Cult of the peanut , members

Hello all, this is my first time posting in this thread. I just bought a Case yellow SS peanut and I was disappointed by the crude, uneven, rough, and rather blunt edge that the main blade had out of the box. What is the best angle to use when sharpening the peanut, and do any of y'all have recommendations for the best method to get a razor edge?

Thanks

The Case CV I bought was not sharp at all on the clip blade. I hand sharpened it on a stone and had it shaving sharp in a few minutes. While I was disappointed that it came from the factory that way, I have learned not to expect much from the manufacturers these days and I expect to sharpen any new knife myself. The only knives I bought that were really sharp out of the box were from GEC and Buck. BTW, the pen blade was paper slicing sharp, but not shaving sharp out of the box.

Edit: To answer your question, I have a sharpener that allows me to sharpen at either 20 or 25 degrees, but i have found that I get a better edge when I just use the fine stone and hand sharpen. Maybe I have a feel for the correct angle, but the 20 degree angle seemed to work pretty well if you're looking for a starting point.
 
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The Case CV I bought was not sharp at all on the clip blade. I hand sharpened it on a stone and had it shaving sharp in a few minutes. While I was disappointed that it came from the factory that way, I have learned not to expect much from the manufacturers these days and I expect to sharpen any new knife myself. The only knives I bought that were really sharp out of the box were from GEC and Buck. BTW, the pen blade was paper slicing sharp, but not shaving sharp out of the box.

Edit: To answer your question, I have a sharpener that allows me to sharpen at either 20 or 25 degrees, but i have found that I get a better edge when I just use the fine stone and hand sharpen. Maybe I have a feel for the correct angle, but the 20 degree angle seemed to work pretty well if you're looking for a starting point.

That's the nice thing about the small thin blades; they take only a few minutes on a stone or bottom of a coffee mug to touch up. And they seem to do better with just instinctive free hand sharpening for some reason.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
Had a yellow peanut, bought new, with the edge going in a side towards the tip, and not being sharpened on the other side around there. It was like the edge was not straight, sharpened in diagonal if I express myself right. It took 15-20 minutes to take care of this, using the sharpmaker 30 as to do the main apex, the 40 for the microbevel, and finishing freehand on an old fallkniven dc3.






 
And my old chestnut, in maybe re posted pics, as I have to make myself some time to take more photos...

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The Case CV I bought was not sharp at all on the clip blade. I hand sharpened it on a stone and had it shaving sharp in a few minutes. While I was disappointed that it came from the factory that way, I have learned not to expect much from the manufacturers these days and I expect to sharpen any new knife myself. The only knives I bought that were really sharp out of the box were from GEC and Buck. BTW, the pen blade was paper slicing sharp, but not shaving sharp out of the box.
That was my experience as well. The pen blade had a fairly symsmetrical, though rather rough, edge, while the clip blade looked like it only had a nodding acquaintance with a sharpener. Very different than what I’ve received from, say, Victoriox or Leatherman and, unfortunately, typical of my experiences with Case knives.
 
And my old chestnut, in maybe re posted pics, as I have to make myself some time to take more photos...
That’s a real beauty, jacktrades. Seeing all of the pretty chestnuts on this thread convinced me that I needed one, and it should be arriving today! Hopefully with a better edge than my yeller SS. I already have a blue bone nut, so now I’ll have all three primary colors!
 
That was my experience as well. The pen blade had a fairly symsmetrical, though rather rough, edge, while the clip blade looked like it only had a nodding acquaintance with a sharpener. Very different than what I’ve received from, say, Victoriox or Leatherman and, unfortunately, typical of my experiences with Case knives.

Welcome, indeed, as TrapperMike said.
My only Case peanut that came with a nice edge, equal apex, and pretty sharp, was the Damascus one.
But hey, I've been carrying the chestnut one for years without touching the apex, and it is not equal. It's thin, easy to touch up, and cuts well. In time, the apex will get some touching on the stone, but I will not do that for aesthetic reasons.
Others were not that pretty, stockman and so, but easy to re profile, as I only had to redo the actual edge/apex, and they were not that thin. I had to do that on a Schrade Middleman (34OT) as well. The problem was with a yellow peanut, with diagonal edge towards the tip. That one I had to redo, and I'm happy with it.
But the real problem was with Queen knives, as they actually had almost no grind, very thick behind the edge, so I had to have them re profiled in full. It was not the D2, trust me. I made them cut exquisite, with that real full flat grind, but I eventually sold them.
Even the Buck 303 and 301 had sabre grinds. For a small pocket knife, I wasn't satisfied a bit.

Modified Production Knives (traditional only)

That’s a real beauty, jacktrades. Seeing all of the pretty chestnuts on this thread convinced me that I needed one, and it should be arriving today! Hopefully with a better edge than my yeller SS. I already have a blue bone nut, so now I’ll have all three primary colors!

Thank you. May you have a nice beautiful peanut in your mail, one to enjoy.
 
I only have 2 Case Peanuts, both bought within the last 2 years. Both came with excellent F&F and both were sharp enough to cut paper but it took a few minutes on a strop so they would slice a cash register receipt. I've been very happy with all my Case purchases the last 5-6 years. Quality control is much improved.
 
I made it! Today is the final day of my 30 day challenge of carrying only my Case yellow CV peanut each day. So what did I learn?

I learned that I can get by with just a peanut. It did almost everything I need from a pocket knife. It excels at detail work and the thin, short blades are easy to control. They are also easy to sharpen and maintain an edge. Another good attribute is it goes unnoticed in public. A couple months ago, we were at a local winery and I needed to open something. I took out my Case Slimline Trapper, which I wouldn't consider a "scary knife" to open it. A woman at another table saw it and gave me "the look." If you've never gotten "the look," it's that disapproving look that says why are you carrying a knife? During the 30 day challenge, we were at a different winery and had to use the peanut to cut up some cheese. I actually set it down on the plate next to the cheese in a crowded room and not a single person even noticed it.

The downside I mentioned in previous posts is the blade is just too short for some things, like slicing small loafs of various dessert type breads. It let me down 3 times during the 30 days for this, but we may buy more of this type of bread than the average family.

So what will I carry now? For the time being, I'm going to carry 3 knives. I will have a Victorinox Manager on my key ring for the tools (I never use the blade), the peanut in the small (change?) pocket of my jeans, and a rotation of knives with blades around 3 inches. I just got a GEC 15 with ebony wood scales and I'm eager to try it out. It will replace the Case Slimline Trapper in my rotation, leaving me with a rotation of it, a Buck 302, and an Antonini Sicilian 78mm.

Here's how it looks after 30 days. A little bit of patina.

peanut.jpg
 
I made it! Today is the final day of my 30 day challenge of carrying only my Case yellow CV peanut each day. So what did I learn?

I learned that I can get by with just a peanut. It did almost everything I need from a pocket knife. It excels at detail work and the thin, short blades are easy to control. They are also easy to sharpen and maintain an edge. Another good attribute is it goes unnoticed in public. A couple months ago, we were at a local winery and I needed to open something. I took out my Case Slimline Trapper, which I wouldn't consider a "scary knife" to open it. A woman at another table saw it and gave me "the look." If you've never gotten "the look," it's that disapproving look that says why are you carrying a knife? During the 30 day challenge, we were at a different winery and had to use the peanut to cut up some cheese. I actually set it down on the plate next to the cheese in a crowded room and not a single person even noticed it.

The downside I mentioned in previous posts is the blade is just too short for some things, like slicing small loafs of various dessert type breads. It let me down 3 times during the 30 days for this, but we may buy more of this type of bread than the average family.

So what will I carry now? For the time being, I'm going to carry 3 knives. I will have a Victorinox Manager on my key ring for the tools (I never use the blade), the peanut in the small (change?) pocket of my jeans, and a rotation of knives with blades around 3 inches. I just got a GEC 15 with ebony wood scales and I'm eager to try it out. It will replace the Case Slimline Trapper in my rotation, leaving me with a rotation of it, a Buck 302, and an Antonini Sicilian 78mm.

Here's how it looks after 30 days. A little bit of patina.

View attachment 994884
It definitely can't do everything but pretty close :) Cool challenge and glad to see the mighty legume rose to the occasion! I rarely leave home without one.
 
Excellent report, Paul!
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

So, to sum it up, the only fail was at thicker food stuff like bread loaves. That's to be expected with a little coin pocket size knife. That also has b been my experience with the little legume, and I can live with it. Most of my pocket stuff is 'mostly' stuff. Stuff that mostly does what I need on a regular or daily basis.

I remember when I was a kid, my dad making a remark to my question about his little peanut and .22 Colt Woodsman. He's the one where I got the 'mostly' outlook. He told me he didn't want to load down his pockets with stuff that he'd need only a great once in a while. He carried stuff that he used the most, and it was a little inadequate for something once in a while, he'd just live it.

But then, my dad was not a knife nut. He just wanted something that was unobtrusive and forgettable until he needed it. The legume is a good pocket knife for that.
 
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