What is the trick to getting even edge bevel!?

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Mrgauth

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Mar 12, 2016
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I chipped the edge of my Yojimbo 2 and wanted to get the edge straightened out. So, pulled out the ole KME guided system and while I can get a super sharp edge, I cannot for the life of me get an even one. The ends of the blade, maybe the last 1/4 inch of each end seems to have an irregular bevel - like two bevels instead of the one like the central 85% of the blade.

What is the friggin trick with these darn sharpeners?

Help me Obiwan.
 
Mrgauth said:
I chipped the edge of my Yojimbo 2 and wanted to get the edge straightened out. So, pulled out the ole KME guided system and while I can get a super sharp edge, I cannot for the life of me get an even one. The ends of the blade, maybe the last 1/4 inch of each end seems to have an irregular bevel - like two bevels instead of the one like the central 85% of the blade.

What is the friggin trick with these darn sharpeners?

Help me Obiwan.
Click to expand...

The KME IMO is made to sharpen sweeped edged knives. The problem you are having is that the farther you get out the more shallow the angle is. If you have an angle cube or even an app on your phone you can see this. Over time I would think it would fix itself by contouring the knife to the sharpening angles. There is no real fix to this besides just over time it should correct itself.
 
So you are saying at the front of the blade the edge looks like it has been ground at two different angles on one side. Not that the front bevels are uneven on either side of the knife?
 
Not that they are uneven on each side when compared to each other. No. They are even in that regard. It is like on the last quarter inch or so at the tip and at the base, on both sides equally, the edge is wonky like I tried to sharpen at more than one angle. I suspect it is because the angle is changing the further I get away from the center of the sharpening system. My question, I guess is how does one compensate for this?

Wish I could just freehand like I see people on YouTube do and make perfect edges. Have no clue how they do it and stay at exact angles.
 
Mrgauth said:
Not that they are uneven on each side when compared to each other. No. They are even in that regard. It is like on the last quarter inch or so at the tip and at the base, on both sides equally, the edge is wonky like I tried to sharpen at more than one angle. I suspect it is because the angle is changing the further I get away from the center of the sharpening system. My question, I guess is how does one compensate for this?

Wish I could just freehand like I see people on YouTube do and make perfect edges. Have no clue how they do it and stay at exact angles.
Click to expand...
If your issue is like many i've seen before it sounds to me like you need to focus on keeping the KME stone flat. As you move near the last inch or near the tip on the curve it is very easy to "rock the stone" a little, this can cause uneven flats near the tip. When you reach the tip try not let the stone over hang the tip too much, because there is then nothing under the stone to keep it steady on the side where you have reached the end of the blade. I've used a KME for many years and can now get perfect results as if it were done on a wicked edge but it took some mastering. With guided systems like this it's easy to rock the stone side to side on the sweep of a blade because as the cutting edge curves there can be a little less surface area under the stone, in an exaggerated sense it's almost like balancing a flat surface on a pointy curve. It's kind of hard to explain in words, but i hope you get what i mean. And as already stated, always, always, always use a sharpy. Best of luck.
 
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I used the sharpie trick (Hickory n steel) today when I was re-sharpening an extremely dull 7" kitchen knife for a neighbor. I had to start with 120 grit to get anything started. Went to 320, finished with 600 and would float thru newsprint. It was a long blade (7 inches); I used my Apex Edge Pro and it went just fine. I had to keep sliding the knife(left and right) in order to keep the next blade "section" under the central area of the sharpener.
If the angle of stone contact is different over the length of blade...then you would expect that the edge "width" on each side of the blade would have been wider toward the tip...assuming the blade/stone contact angle at the tip is more shallow than at the blade center section. I have seen, and done this, before with a longer blade...when I neglected to slide the blade occasionally.
 
That must be it. I will try sliding the blade and sharpen again. What have I got to lose but blade!?
: )
 
Mrgauth said:
I suspect it is because the angle is changing the further I get away from the center of the sharpening system. My question, I guess is how does one compensate for this?

Wish I could just freehand like I see people on YouTube do and make perfect edges. Have no clue how they do it and stay at exact angles.
Click to expand...

There are two aspects: One-On guided sharpeners you get further away from the guiding point, resulting in shallower angle (as pointed out above).

The only way around that one that I know of is to freehand. Sliding the blade clamp on most guides will change the geometry and create an ugly "transition".

Two: Most blades, and this has been pet peeve of mine for decades, are actually thicker-edged "rounding the belly" and towards the point. This means even a perfect freehand job will have the bevel grow wider at the tip, unless you blunt the angle.

The maker should have induced a surface distal taper at the tip to avoid this, so the only way to really fix it is to send it to a professional re-grinder. I often just blunt the angle...

The trick to perfect freehand edges (for me) is to stroke nearly parallel to the edge with X-tra Coarse dia-sharp diamond hones. Don't go fully parallel, as this creates parallel edge striations that weaken the apex: Just a very slight diagonal is enough to help avoid any "rocking" while stroking: This has proved the key to get a truly flat single surface. Then simply finish off with a slight Xtra-Fine micro-bevel at a more open angle (and very light pressure): This, while hunting down any wire edge side-to-side with nail rubbing, solves any problem in minutes. The micro-bevel has to be significantly more open than the main edge bevel, so that you are sure to not "skip" over the apex.

Gaston
 
That_Knife_Guy said:
The KME IMO is made to sharpen sweeped edged knives. The problem you are having is that the farther you get out the more shallow the angle is. If you have an angle cube or even an app on your phone you can see this. Over time I would think it would fix itself by contouring the knife to the sharpening angles. There is no real fix to this besides just over time it should correct itself.
Click to expand...
With a straight edge the angle shouldn't change no matter how far away from the center you are. I'd guess too much metal removed at some point so different thickness behind the edge, knife flexing down at the tip (or fixture on the KME giving a bit(cuz levers and shit)=>point rotates down) and causing a shallower angle that way or uneven bevel grind. Most probable it's flex in the fixture
 
Mrgauth said:
I chipped the edge of my Yojimbo 2 and wanted to get the edge straightened out. So, pulled out the ole KME guided system and while I can get a super sharp edge, I cannot for the life of me get an even one. The ends of the blade, maybe the last 1/4 inch of each end seems to have an irregular bevel - like two bevels instead of the one like the central 85% of the blade.

What is the friggin trick with these darn sharpeners?

Help me Obiwan.
Click to expand...
Learn how to free hand, and develop the muscle memory.

I’m sure that a .300 hitter would give a similar response to “how do I hit a 95mph fastball?”

Work on fundamentals, and practice!
 
An angle guide helps a lot when my bevels inevitably get a bit askew after freehand sharpening.
 
ursamajor said:
Learn how to free hand, and develop the muscle memory.

I’m sure that a .300 hitter would give a similar response to “how do I hit a 95mph fastball?”

Work on fundamentals, and practice!
Click to expand...

^I'd vote for this. Not for everybody I guess, but for me, I did better when I made the jump several years ago to lose the gadgets and guided systems and switch to freehand. Takes some learning and patience and a few beater/practice knives to get good, but gives you simplicity in sharpening, and TOTAL CONTROL over the results, absolutely worth it. Recently I've been investing more effort to move from barely adequate amateur to proficient amateur :), and folks in the maintenance forum have really helped with tips to make some progress.
 
No - I vote against free hand sharpening on an expensive knife like the one in this discussion IF the OP is not very sophisticated with free hand.

I would send THIS knife to a pro to fix the issue. I suspect any further action of correcting by the OP would make the issue worse.
 
sharp_edge said:
No - I vote against free hand sharpening on an expensive knife like the one in this discussion IF the OP is not very sophisticated with free hand.

I would send THIS knife to a pro to fix the issue. I suspect any further action of correcting by the OP would make the issue worse.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Freehand sharpening is great if you happen to have really keen dexterity, mechanical aptitude, hand/eye coordination, and extremely steady fine motor skills. But that's just not most people. There are vastly more opportunities to eff up a knife freehanding than using a precision angle guided sharpener like the KME or the WE.

I was decent at freehand sharpening, but the Wicked Edge is just another level unless you happen to be a master Japanese sword smith or something.

As mentioned above, rolling the stone at the tip can get uneven bevels like that. When I've dove that in the past, I've just brought the angle another degree acute and started over, being very careful at the tip.
 
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