- Joined
- Feb 24, 2001
- Messages
- 1,308
I guess I can kill two birds with one stone in this reply.
My sharpest knife, it seems, is my most recent addition: a Pre-production Benchmade Mini-Griptilian. First I have to rave about the axis lock, which is incredible. I have never had a folder with such a tight hinge -- absolutely NO wobble to the blade AT ALL. Second, I have to admire the edge that came on the knife from the factory, which was quite good. Third, I have to say that I was still eager to do my own magic on the blade and so spent about an hour late at night spiffing it up and it is now hair-splitting sharp, moreso.
Learning to sharpen a knife is certainly not an overnight thing. I started doing it about 10 years ago and didn't really actually get good at it until about three years ago, though for a while I mistakenly thought I was. Experience and time are great teachers.
Now, actually with the help of a guy named Roland at the South Florida Fairgrounds gun and knife show, and Spyderco Profile and the FAQ about sharpening on this forum, I really actually do a good job.
My own special touch that I use now to preclude finishing up with a "wire edge" or "burr" is this:
I sharpen in bright light, eventually getting to the lighter and lighter strokes as I get near to finished. Then I turn on a small blue LED keychain flashlight, turn off the room light, and observe the blade's edge with the knife held close to my face, horizontal, with the edge facing away from me. If there is a burr edge, it will be visible as a very thin bright blue line at the edge. If you see such a line, you have a burr, and if you turn the blade over you will note that there is NOT such a line on the other side. I turn on the light and continue to sharpen on the side that has the line, LIGHTLY, until I feel a smoothness to the stroke that wasn't initially there. A few strokes and then I observe the other side under the blue LED with the room light off. If a burr has appeared there, I again finely stroke that side of the edge, even lighter, until I have worn the burr off but not put one back on the first side. Sometimes I have to do this several times until I am satisfied. The resulting edge is, I feel, as sharp as it can be without the sharpness resulting from a burr. I encourage you all to try this method. I doubt that the blue LED is the only color that would work satisfactorily, by the way. It just happens to be good for me. Good luck.
My sharpest knife, it seems, is my most recent addition: a Pre-production Benchmade Mini-Griptilian. First I have to rave about the axis lock, which is incredible. I have never had a folder with such a tight hinge -- absolutely NO wobble to the blade AT ALL. Second, I have to admire the edge that came on the knife from the factory, which was quite good. Third, I have to say that I was still eager to do my own magic on the blade and so spent about an hour late at night spiffing it up and it is now hair-splitting sharp, moreso.
Learning to sharpen a knife is certainly not an overnight thing. I started doing it about 10 years ago and didn't really actually get good at it until about three years ago, though for a while I mistakenly thought I was. Experience and time are great teachers.
Now, actually with the help of a guy named Roland at the South Florida Fairgrounds gun and knife show, and Spyderco Profile and the FAQ about sharpening on this forum, I really actually do a good job.
My own special touch that I use now to preclude finishing up with a "wire edge" or "burr" is this:
I sharpen in bright light, eventually getting to the lighter and lighter strokes as I get near to finished. Then I turn on a small blue LED keychain flashlight, turn off the room light, and observe the blade's edge with the knife held close to my face, horizontal, with the edge facing away from me. If there is a burr edge, it will be visible as a very thin bright blue line at the edge. If you see such a line, you have a burr, and if you turn the blade over you will note that there is NOT such a line on the other side. I turn on the light and continue to sharpen on the side that has the line, LIGHTLY, until I feel a smoothness to the stroke that wasn't initially there. A few strokes and then I observe the other side under the blue LED with the room light off. If a burr has appeared there, I again finely stroke that side of the edge, even lighter, until I have worn the burr off but not put one back on the first side. Sometimes I have to do this several times until I am satisfied. The resulting edge is, I feel, as sharp as it can be without the sharpness resulting from a burr. I encourage you all to try this method. I doubt that the blue LED is the only color that would work satisfactorily, by the way. It just happens to be good for me. Good luck.
