I got my SOG Trident used off Ebay for $30 not a bad price. This my first decent knife and nobody wants a dull knife so time to sharpen it. Im on a budget so I went dick and picked up some Lansky Crock Sticks for about $10 and Sears at the mall was open and I picked up a $8 Coarse / Fine Benchstone. I know from emailing SOG that the trident comes with a 25-30 degree per side from them so I know I need to take it back alot so I can use the 20 the crock has.
This is the knife after a few minutes on the stone then sticks. Little did I know then it was not nearly close to 15*
Now I realize that I need some angle guide and I say F it and go buy a lansky for $30. This helped me greatly because I set it 17 and it starts grinding that angle in so then I would take it out of the clamp and to the benchstone to try to grind that angle freehand. This did work but as you can see on the knife below I was not consitant in holding it at 15 and I have alot of marks on it but none the less it works and is almost there.
Now I finish up that grinding back and I start on my 17* with the lansky. I follow the burr method of grinding it down on one side till I get a burr.
I was very confused on what a burr was so here is what it is and how to check for it. Got this from Egullet.
The Burr
And to check you do this and pull gently away from the blade. NEVER SIDE TO SIDE. ONLY AWAY.
Now after you have formed the burr one side with the course stone switch to other and repeat. Now do the same with the medium stone. Flip and repeat. Now on to the fine stone. I did alot on both sides so I could have the polished look but youll want to get the burr on one side switch and do the same. Once you have done this to both sides start forming the burr very lightly so 1 to 2 strokes gets the burr. Now go to the 20* and do a very light 1 to 2 on each side so set the mirco bevel. Then I went to the crock sticks started at 5 per side then 4,3,2,1 and kept switching getting lighter and now the one side can shave. It is only one side because this knife pretty much only had one cutting side when made and I didnt do the work to get both to shave.
Now the knife looks like this
Heres a link to my thread where I asked my questions and got the answer
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=424247
I hope that if you managed to read this far that you learned something that will make your first time sharpening and reprofiling go alot faster and easier. This was my first and the knife isnt pretty but it works and thats what I need. For about $50 I have everything I need and will be getting a sharpmaker soon but Im glad I had the lansky it helped alot for the reprofiling. Big Thanks to Cliff for answering every question I had.
This is the knife after a few minutes on the stone then sticks. Little did I know then it was not nearly close to 15*
Now I realize that I need some angle guide and I say F it and go buy a lansky for $30. This helped me greatly because I set it 17 and it starts grinding that angle in so then I would take it out of the clamp and to the benchstone to try to grind that angle freehand. This did work but as you can see on the knife below I was not consitant in holding it at 15 and I have alot of marks on it but none the less it works and is almost there.
Now I finish up that grinding back and I start on my 17* with the lansky. I follow the burr method of grinding it down on one side till I get a burr.
I was very confused on what a burr was so here is what it is and how to check for it. Got this from Egullet.
The Burr
And to check you do this and pull gently away from the blade. NEVER SIDE TO SIDE. ONLY AWAY.
Now after you have formed the burr one side with the course stone switch to other and repeat. Now do the same with the medium stone. Flip and repeat. Now on to the fine stone. I did alot on both sides so I could have the polished look but youll want to get the burr on one side switch and do the same. Once you have done this to both sides start forming the burr very lightly so 1 to 2 strokes gets the burr. Now go to the 20* and do a very light 1 to 2 on each side so set the mirco bevel. Then I went to the crock sticks started at 5 per side then 4,3,2,1 and kept switching getting lighter and now the one side can shave. It is only one side because this knife pretty much only had one cutting side when made and I didnt do the work to get both to shave.
Now the knife looks like this
Heres a link to my thread where I asked my questions and got the answer
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=424247
I hope that if you managed to read this far that you learned something that will make your first time sharpening and reprofiling go alot faster and easier. This was my first and the knife isnt pretty but it works and thats what I need. For about $50 I have everything I need and will be getting a sharpmaker soon but Im glad I had the lansky it helped alot for the reprofiling. Big Thanks to Cliff for answering every question I had.
i'm going to work on getting my touch right with rods, sweeping through deep bellies annoys me on benchstones.