What Did You Sharpen Today?

I learned something. As usual it was the hard way. Before rebeveling to match the angle I want, it’s best to be sure the current angle is even. Years ago I tried rebeveling a Cold Steel Kudu. It took forever. It would have been so much easier if i I had matched the factory bevel at 25 degrees or whatever it was. After evening out that buffet of angles, rebeveling would have been a breeze.

With this in mind I sharpened my sons Mini Bugout. I matched the original angle at 22 degrees per side all the way to a green DMT extra fine stone. If he wants it rebeveled, that’s a job for another day.
 
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This antique silver handled meat carving knife marked Johnson (Sheffield ?), probably made somewhere during the 1800's.
The knife now has a new toothy convex edge @ ~22.5 degrees inclusive.
Don't know for sure if it's any form of shear steel, but it takes a very toothy edge, imo just right for meat.
It is going to be used by a local master butcher, who often works on location with public, and who was looking for a large slicer that could also double as a conversation piece.





Also this antique lightweight talwar (814 grams) with flexible blade.
A friend of mine found this old saber on the bottom of a pallet of bayonets he had bought, and since these are not his cup of tea he kindly gave it to me.
The remains of the ancient convex edge measured ~35 degrees inclusive just above the ricasso, then gradually thinning to ~25 degrees inclusive along the business end, so i just recreated that.
Frighteningly fast weapon in trained hands, easily capable of slicing of an arm of a head.





 
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This is a Kizer Feist, a gentleman's pocket knife with a blade of S35VN. I sharpened it freehand at about 17 degrees per side. Since the knife already had a fair edge and accurate bevels, I started with a DMT Extra Fine stone, then an Extra Extra Fine stone (8K mesh per DMT). It left a smooth satin finish, and it handled the hard steel easily.

I used 13 degree blue plastic angle guides to get started, but my new, ultra secret technique is allowing me to rely on them less and less. I am using them to set the angle when I first start, and to check my angle a few times over the whole course of the process. I lubricated with highly diluted Krud Kutter, being careful to rinse the knife and stone clean afterwards to remove any corrosive material.

I stropped with 2 micron Jende diamonds on Nanocloth.

The finished edge is sharp! I'm not sure I could get a much better BESS score with my Wicked Edge rig.

The bevels are accurate but a lot more convex than I would like. I am not going to win any freehand beauty contests over here! This is where the WE really shines, because the bevels are crisp and precise from end to end.

I must continue to practice.
 
I sharpened the second pocket knife on the Tormek. The small knife jig holds the knife securely by the handle and is excellent for holding pocket knives or blades that does not have a flat surface to clamp. These wheels chew steel at an alarming rate. It is easy to overdo it, but I am pleased with how this turned out. I erred on the side of caution and did not lower it too much (17 dps). The knife is a Rosecraft Briarpatch Jack.





 
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This is an Architect Knives AK 4.5, with a blade of S35VN. I love the feel of this knife, it is a very useful size and weight for us in Southern California, where there is very little wood to cut, very little of anything that needs to be split or batoned. As near as I can figure, the grips are black linen AND brown burlap micarta. Micarta is great, but this almost Neapolitan micarta must be so much better! TWO things in the micarta! WHOA!!!

It got the full treatment on the Wicked Edge guided system, starting with a 400 grit diamond stone which reprofiled the blade from about 25 to 20 degrees per side pretty quickly. I proceeded through 600/800/1K/1.5K diamond stones, then switched to ceramics at about 2 and .5 mu. A light strop with blue lapping film and the blade had a mirror finish from the heel to the tip.

It cuts like a savage, and the handle is extremely comfortable. The S35VN presented no problems; the whole process went quickly with no drama. It might be a little too fine for heavy yard work, but I can always just sharpen it again. Maybe I'll bump it up to 25 degrees per side, that might make more sense on a knife that is going to see some enthusiastic use!

BESS scores came in around 140-145, not impressive considering the care I took on this one. Could this be a case of too much polishing degrading an edge? I have another AK I am going to sharpen next week, so I think I will keep the BESS machine handy so I can test after each stage. It will be a little more work, but I might learn something useful.

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Another Architect Knife, an AK 3.5 with a CPM 3V blade. I used my Wicked Edge with an angle block to set the bevels to 20 degrees per side. One side of the blade was pretty close out of the box, so that only required minor reprofiling with an 800 grit diamond stone. The other side was more obtuse and required 400 and 600 grit stones to get to 20 degrees. I finished up with the 800 and 1K grit stones.

Nothing fancy here, just a very crisp, precise bevel and a pretty fine edge right off the stone. No stropping or polishing of any sort, straight from the 1,000 grit diamond stone to the BESS machine. I tested three times for an average of 103, this was the lowest. It still has enough tooth to glide through kleenex or paper towels, but it will still cut receipt paper reliably, although not as quietly as if I had polished it a little.

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cudgee said:
A great work knife edge. 👌
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I strongly agree, cudgee. Except for removing splinters and other minor surgery, I almost never need anything more refined than an honest 1,000 grit. I use light pressure on the last dozen or so strokes. It cuts hair, but it still cuts rope and other tough materials with a little sawing action by the user.

I whittled on a walking stick for about 40 minutes after sharpening, and it still pops hairs. The AK's are good knives!
 
I sharpened this Ka-Bar BK-16 this afternoon. The 1095 blade had a few minor chips around the belly, and just a little rolling.This knife gets used; it loves a hard fight.

I used a hard Arkansas stone and a DIY strop made with balsa wood and 10 mu. diamond paste. The feeling of 1095 dragging over that beautiful Ark stone kept me right on the bevel from heel almost to the tip! The feedback is very clear and easy to follow. When the apex kisses the stone a bunch of lights start flashing, bells and sirens go off, dancing girls come running out, and then you know you are on the bevel.

I sharpen this user at 20 degrees per side. I gave it about 20 strokes per side on the stone, and about 6 per side on the strop. I used the little blue plastic angle guide to get my stroke set up. but the stone's feedback provided all the guidance I really needed to get where I wanted to be. I don't get this same effect when using diamond plates, it is just one more attractive aspect to sharpening with natural stones.

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I took the knife inside, where I put it on the BESS machine.

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A second test came out an even 100. I can get thin-bladed kitchen knives into double digits pretty reliably, but not so much thicker-bladed work knives. I will give the credit to the hard Arkansas stone, and to the guy who cooked up 1095. It really is easy to sharpen!
 
I've been doing more freehand sharpening lately. Did this little Pyrite today using the Sharpal 350/1200 grit plate. Stropped on 1 micron leather and .5 bass wood. Got it down to 95 BESS, which is the first time I've managed to get a freehand edge below 100 without resorting to the Ken Onion for stropping. Could have done better with the tip.

 
Busse Scrapyard WS1021. Despite all the good things one can say about the Busse shop, edge consistency isn't one of them.
This knaf was released in '22 I believe and im the second owner. Unclear to what extent it was used by prior owner- at a glance it looked unused. The edge, though, felt like it had been used to slice a rock. Perfect candidate for a new edge!
Broke out my diamond stone and the Shaptons.. first time working on SR101 (pretty close to 52100 right?), but I knew it would be a breeze. Picked a nice round angle (20°) for each side and went to work.
A burr formed easily once I had the angle set. Finished it up with a Nano strop, impregnated with 1 micron diamond mist. All in all it took about 10-12 minutes to get this Busse screaming sharp.

https://imgur.com/a/8kFrE4Q
https://imgur.com/a/lX3mGaY
https://imgur.com/a/1Toeh6l
 
I had previously taken my k390 knife from 30 degrees to 40 degrees, no problem. Today I decided to take it back to 30 degrees. Lots of fun time spent with the diamond stones today. At least the weather was nice and I got to enjoy doing it outside.
 
Got this brand new Cruwear Manix in the mail yesterday so had to give it my own edge. Absolute laser afterwards. Love Cruwear.

Freehand progression on CGSW benchstones: 40um->20um->10um->5um. Stropped with gunny juice 3um and 1um on leather. Still blown away by how nice of a finish these CGSW stones leave even before stropping.

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Blade Lab said:
I've been doing more freehand sharpening lately. Did this little Pyrite today using the Sharpal 350/1200 grit plate. Stropped on 1 micron leather and .5 bass wood. Got it down to 95 BESS, which is the first time I've managed to get a freehand edge below 100 without resorting to the Ken Onion for stropping. Could have done better with the tip.

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Congratulations on breaking 100 freehand!
 
bmo419 said:
Got this brand new Cruwear Manix in the mail yesterday so had to give it my own edge. Absolute laser afterwards. Love Cruwear.

Freehand progression on CGSW benchstones: 40um->20um->10um->5um. Stropped with gunny juice 3um and 1um on leather. Still blown away by how nice of a finish these CGSW stones leave even before stropping.

TZ54nG3l.jpg

WnB3xTEl.jpg
Click to expand...
Excellent angle control!
 
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