why wont it get sharp??

love4steel

love4steel

Joined
Jul 29, 2003
Messages
666
I recently got a emerson mini commander on trade and Im trying to sharpen it with a diamond stick - to no avail. Am I supposed to sharpen both sides or only one? Im sharpening the one side till a burr forms on opposite side, then removing the burr and stropping on cardboard - still DULL. It appears that whoever has been sharpening it has only been sharpening the one side - like a chisel ground blade - but I dont think this is a chisel ground blade. Any suggestions?
 
I think it is chisel ground. Grind the bevel and remove the burr on the flat side by rubbing it nearly flat on that side. (Low angle)
 
The Commander is a chisel grind. I have a full size model and had the exact problem. W/ enough work it will take a passable edge but nothing spectacular. I never really carried mine as an EDC for exactly that reason.
 
I will have to agree with Lobo103 on this. After a lot of careful work, I got my Commander passably sharp (when cutting in only one direction, of course) by following the same directions that it seems you are. That seems to be a limitation of the one-side grind.

I just got back my Surefire CQC-8 that, among other things, had a conventional "V" grind put on it. After 2 minutes work on my ceramic sticks, the knife is breathtakingly sharp, about as sharp as I've ever seen a knife, and I've been sharpening knives for 25 years or so. My Commander is going in for the same treatment.

Bottom line, if you want anything approaching scary sharp, you're going to have to abandon the one-side grind.
 
My first Emerson is a custom CQC8 and it came with a double flat grind. I consider myself lucky in that regard.
 
ya can get a chisel grind real sharp but it aint easy, i use a spydie ceramic and a henckel steel, takes a while but ya can do it. its a lot easier to do a tanto vs a commander/CQC8, but its not impossible.i basically do the same thing it says to on the EKI sight, but w/light pressure on the steel and the stone, and tape the back of the blade so ya can get the flat side right, hard to explain.

i have 2 emerson zero bevel grind knives (CQC8 and P-Tac), the zero bevel is incredibly sharp. of course the down side to that is ya cant sharpen them w/out either scratching the blade/sending in to emerson (which would prob take 6 months lol) but oh well, nothing is perfect lol

greg
 
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