Best edge for SAK

[Pomsbz]

You should also consider a serrated Spartan (weekender). The serrated blades work well and need little maintenance ymmv.

I have fixed the problem to my satisfaction. It was an edge problem rather than a steel problem. I'm currently satisfied having my Spartan back as my do it all EDC pocket knife.

 

[22-rimfire]

Now I feel that I need to sharpen my Small Tinker on my Norton stone. I have noticed the edge decline sometimes rather quickly. I once asked Ethan Becker what he uses as he carries a SAK all the time.... He uses the Norton India stone with WD40 as the lubricant.

 

[L. Richard]

The 40° (inclusive) position of the rods on the Sharpmaker works well for me on all regular SAKs. (Floral knives, having a one-sided sided edge, require a different sharpening technique.) Others may need different angles, depending on how they use the knife. The Sharpmaker is limited to 30° and 40° angles.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Forget the SharpMaker for your SAK. Put a 25 to 30 degrees per side edge on it (50 to 60 degrees included angle). The steel is too soft to support lower angles, and the carbide content is too low to resist abrasion, so count on it going dull quickly. They don't make those things for knife people.

First off, stop putting a polished edge or fine edge on the SAK. Its just not going to work well, I use an old Norton 'carborundum' stone or a Eze-Lap medium 400 grit diamond hone. I don't strop. I only use a course toothy edge and it lasts very well. When my sister in law had a sofa delivered it was cocooned in heavy cardboard and packing tape. My tinker cut it all off, then broke it all down to fit in her recycle bin, and after the tape residue was cleaned off with some alcohol based hand sanitizer it cut like nothing had been done. Still had the same edge as when I started.

Go toothy edge for SAK's. Forget the fine sharpening gizmos and just go with course. No more than 400 or 500 grit. And no stropping. The sole purpose of all those sharpening gizmos is, to get the money out of your pocket and into the gizmo makers pocket.

I would echo what yablanowitz and jackknife have posted and add that I am a believer that many knife users sharpen their knives with stones or diamond bonded abrasives way too much and too often, I only remove metal from my knife or axe edges in extreme cases. Instead I use the old fashioned sharpening steel which aligns the microscopic teeth of a cutting edge without removing the valuable metal the blade is made of. It is only when the sharpening steel can longer bring a sharp usable edge to the blade that I start getting out the abrasives.

I have kitchen knives that I have not used abrasives on for years at a time because the sharpening steel is so effective!

I gave this a try with my old Woodsman and I think it is definitely an improvement. All I used was a Victorinox VN43323 "Dual Knife Sharpener" (the ceramic part, not the "pull through" part). Nothing fancy, no diamonds, and no narrow apex. I did a bit of whittling with it and the edge seems to be holding up. By the way, I use either a Victorinox or an Opinel mini steel for final burr removal on just about every knife. I have a couple of Zermatt pouches that include a mini steel with them. Very handy for field touch-up.

 

[22-rimfire]

I don't know if I said this, but I have noticed the edge on my Small Tinker seems to dull quicker than I expect at times. I always attributed it to the fact that I often dig weeks in the yard with it. So, I got out my Norton India stone and on the fine grit put about a 20 degree inclusive edge on it. Seems better overall to what I have been doing with diamond stones.

 

[PaultheCarpenter]

Contrary to some of these posts, I find a much shallower angle works better and for longer. 30 degree total (15 per side) is around about the sweet spot in my experience. Anything more flattens when it meets resistance. I tested on sisel rope and found it cuts much better and nearly twice as much with that geometry compared to higher, more oblique angles. 29 cuts with 40 degree geometry and 54 cuts with 30 before either hung up cutting paper.

Just ground on a ceramic rod.

EDIT: After doing a little research on this, I found a youtube video where a guy finds the same thing, except he ground it to 12 degrees per side, and got 90 cuts! I think his rope is a little thinner and looks a little smoother than the dried out old crap I tested with, but looking back at his previous efforts, he was getting much fewer, albeit a few more than I got with the factory grind of 40. He does make a few caveats for having such an extreme angle, and I think my 30 is a better all-rounder, but it's worth noting.

 

[Boattale]

First off, stop putting a polished edge or fine edge on the SAK. Its just not going to work well, I use an old Norton 'carborundum' stone or a Eze-Lap medium 400 grit diamond hone. I don't strop. I only use a course toothy edge and it lasts very well. When my sister in law had a sofa delivered it was cocooned in heavy cardboard and packing tape. My tinker cut it all off, then broke it all down to fit in her recycle bin, and after the tape residue was cleaned off with some alcohol based hand sanitizer it cut like nothing had been done. Still had the same edge as when I started.

Go toothy edge for SAK's. Forget the fine sharpening gizmos and just go with course. No more than 400 or 500 grit. And no stropping. The sole purpose of all those sharpening gizmos is, to get the money out of your pocket and into the gizmo makers pocket.

I prefer the edge from a 1000 grit diamond stone. Like the one I just used with the Compact.

 

[jazzz]

I would echo what yablanowitz and jackknife have posted and add that I am a believer that many knife users sharpen their knives with stones or diamond bonded abrasives way too much and too often, I only remove metal from my knife or axe edges in extreme cases. Instead I use the old fashioned sharpening steel which aligns the microscopic teeth of a cutting edge without removing the valuable metal the blade is made of. It is only when the sharpening steel can longer bring a sharp usable edge to the blade that I start getting out the abrasives.

I have kitchen knives that I have not used abrasives on for years at a time because the sharpening steel is so effective!

Exactly exactly exactly. More people should figure out a steel.

 

[A.L.]

I use medium spyderco ceramic flat stone combined with strop to get screaming sharp edge on my swiss knives. I don't see much advantage with toothy/dull edge especially when you can get the sharp edge back with few minutes of sharpening. Ceramic stone doesn't need water either so it doesn't eat your time preparing everything and cleaning the mess.