When to sharpen a newly made blade?

Seeing as I am still working on my first handful of knives should I be sharpening and testing the edge on all of my blades before I put the handle slabs on? Or should I hope that my heat treat/draw was correct and finish the knife first?-Guy Thomas

P.S. I am working with high carbon steels like L6 and O1 so I have been experimenting with heat treating them myself and seem to be getting the proper results from things like file testing, etc.
 
I suggest sharpening the edge when the knife is totally finished - including the sheath. Unless you're not planning on finishing the knife, but just want to half finish the knife and then do some destruction testing on it. If you sharpen the knife any earlier, you can bet you'll cut yourself on it before you finish it...

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T

totally tactical

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Apr 11, 2000
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Whatever you do don't listen to Kevin. Make sure the blade stays razor sharp all through the knifemaking process. I mean if it isn't, how else are you going to get those nasty, multi-multi-stitch cuts caused by drill press and buffer "incidents"
smile.gif


Hugh

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Scraped, burnt, sliced, smashed. AHHHH, knifemaking!!!!
 
Ha, I sliced my palm open on my first knife while using the drill press and it wasn't
even sharpened yet! Since I am fairly confident of my heat treat it does make sense to sharpen it after putting the handles on. The blade is finished other than doing the handle and sharpening.
Thanks Kevin, it actually never would have occurred to me to make the sheath before sharpening also! Sheathmaking is a whole new ball game that I haven't even got to yet. One thing at a time!-Guy Thomas
 
Last thing I do is sharpen the blade. Not too cool working with a sharp object which doesn't need to be sharp at the time.

Only time I sharpen a blade before it is completed is when I test one. The test blade will never have a handle put on or be finished.

BlacksmithRick@aol.com
 
I would do the brass rod test before I put the handle on. That way since you are experimenting with the heat treat you can adjust it before the final finish.
You can always take the edge off a little when mounting the handle, and/or tape up the edge.
This is easier than re heat treating with the handle on.
Make sure you have all the holes drilled before heat treat, and clamp the knife down while drilling, even a dull edge will cause some damage to flesh if it is spinning at 650 rpm.


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Sola Fide
 
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