diamond stones for the sharpmaker.
 
I don't recall ever ordering or buying a knife that didn't have an uneven grind. Unless you order a high dollar custom blade, they are all going to come from the factory with a belt sanded edge. No mater how long someone has been making knives the edge is simply not going to be even.

Spend $50 on a Smith Diamond hone kit. Mark the edge with a sharpe and use the course diamond to profile both sides until they are perfect. It can take the worst edge and make it perfect in little time. Then switch to the fine diamond, then the stone. After that strop the edge and you'll be spitting hairs in minutes.

I cleaned up two new blades from another manufacture yesterday and maybe spent 30 minutes on both. They now have perfect edges.

BTW, in case you are not aware many expensive kitchen knives have a differnt angle on each side of the blade for a reason. If you get the Smith's learn what the angles are and why they are that way before you go crazy and reprofile all of them. :)
 
I was curious about the "incorrect heat treating" comment as well. Could you expand on that for us please?
 
Hate that happened, brother, but its not uncommon to see it.

To be honest, I wish I could get my knives without an edge on them at all.......honestly, I do.

I don't even consider a knife "mine" until I put a Sunday Morning Shaver on it.

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Moose
 
tradewater said:
I was curious about the "incorrect heat treating" comment as well. Could you expand on that for us please?
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Well as my post says, the coating of my blade was flaking off instead of the smooth wear I am used to on my coated blades. My only guess is that there must have been some problem with how the coating on my knife was applied. Unless this to is a common occurance.

Update on the blade: I spent about a half hour trying to bring my right side edge to where its supposed to be and im seeing a bit of progress. Thanks for the tips guys.

In addition, I guess I really should invest in something that will reprofile knives a little faster. However, I have never owned a knife where the grind was so uneven that it was impossible to sharpen withought reprofiling, and, contrary to what people have been saying, I do not think that this is a common occurance with Beckers. I understand that a lot of knives come with uneven grinds but the grind on this blade is like nothing I have ever seen. Anyways, the problem is under control. Thanks again!
 
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