Sharpening Frequency

D

DeltaCypher0

Joined
Jun 5, 2012
Messages
74
What's goin on everyone? I haven't posted in a long time, but I had a question about sharpening.

I have a Bark River Bushcrafter in CPM3V, and it's main use is in the kitchen. I cut meats, cut whole chickens in half, process veggies, etc. Over the past six months or so, I have sharpened it once a week on an Arkansas stone. It's still pretty sharp, but just seems to be a little less keen than from factory. I can shave a few hairs with effort, but most of you would consider it to fail the shaving test. I was wondering if I should sharpen it more often, but I don't want to remove metal too regularly. Any suggestions? I like to use stones and free hand the process. I never get any chips or curling, and if there are any burrs, they are easily evened out on the Arkansas black surgical stone (which I think is their finest stone). I have only sharpened it on a fine stone, and usually do 5 strokes each side and repeat that 5-10 times, depending on my satisfaction. I'll strop it occasionally after I sharpen, but not every time. I'd like to get this blade dangerously sharp again (even though it is quite sharp in its current state). I've considered sending it back to get resharpened by Bark River and ask for their feedback on how sharp it was under by care. Thanks for any feedback!
 
Strop it after each time you use it.

You will very, very rarely need to take the stone to it.
 
What angle are you sharpening it to? I use a 40 degree combined primary micro bevel on most of my knives and they hold up very well because they have good steel. Rarely will I have to back bevel to 30 degrees total. I don't use a course ceramic stone, just a fine to touch it up. Once a week sounds way to frequent to me unless you use it to chop walnuts or something.
 
marcinek said:
Strop it after each time you use it.

You will very, very rarely need to take the stone to it.
Click to expand...

Bingo.

Exactly what I do. Strop after every use, and you will likely not need to sharpen it for a long, long time.
 
I usually strop to maintain an edge
Sharpmaker is also great for touch ups since it doesn't remove too much metal
 
marcinek said:
Strop it after each time you use it.

You will very, very rarely need to take the stone to it.
Click to expand...


This. I have roughly 20 knives that see regular use. I pulled every single one of them out and used my wicked edge to put a perfectly polished hair popping edge on them about a year ago. Since then, i haven't had a sharpener in my hand once. I strop them after every use, and every single one will still shave VERY easily

The large choppers require 2 different strops after a good beating but of course, i use a strop bat so that's not an issue. 20 seconds on a blank (uncoated) leather strop will restore my folders to razor sharpness.

I assume i'll have to sharpen again them one day, but it might be years
 
Once a week isnt too much as long as its higher grits.

about every few months I use a coarse stone (400 grit) and once a week I spend about 30 seconds on an 8000 grit.

a brand new knife has a very very thin edge, as you sharpen this part gets worn away and a thicker edge is left. To thin this out you need to remove much metal from shoulder and make a wider bevel.
 
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