Why Can't I Sharpen my Benchmade 940?

Joined
Sep 15, 1999
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I use the old Spyderco Sharpmaker at 40 degrees.
I can put a shaving edge on my Victronox Rucksack (440A?), and an Opinel (carbon). I've been using a Spyderco Ronin (VG10) all week and finally got it to the point that steeling it would not bring back the edge to shaving sharp. So-- I took it to the Sharpmaker, gave it a few strokes on both the gray and white stones, and then took it to the strop. Shaving sharp in just a few minutes.

For some reason, though, I cannot get an edge on my Benchmade 940 (CM154.) Does anyone else have this problem?

Scott
 
are you sure the edge bevels on the 940 match the sharpmaker angles? If not, the sharpmaker is glacial at re-profiling. You can check by marking the edge with a marker, then sharpening a bit and seeing where the wear is occurring. Unless you already tried that, in which case I dunno . . . . but it took me forever to get my mini-AFCK sharp for that reason.
 
Yeah, you'd be best off doing the marker trick on the edge and checking the angle. I had one heck of a bad time bringing down the edge on my AFCK to match the Sharpmaker angles, as the primary bevel was ground unevenly. Drove me nuts, I tell you, now the edge is off center and the edge bevel on one side is three times wider than the other.

You might try scrubbing down the edge with sandpaper or a file, then putting a small secondary bevel on the edge with the Sharpmaker. It's a lot easier and you don't have to be very accurate with the initial scrubbing.
 
Usually, the BM angles range around 30+°, so if you are using the 40° on the SM, you should touch the very edge.

I got one BM with ATS 34, the same problem, forget to sharpen this with the SM.

Many people say, that the SM is good for a little resharpening, or touching up, even on hard, wear resistant steels, like D2 or ATS34.

No problem with the SM, when it is a softer steel, 440A, 440 C, or what you´ve mentioned.

I got back to the roots, using stones for hard steels like D2 and the ATS34 from BM. Simple stones, they are working fine, easy and the SM is good for gettting the edge smoother at least.

Is there IKEA around, where you are living? Try their stone, it is really fine. I take this or the ultra fine SM rods for finish.
 
After reading everyone's suggestions, I got out a magic marker, a magnifying glass and a coarse DMT stone. I ended up doing a good bit of profiling but was finally able to get a shaving sharp edge on my 940. (It's a great knife and I wouldn't want anyone not to buy it just because *I* couldn't get an edge on it.)

Thanks for all the help.

Scott
 
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