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Work Sharp WSKTS + BK7 SUCCESS!!

BePrepared

BePrepared

Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Messages
4,441
so i've decided that i'm going to put a convex grind on my BK7

Until yesterday, I wouldn't have tried this, but i got froggy last night, and tried it out on one of my tomahawks. It made a beautiful, perfectly convexed HAIR POPPING edge

So now for my question. When using a grinder, is there anything i need to know? i don't want to damage my knife, and i'm fully aware that i have a severe lack of know how.

I've got plenty of lansky oil, and I assume that keeping the blade cool is a necessity. Should i simply take it very slow, or should i keep a glass of cold water to dunk the blade in when it begins to heat up?
 
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When I've used a belt grinder on blades that are already heat treated I kept a bucket of cold water on the bench, and dunked it after every pass.
 
well, i decided to wing it after the first person to reply didn't tell me i was a moron for thinking about it.

Thanks for the advice about the water. I did just that, and the knife never heated up.

I ran it over the medium grit and fine grit, and managed to get a VERY nice looking edge. Can't seem to get a picture of it, but it's mirror perfect.

My standard "good enough" test is the paper test. It did that wonderfully, and shaves slivers so tiny that i can't get them to show well on film.

As per the POIDH rules, see below

2yots3p.jpg


But since it did so well there, i went for the phone book test. I have NEVER managed to resharpen a knife well enough that it would cut a piece of phonebook paper without tearing. My kershaws will do it OOTB but i can never get that edge back..

looks like i can now.

apce8.jpg
 
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Nice! You should look into getting a slotted paper wheel(it works kinda like stropping) and you can get that thing even sharper :D
 
it's a pretty good tool. once you have that edge, stick with the fine belt for touchups and your life is much easier
 
I bought a worksharp a while back and that thing can get a blade crazy sharp but I've blunted the tip of all the blades I put through it. Working the tips just right takes a bit of practice.
 
edctac said:
Nice! You should look into getting a slotted paper wheel(it works kinda like stropping) and you can get that thing even sharper :D
Click to expand...

That is what I thought until I used a 1x30 belt sander. Just when I thought I could not get my blades any sharper after using the paper wheel set up I tried out the belt sander on a few blades and the results were amazing. I had a beat to snot 180 grit belt that I used on my EDC Griptillian, used the 180, flipped the belt over, loaded it with white compound and hit it again to remove the burr. I spent maybe a minutes time at best on it. Sharpened up my Leatherman Charge and an 8" chefs knife of my wifes. Needless to say, I was thoroughly impressed.
 
I've been using a work sharp for awhile now and it is awesome, every knife in the house is crazy sharp, my BK-2 is like a whole new knife.


bigghoss said:
I bought a worksharp a while back and that thing can get a blade crazy sharp but I've blunted the tip of all the blades I put through it. Working the tips just right takes a bit of practice.
Click to expand...

It's pretty easy to do that, you just have to make sure you don't take the tip off the belt make sure you follow the belly of the knife, if you look through This thread they talk all about it, it helped me a lot.
 
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bigghoss said:
I bought a worksharp a while back and that thing can get a blade crazy sharp but I've blunted the tip of all the blades I put through it. Working the tips just right takes a bit of practice.
Click to expand...

I had the same experience with mine. Doesn't take much to restore the tip once you figure it out. I don't use the guides anymore, I just do it freehand and get better results. Love the convex edges!
 
The Work Sharp is the best thing out there for sharpening the BK2. I wish they would sell boxes of just the medium belts though.
 
OIC....I never saw them reffered to anything but "Fine, Medium, Heavy". Still...never saw the diamond ones before.
 
I gotta practice some more with mine. I did a dozen various knives from around the house to try it out with varying results. The best I did was on my CS Mag Kuk Machete, but I didn't use the guards and I really had to work it a lot to get rid of the obtuse angle that it came with. Now it serves double duty as a chopper and machete. Some more work on it and it should shave. Haven't pulled it out again to do my BK10 or 11 yet. I have to find my respirator first. On a side note, everyone should be using some sort of respiratory protection when using this tool. It took about 15 minutes of blowing my nose to get all the black stuff out, and I really should have known better.. Also make sure you register the warranty because they will send you a couple sets of free belts ;).. When I do pull it out I am going to touch up the canvas handles because there are some hard corners that would rip my hands open with any kind of use... Pics will come when the work is completed...
 
okay, in the last 2 days, i have sharpened 12 knives, a Wakizashi, 2 kukris, 3 tomohawks and a machete with my worksharp... i have pretty much perfected my technique.

First, i'll say this with absolute certainty; if you have a steady hand, and moderately decent spacial skills, THROW AWAY THE GUIDES!

I ruined the tips of 3 knives before i realized that you just CAN'T make those things work right.

Obviously, you want to run them in order, lowest to highest grit, but you should only need 3-4 passes of the 80 and 220... once you have a burr, your job is almost done...

I have been keeping a pretty shallow angle with the first 2 belts, then a SLIGHTLY higher angle with the 6000 grit belt.... for some reason this boosts the polish of the final edge

if you have jewelers polishing compound, you definitely want to use that on the last step

my blades, even the cheap ones, are shaving sharp and look great
 
You may also find this list helpful. Supergrit isn't on there, but it's nice if you have a 1x30.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/699736-Knifemaking-Suppliers-List

When you gonna start making your own blades eh?

The paper wheels thing is nice though. It's a lot easier to not mess up your tips on a paper wheel, and those get scary sharp. Think phone books or newsprint are bad? Try tissue paper, or kleenex. I've seen knives get sharp enough to cut that. I personally think that's a bit overkill, but it's pretty neat to get something hair-whittling sharp.
 
i'm having to convince myself that there is NO POINT getting any sharper. I know it's possible to keep getting sharper, and is SO MUCH FUN, but I don't know if i need a becker that's sharper than my caping scalpel
 
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