Sharpening a kukri with a diamond sharpener

B

Bare Knuckle Honky

Joined
Apr 9, 2022
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176
I would be using a diamond bench stone.
Everyone says you can only use a lansky puck or file? to sharpen a machete
And that if you use another type of sharpener it will make it to sharp to chop properly?
This is a cold steel royal kukri with a working edge on it already I simply want to make it as sharp as one of my knives or at least a little sharper.
I previously bought a kukri from bud k with that arrived with zero edge on it 🤣
I had to go to multiple knife stores in an attempt to sharpen it but no one would touch it.
Finally I had a guy I know to grind an edge on it
he did a great job and it was pretty sharp then I touched it up with my diamond sharpener.
So my concern is that if I attempt to sharpen the cold steel kukri further to get it paper cutting sharp it will make it combat ineffective
for a SHTF situation. I should also note I had a nice schrade barong that I use for FMA it came really sharp and came with a cheap diamond panel sharpener that I used to maintain it’s edge. I had no problems but now I feel like a woman at a car lot in 1970 even asking these questions.
 
For recurves, kukries, etc.... I like ceramic rod type and/or diamond rod sharpeners -

EZLB.jpg
.

I've always found them to be the easiest and quickest way to teach people to sharpen the inside curve assuming you have a suitable good condition grind on it. If it's chipped out - file, then stone, then rod.
 
diamond vs sandpaper vs any other sharpening system does not matter...

you're talking about the apex angle... and sure, if you go down to 15 dps or lower the edge won't last much... expect chips or rolls etc

if you want to keep using it to chop and not lose that edge, I'd suggest 20+ dps

pretty simple really
 
My main use for this kukri would be hand to hand combat applications not cutting branches
I believe my hand axe would be a better tool for that.
I guess I will go with the diamond sharpening rod for now but explore the American scythe stone.
 
dirc said:
diamond vs sandpaper vs any other sharpening system does not matter...

you're talking about the apex angle... and sure, if you go down to 15 dps or lower the edge won't last much... expect chips or rolls etc

if you want to keep using it to chop and not lose that edge, I'd suggest 20+ dps

pretty simple really
Click to expand...
In other words don’t sharpen it too much 🙂
 
A diamond bench stone will not suitably reach the interior of the concave portion at the base of the blade. The diamond is only a single layer on the surface of the rectangular base plate and only the corners will contact the hollow, which will result in overly concentrated pressure that will remove some of the diamond. If using a diamond stone, make it one with a convex surface so it can appropriately mate with the concave regions. However, a file will do a better job for thinning out the thick factory geometry. Preferably use a round or half-round file for similar reasons.
 
Get yourself a set of these. Diamond bonded curved stones:

www.gritomatic.com

Venev Gemini Series Curved Diamond [6" x ½"]

Curved Venev Bonded Diamonds are used for sharpening inwardly curved blades on Hapstone knife sharpeners. Diamond sharpening stones offer excellent performance in sharpening knives of any steel. The working surface is curved. Curved diamonds are designed to sharpen kukris, karambits, hawkbills...
www.gritomatic.com www.gritomatic.com
 
Spuderco ceramic triangle sticks work well on khukri, though they don't remove a lot of steel, unless you get the coarse diamond.

The CS royal khukri machete will be pretty soft medium carbon steel. Pretty much any thinner sharpening tool will work.

FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades is right about recurve removing diamond at the edges of a diamond stone. I've worn out a few that way.
 
Bare Knuckle Honky said:
My main use for this kukri would be hand to hand combat applications not cutting branches
Click to expand...
If this isn’t a wood chopper then I think it’ll only get better as it gets sharper. Sharpness is much more important than edge stability in a fighting knife.
I’d suggest aiming for around 15 degrees per side to start. You can always convex the edge a bit later to thicken it up a bit if it seems too thin.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
A diamond bench stone will not suitably reach the interior of the concave portion at the base of the blade. The diamond is only a single layer on the surface of the rectangular base plate and only the corners will contact the hollow, which will result in overly concentrated pressure that will remove some of the diamond. If using a diamond stone, make it one with a convex surface so it can appropriately mate with the concave regions. However, a file will do a better job for thinning out the thick factory geometry. Preferably use a round or half-round file for similar reasons.
Click to expand...
IMG_20220310_183642963.jpg
 
Well the debate rages on
one expert on here said a diamond sharpening rod
a professional cutlery store said a 400/1000 ceramic stone
My two easiest choices are to let the guy who put a wicked edge on my kukri from India which came with no edge
( I touched it up with a diamond bench stone afterward)
do the same to the cs royal kukri
or to use this knife sharpening service that contracts with the hardware store I frequent
they’ll probably use a grinder of some type for $14.00
Where as the Mexican guy who is a metal filing master I would give $20 like last time.
He’s a buddy and would do it for free but I believe in paying a craftsman.
Thanks to everyone for the advice so bench grinding tool or metal file?
 
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