Which knives need re-profiling before Sharpmaker?

M

mdarby

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Apr 10, 2005
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I wanted to once-and-for-all improve my skills with my Sharpmaker on a few knives. Before doing so, I want to make sure all have a primary grind of 20 degrees or less, otherwise I'll just be grinding metal.

Which of these unmodified knives need to be re-ground to less than 20 degrees?

Becker BK-7
Spyderco Endura Wave
Benchmade Griptillian / mini
Boker Subcom
Kershaw Leek
Kershaw Echo
Various inexpensive Swedish / Frost knives

I am pretty sure the Becker needs to be ground, as the edge looks pretty obtuse.
 
The Endura should be close to 30 degrees included (15 per side)

IF the BM Grips are less than a year old, they should be about that as well (BM got new sharpening equipment around then, I found the bevels somewhat inconsistent before.)

I have no personal experience with the rest, but blackening the edge bevel with a Sharpie marker and taking a couple of passes on the Sharpmaker will show you what is going on pretty quickly.
 
That would depend on the application. How you use the blades determines an ideal bevel angle as much as the steel hardness does.
 
I don't go through the ordeal of totally reprofiling a knife blade very often. My Spyderco C-44 big Dyad is a knife I use almost on a daily basis and I only reprofiled it once all last year. A knife blade has to be pretty dinged up before I get out the aggressive diamond stones to re-bevel the edge. Most of the time I can usually take the Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker or my SKARB unit to get a knife shaving sharp in 15 minutes or less.

Also I don't put much stock in the edge angles in which they grind the knife at the factory. I always figure that I am going to have to grind the edge the edge that I desire to work with. The Razor Edge Book Of Sharpening by John Juranitch and the Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker video and booklet by Sal Glesser are 2 sources of information that will put you on the right track.
 
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