What angle do benchmade come with from the factory?

[hardheart]

I got my XX on ebay. for $62, it only comes in the 8" size.
You can get X coarse in 6", should be able to reprofile the BM quickly with it. I did it to an Ares a few years ago using a Lansky, wasn't bad.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I can only find the DMT Diasharp in Coarse, not XXCoarse. Will that do?

Yes, the xx-coarse would just be faster.

Will I be alright with starting over at 30* even though i've already been at it with 40* for awhile?

Yes, since that didn't hit the edge either it didn't really have any effect.

How long does it take to reprofile something like 154CM with a diamond stone.

About 10 minutes or so per side on a small folder, assuming you want to be somewhat conservative about how it looks when you are done and thus don't want to excessively scratch the primary grind or smear out the tip. If you don't care about any of that you can rip a new bevel in 1-2 minutes with the right stone.

Is freehand sharpening really as tough for a newbie as it sounds?

No, it is actually quite simple, but you don't really need to sharpen the knife anyway. You just want to reduce the angle down to under 15 degrees which will allow it to be sharpened on the Sharpmaker and that is just shaping the bevel which doesn't take any skill at all.

-Cliff

 

[afultz075]

Great! I guess i'll just get that $10 DMT stone.

How do you ensure that you keep a consistent angle while sharpening freehand? Do you alternate sides after every stroke like on an SM? Or maybe these angles don't need to be as scientific as i'm thinking.
Now, if I reprofile it to 15 degrees, does that mean I want to always sharpen only using the 30 degree setting on the SM (even though the SM says that for backbevel)?

 

[Cliff Stamp]

How do you ensure that you keep a consistent angle while sharpening freehand?

You don't be overly concerned about it, it will just come with time.

Do you alternate sides after every stroke like on an SM?

Grind until you form an edge on one side then flip over to the other side.

Now, if I reprofile it to 15 degrees, does that mean I want to always sharpen only using the 30 degree setting on the SM ...

Generally when regrinding, you apply a bevel more acute than you actually intend to sharpen. If you wanted to sharpen with the 15 degree rods then when regrinding on the x-coarse stone you would hone at about 10.

-Cliff

 

[afultz075]

I just got an idea. Has anyone tried attaching a strip of sandpaper to a sharpmaker stone with double sided tape and used that for reprofiling? I'm not sandpaper expert and am not sure what grit would be needed, but just running an idea through my head.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Yes, sandpaper on stones and just leaning other stones against the rods are used by many. However for just shaping you don't need high angle control and thus you can be much faster freehand.

-Cliff

 

[afultz075]

Ok, and finally, do I need to use water or oil on those DMT stones? How do I know when the reprofiling has been completed?

 

[Cliff Stamp]

No you don't need to use water. Draw the edge lightly right across the stone like you were trying to cut the stone in half, do not press on the blade, just its own weight will do. Now when you regrind the blade you stop when the knife can slice newsprint. Draw the blade across the stone again and repeat for the other side.

-Cliff

 

[afultz075]

So I draw the blade like I do with the SM (only parallel to the ground as the stone will be laying flat) or do I draw the heel of the blade towards me?

I did find a DMT X-Coarse stone. But does it cut that much faster that it's worth twice the price? http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=DMTW4X

Thanks for all the help Cliff. It is MUCH appreciated.

 

[hardheart]

cheaper here
http://www.knivesplus.com/DMT-Knife-Sharpener-DMT-FWX.HTML

here's a smaller one
http://www.afterknife.com/product_info.php/cPath/36/products_id/454350517

I don't know about afterknife, but I've dealt with knivesplus a couple times with good results. That's also where I've seen the 6" extra coarse, on a double sided diasharp with coarse on the opposite side.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Since you have to hone both sides you have to push away from you and pull towards you to first sharpen one side and then the other. You can of course hone one side edge trailing and thus both away on both sides, however I find that to be more difficult to control. The DMT stones should not be more expensive at the more coarse grits, in general stones get more expensive at the finer grits.

-Cliff

 

[afultz075]

So you're saying I can hone them by moving it against the edge and not towards it (as if I were stropping)? I'm not quite sure I understand.

Also, do I have to be concerned about one side of my edge going further up the blade than the other?

 

[Cliff Stamp]

So you're saying I can hone them by moving it against the edge and not towards it (as if I were stropping)? I'm not quite sure I understand.

To start, blade the blade on the stone with the edge away from you with the heel of the blade on the right side of the stone. Push the blade away from you while pulling the blade to the right so that at the end of the stone the tip of the blade is making contact. Repeat this until the blade has been sharpened using the paper method noted in the above. Now flip the blade over so that the edge is pointing towards you and basically reverse the action and pull the knife towards you.

Also, do I have to be concerned about one side of my edge going further up the blade than the other?

You will likely see some effect of this due to some angle variance, it will decrease as you sharpen more knives.

-Cliff

 

[SanShou]

Thanks a lot Cliff and everyone posting here, all this info is really apreciated, now I fell more confident to start sharpening freehand. I'm getting one of those DMT stones right now