Kershaw Blur (S30V) - Dull blade, need suggestions.

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blueorb

Joined
Jan 3, 2012
Messages
5
Hi all. New guy here.

I purchased a new Kershaw Blur (with the S30V blade) as a Christmas gift to myself. I did a bit of research before buying the Blur and decided to buy it based on lots and lots of good reviews on the Speedsafe assisted opening (which I love and am very happy with) and the out-of-the-box sharpness of the blade. Well, I was not happy with my blade sharpness at all. In fact, I think the blade was down right dull.
My understanding is that Kershaw has good customer service and will sharpen the blade for me if I send the knife back. However, I don't really want to send the knife back, at my expense, due to it being my only knife at the moment and I think I would like to try and sharpen the knife myself.
At the moment I am leaning toward purchasing this sharpening system: http://www.kmesharp.com/kmeknshsy.html. Couple questions:

1) anyone familiar with that system? Pros/cons? Does it look sufficient for sharpening S30V steel (I would assume that would be more of a stone issue rather than the system itself).
2) Does S30V take a particular set of stones for proper sharpening?

Thanks in advance.
 
I use the convex sharpening method on almost all my knives, including those made of S30V. This sharpening method has given me excellent results and it is easy to learn. Below is a link I used to learn how to sharpen using this method:

http://brkca.com/convex.htm

There is a great deal of instructional material on the web that is very helpful.
 
I tend to use a Spyderco Sharpmaker. Very easy to use and will maintain a very good edge. When you have time you can use flat stones but that takes a good deal of practice.
 
i used to use a guided system years ago and it did ok. i could never get it to match up again to an existing edge unless i played with it some and the stated angle on the guide can change depending on how wide or narrow a blade is.

i got rid of my guided system once i bought a set of paper wheels. they will sharpen any steel out there in minutes. there is a short learning period but a lot of guys have good results from the start.

here is a link to a thread i started on the wheels. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=578787
 
Thanks for the replies. I think I may buy myself a cheap blade and practice using some sandpaper and belt (with compound). Kind of like the link that Willieboy provided. Once I get decent at sharpening my cheap blade I will try my blur.
 
I have used the KME.

I prefer the GATCO.

The rod-guided systems all work.

The GATCO is a great system for the money.

I think that a lot of the features built into the KME are not needed.

Good Luck.
 
Have not come across the GACTO yet. Will google it now. Thanks for the suggestion.

Edit to add....yes, I did see a youtube vid on this system but ignored it since I thought I remembered the guy in the vid saying the system was not good for the better steels such as S30V. The whole kit is 60 bucks...hmmm
 
The GATCO diamond kit should do fine with S30V. I have the GATCO diamond kit, as well as two of the Lansky kits (including a diamond kit). As Hard H2O said, they're all good. I'm sure this would also apply to the KME, EdgePro, WickedEdge, etc. (I don't have these). So long as one is patient and willing to put in the time to learn them, any one of these should be fine.
 
The standard EP stones have no problem with S30V, just a tad slower going than diamond plates. They still put a tremendous edge on.

I haven't tried with my WEPS yet, but I'd bet that would work just fine as well.
 
that actually looks cool. I don't really use clamp type systems anymore because they usually don't work very well with full flat ground blades but this one looks like it clamps differently so it might work a little better. I am a sucker for new sharpening gizmos so I might just have to give this one a shot.

One thing to think about is the width of the stones and the depth of the recurve portion of the blur's blade. The thin stones that come with the lansky system work really well with recurve blades but I'm not sure if the stones that come with the kme are thin enough to sharpen the entire recurve portion.
 
Well, I think I am having a change of heart now. I just stumbled upon the thread talking about the Work Sharp WSKTS sharpener. That really has my interest peaked and it is getting a lot of good reviews. For 69 bucks plus some extra belts I think it is hard to pass on.
 
blueorb said:
Well, I think I am having a change of heart now. I just stumbled upon the thread talking about the Work Sharp WSKTS sharpener. That really has my interest peaked and it is getting a lot of good reviews. For 69 bucks plus some extra belts I think it is hard to pass on.
Click to expand...

It's a pretty good deal, and works quite a bit better than you'd expect for its size! Bonus points for small desk footprint, although it's not actually as capable as a full-up belt, of course.

Still, pretty much the best "portable" electric I've played with.
 
I use this meat eater for starters

severtech2.jpg
 
Before it's all said and done, you really need to learn to sharpen freehand. Yes, it takes a lot of practice but it is worth it. You won't always have some sort of fancy tool with you when your knife goes dull. I do use, and very much like, the sharpmaker for touching up and sometimes finishing off a freehand. But lately I have just stuck it out with the freehand and use the sharpmaker only for after-use touch ups.

You really need to learn to sharpen freehand I think.

My Spyderco Paramilitary 2 in S30V came with a rather disappointing edge...really not very sharp at all. Since I reprofile everything anyway I set right to the stones and put a razor sharp 27.5 (approx) degree inclusive edge on it with stones. Since my Spydercos are users, it then put an 40 degree inclusive microbevel (and I do mean MICRO) on it with a sharpmaker and it cut like a laser, touches up in minutes. S30V is not all together that hard to sharpen.
 
HoosierQ said:
Before it's all said and done, you really need to learn to sharpen freehand. Yes, it takes a lot of practice but it is worth it. You won't always have some sort of fancy tool with you when your knife goes dull. I do use, and very much like, the sharpmaker for touching up and sometimes finishing off a freehand. But lately I have just stuck it out with the freehand and use the sharpmaker only for after-use touch ups.

You really need to learn to sharpen freehand I think.

My Spyderco Paramilitary 2 in S30V came with a rather disappointing edge...really not very sharp at all. Since I reprofile everything anyway I set right to the stones and put a razor sharp 27.5 (approx) degree inclusive edge on it with stones. Since my Spydercos are users, it then put an 40 degree inclusive microbevel (and I do mean MICRO) on it with a sharpmaker and it cut like a laser, touches up in minutes. S30V is not all together that hard to sharpen.
Click to expand...

OP...

Since you sound like you're new to sharpening, this is probably the best suggestion. You're going to have a learning curve no matter what, so it might as well take you down the freehand route. That really is the simplest way to go for "anywhere" sharpening and it opens up possibilities for stropping your edge after you use the stones. A Spyderco Sharpmaker will get you started with a sort of a guided system and allow you to move into freehand sharpening as your skill level improves
 
However, I don't really want to send the knife back, at my expense, due to it being my only knife at the moment
Click to expand...

Not trying to talk you out of acquiring sharpening tools and skills, I think it's one of the more satisfying aspects of knife ownership, but buy a second knife. That way you can rotate them: use one while the other is being sharpened by the manufacturer.
 
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