Why won't baby SAK take an edge??

I

iammark

Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
61
Hello guys,

I don't consider myself 'new' to knives and sharpening, but out of all my knives, there is ONE that just doesn't seem to get sharp no matter what system I use----my 'baby' Victorinox Swiss Army Knife. I have an EdgePro and Sharpmaker, using the EP for major re-profiling and the SM for normal routine touch-up. On everything from my large KaBar to my Spyderco Delica, I've re-set the bevels to the Sharpmaker's primary and secondary angles to simplify things for easy touch-up and because they work for me!

This small keychain SAK, however, just doesn't seem to get sharp no matter what system or procedure I use------VERY frustrating!! Is this a chactaristic of the steel in the SAK? Has anyone else noticed the same thing? After re-profiling all my knife bevels, new and old, to the Sharpmaker system, I can easily pop arm hairs not touching the skin with everything from my big Ka Bar to my Kershaw Leek to my trusty Delica.........but NOT my baby SAK! :(

Kinda drives me crazy because I like it for a keychain knife, but it's the dullest knife I own in spite of all my sharpening efforts. Any ideas? Comments? Suggestions? Similar findings? Thanks to all who reply.
 
I have a couple victorinox swiss army knives and can get them all hair popping sharp on my sharpmaker. I even sharpened my aunt's keychain vic to hair popping on just the 40º level. I'm not sure why your methods haven't work. Hmmm
 
i have an ontario knife that drove me nuts trying to get an edge on it. a buddy came over and i gave him a crash course on sharpening on my equipment and he tried to sharpen it. he had the same luck i did. i ran a file along the plunge line and it cut into the blade so i knew it was a bad heat treat. maybe that is the problem with your sak.
 
The Victorinox blades tend to be pretty soft steel. They can take a very fine edge, but a premium is placed on using very light pressure, especially when sharpening on round rods or the edges of ceramic hones. By themselves, these narrow-edged sharpeners exert very high pressure on the edge of a blade. Combine that with the relatively soft steel of the SAK, on a very small, THIN blade, and it's real easy to roll or blunt the edge with too much pressure. Focus on going extra, extra LIGHT with the pressure. More so, with the finishing stages. With the Sharpmaker, I'd avoid using the corners of the rods altogether. Use only the flats.

Edited to add:
I'd also recommend taking a very close look at the edge with a good magnifier under bright light (if you haven't already done this). If the edge is getting rolled or otherwise blunted by too much pressure, it should be easy to see with 10X or better magnification. The other possibility is, if you're NOT hitting the edge, you'll see the new grinding up on the shoulder of the bevel.
 
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richard j said:
i ran a file along the plunge line and it cut into the blade so i knew it was a bad heat treat. maybe that is the problem with your sak.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing and i have read the trick to use a file to check for HT but never could figure out what type of file to use. what type do you use? I have ever thing from small micro files to big ass wood files and I honestly wouldn't know where to start. Also, what kinda pressure do you use when checking this?
 
Ive had the same problem using ceramic rods on a Schrade along with the SAK. I think Obsessed is right on. Just need to lighten the pressure and need to learn how to remove the burr that forms the rolled edge.
 
That's a very very thin and narrow little blade on that knife. You need to back off on the pressure a lot. In fact, I have very little problem getting a shaving edge on a Victorinox classic using just the bottom unglazed ring on a coffee mug. Those sharpening gizmos don't work on every knife. Because of the narrow width of the blade, you're probably not even hitting the bevel. Try just stropping it on the bottom of a coffee mug. Every knife knut ought to know that trick.

Carl.
 
I have a Sharpmaker and have used it once on my pioneer, I usually just strop my SAK with a leather strop with compound, pushes through paper, maybe listen to the more experienced though.

best of luck,
Guy
 
eccvets, when i check the blades i make, i use a coarse, sharp file and i push somewhat hard. if the file cuts i know the ht is not what i want it to be.
 
Thanks, everyone, for all the suggestions. I will give them a try! I may have tried too much pressure after it didn't seem to be getting sharper!
 
I've sometimes had a little more trouble with very small blades. Just the fact that the blade, handle and bevel are so much smaller, can make controlling angle a little harder. Not so easy to 'feel' flush contact on the hone, when the bevel is so narrow. That's why I emphasized looking at it with a magnifier. My natural tendency, without inspecting the edge, is to hold the angle a little too low when free-handing. This always meant I spent a lot of time grinding away at the shoulder of the bevel, and often not touching the edge at all. A lot of factory edges on very small blades tend to be more obtuse (thick) from the start, so that contributes to the difficulty.
 
I only obtained a sharpmaker recently (with all 4 grits), but before that I mostly used Spyderco 2"x8" bench stones (medium, fine, ultra) to do all my sharpening by hand.

My observations with my small SAK, older and softer knives knives (like the schrade mentioned above) confirms what others have said in this thread--you have to use an extremely light touch, as if you are shaving your face with a straight razor. Anything more than the weight of the blade is excessive.

I found softer knife metals to be generally very challenging to sharpen on ceramics--they're just so hard that if you apply any pressure the edge gets damaged. I do not have this problem so much with knives using harder steels. With other metals, I can work quickly on ceramics, but with soft knives I have to slow things down a lot.

I also find that I have better success on these knives with natural stones.
 
Don't thin it too much! The recommended is 30-40 degree inclusive. I had same issue with my SAK OH Sentinel (posted at UnknownVT Vic vs Wenger thread).
 
I use a 2x8 diamond bench stone and sharpen free hand. No problem keeping all my Vics shaving sharp. Keep the same bevel it came with and apply fairly light pressure. Vic steel is no softer than Case or Buck in my experience.
 
richard j said:
i have an ontario knife that drove me nuts trying to get an edge on it. a buddy came over and i gave him a crash course on sharpening on my equipment and he tried to sharpen it. he had the same luck i did. i ran a file along the plunge line and it cut into the blade so i knew it was a bad heat treat. maybe that is the problem with your sak.
Click to expand...

I had an ontario knife that I could not get sharp period. Let me see if I can find it and take a quick cell shot of what I was able to easily do to the knife with my bare hands.
 
Here you go, two cell pics:

IMG03866-20110824-1546.jpg


IMG03867-20110824-1546.jpg
 
I cant get my VIctorinox Mini champ that sharp either- Did get it to whittle hair ONCE. My bigger SAK achieves the sharpness though
 
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