I need advice for sharpening a buck 102

B

bleorg

Joined
Dec 9, 2006
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I bought a Buck 102 from a guy at work a few days ago for $5. When I got it, it was covered in some sort of oil(90 weight maybe?) The sheath had been chewed up by someones dog, and the edge on the blade was nearly round. Being one of those people who tend to make knives more dull when trying to sharpen them, I went and bought a Lansky basic kit. The first test subject for the Lansky was a cheap, non serrated steak looking kitchen knife. I managed to get the damn thing pretty sharp. It won't shave or anything, but its real sharp. Next I gave the old Buck a try. I set it up for a 20 degree edge and started out with the coarse stone. Now from all of my reading here on this forum I figured I would end up creating a burr along the edge of the blade that would indicate that it is time to flip it over and work the other side. No burr at all. I looked at it with a high powered and lighted magnifying glass constantly throughout the process. Am I overly concerned with looking for a burr? I guessed my way through the rest of the process and came out with a knife that was sharper than it was. It wouldn't cut butter before. I know because I tried. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
No burr=no sharp.

When you attempt to sharpen a rounded over neglected edge, it takes a time to get to the actual edge so a burr is formed.
You are doing everything correctly but just have more metal to remove.

A black felt tip marker is very useful to coat the actual edge so you can easily monitor actual metal removal as you approach the actual cutting edge, and a burr forms.
 
So I should stay with the coarse stone for awhile then? Its funny you should mention the felt tip marker. I was just about to try that. Will it be pretty obvious when the burr starts to form? When it forms, Is it time to flip to the other side of the blade? Also what would be the best angle for a Buck 102? I plan to use it for hunting and everything else that needs to be cut with a knife
 
A moderator will probably move this to our sharpening forum.

Meanwhile, go with the marker, use the stone lightly -- don't oversharpen while you're still trying to see how much work you have ahead of you.

I find if I've got any burr to clean off by a quick, vigorous stropping on a pants leg, then running my thumb off one side of the edge, then the other -- NOT parallel to it -- I don't need to bleed to find a burr :) If the burr is there, you will feel one side of the edge is smooth but the other drags.

You can probably get away with a 15 degree angle unless you're going to use the knife for heavy chopping, then go to 20. The thinner angle will slice better and will hold up if that's all it has to do.

Check out these links on sharpening.
 
Ah. O.k. Its Shaving sharp now. The marker trick worked. The only part I'm not satisfied with is the belly. I guess It'll just take time and practice. Thanks!
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!

moving-van.jpg
 
bleorg said:
Ah. O.k. Its Shaving sharp now. The marker trick worked. The only part I'm not satisfied with is the belly. I guess It'll just take time and practice. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Glad the marker trick worked out.
Pic of 'burr' below

burr2.jpg
 
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