Sharpening - Ruined my Swiss Army Knife

N

nealf5

Joined
Jul 14, 2011
Messages
31
Hi All,
Been a longtime lurker on the forums, this is a very noob post, so please bear with me.
I own several Swiss Army Knives and decided to sharpen one of them (model name: Outrider).

I pulled out the $9 kitchen knife sharpener gadget, it has something that looks like two metal edges in a V shape and you pull the knife through that. Works great on my cheap kitchen knives so I figured it'd give my Swiss Army a nice edge.

First couple of passes I noticed lots of metal slivers coming off the knife, so I put in some more elbow grease and really went at it thinking that I was putting on a great edge.
When I tested it I found it very dull, its terrible now. In fact I think I've ruined it and totally destroyed the edge. On closer look the edge also is not as smooth and seems to have some rough spots.

So my questions:
1. What type of grind do Swiss Army knives have?
2. Can you recommend a good sharpening system that I can buy which would work for my Swiss Army knives. I'd also like to keep the price under $100. (there is a video on youtube of a guy sharpening his Swiss knife with a Lansky, but when I went to their site they had so many different sharpening systems I got confused - figured if I ask here I'd get the straight goods)
3. Based on my description have I ruined the knife? Is it repairable - any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

p.s. I also own a Gerber Paraframe, and despite trying I can't put a good edge on that either. The dull swiss army knife is still a better slicer than the Gerber!

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Most of what I have seen are flat ground. Sandvik steel is great imo. And if you could post pix of the knife in question it would help.
 
Never use those pull through pieces of trash. You haven't ruined the knife. You need to restore the edge. If you want to freehand get a Norton coarse/fine India or Crystolon stone.
 
For a beginner, the Spyderco Sharpmaker is pretty solid. If you wanted to pay shipping, I could sharpen your knife and send it back to you so you can see what is possible on just that system alone.

There are many great systems on the market, depending on how much you're willing to spend. Manually, you can sharpen for dirt cheap - sandpaper, an India stone, a ceramic mug...

The good thing is that Sandvik is easy to sharpen, and the SAK Sandvik is fairly soft, so fixing that edge won't be a problem.
 
I would recommend a lansky, there are many options with it and you can reprofile touch up and sharpen to a mirror edge. Imo the sharpmaker is a lousy way to sharpen a knife. If you choose that route a simple $5 ceramic rod would do just the same, minus the serrated edge option. If your going to learn to sharpen knives, I would do it right. I have a side business for sharpening and a lansky is a wonderful tool for me. I sharpen up to 40 knives a week, I don't always use the lansky it just really depends on the length, steel type and type of edge it is.
 
For a beginner, the Spyderco Sharpmaker is pretty solid. If you wanted to pay shipping, I could sharpen your knife and send it back to you so you can see what is possible on just that system alone.

There are many great systems on the market, depending on how much you're willing to spend. Manually, you can sharpen for dirt cheap - sandpaper, an India stone, a ceramic mug...

The good thing is that SAK steel is easy to sharpen, and the steel is fairly soft, so fixing that edge won't be a problem.
 
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Unless the pull-through sharpener's blades are positioned at exactly the same angle as your existing edge, it's likely going to cause more damage than good. As for your questions:

1. Non-serrated SAKs have a full flat grind with a "V" edge

2. The Lansky and DMT Aligner sets are relatively easy to learn and use. The Sharpmaker is also excellent for maintaining a great edge, although it is not as good for re-profiling a very dull or ruined edge (at least not with the rods it ships with). As with any system, though, it'll take practice.

3. Definitely repairable. Most likely, the original bevel is ruined, so you will need to re-profile it. Start with a coarse (or extra-coarse) stone, shape the bevel to your liking, and then work up through the higher grits.
 
I use a Lansky system and like it a lot.
I'd suggest the basic hone system for the knives you mention.
I also suggest trying wet/dry sandpaper from your local auto parts store. Perhaps start with 400, 600, 800 and 1000 grit paper...or close to those grits.
Place the sandpaper on a piece of smooth wood for the base and learn to hand sharpen to a useful angle for the knife. It is an inexpensive method to start out with while trying to decide if a "system" is the way to go.

You will have to reprofile the SAK but the steel is not hard to work...as you learned...and is a good learning knife.
Good luck and keep us informed.
 
Well, most Swiss knives have flat grinds, but that is just concerning the primary bevel, not the edge itself. The edge geometry and angle can change from company to company and knife to knife, so it's impossible to tell you.
A sharpmaker would be good to sharpen it with, and so would any set of whetstones. Just be sure to touch it up quite often, it's much easier than sharpening the knife every once a month, especially with a sharpmaker.
It is definitely repairable, but you just need to re-profile the edge. Use a low-grit stone/system, and just continually sharpen the edge until the stone(s) come in contact with all of the edge at the desired angle. The edge may now be thicker than it was previously, and the blade may be smaller in width, but now it should be good to go.
Edit: The sharpmaker is best for touchups on a knife, but a lansky sharpener should be pretty decent to reprofile the edge with.
 
Hi all,
I just posted some pics - hope they're helpful.
On my way out the door to grab some dinner, will be back a little later to read the replies.
Thanks!
 
Lol, that blade is fine bud. See the little Nick at the base of the blade above the tang? Triangular shape? There's lots of blade left, u just need to reprofile it and polish that edge progressively. Thoes knives can become very very sharp, that's one of May favorite brands.
 
The knife isn't ruined (not by a long shot, as seen in your pics).

Victorinox uses a German steel called X50CrMoV15 (NOT Sandvik, BTW), which is a complicated-looking name for a very simple stainless steel. Not very hard (HRC in mid-50s) and not much abrasion-resistance at all. Very easy to grind; the combination of that and the thin grind means it won't need much work to get the edge back in shape.

Whatever tool is used, the key with sharpening this steel is to use very light pressure, and finer-grit abrasives will work better. It's not necessary to use very coarse stones on it, because they'll remove a lot more steel than necessary, and leave the edge in pretty rough shape. A fine or EF diamond hone, or a simple hardware-store stone in silicon carbide or aluminum oxide can work (use the 'Fine' side on combo stones). Can also use wet/dry sandpaper, as mentioned earlier; shouldn't need anything lower than about 400/600-grit to reset the bevels. I've used all these methods to sharpen my Victorinox knives, and again, the key is light, light pressure, with whichever tool is used. Tools like the Sharpmaker or Lansky clamp system can also work, and may be useful if you're still not comfortable with freehand sharpening technique. BUT, you don't have to spend much $$ to fix this knife, if you don't want to.

My mantra for these blades is always 'LESS is MORE', meaning less pressure, finer grit, and fewer grinding passes will get the job done best. It's very easy to 'overkill' the edge on Victorinox blades with too much pressure, grit size, or grinding strokes. :)

Avoid the carbide scraper pull-throughs like the plague, as you've now seen what they can do to an edge.


David
 
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Yup, it looks fine. It'll probably save you a lot more in the long run, and hopefully you can learn a lot from this experience. This exact circumstance got me to learn a lot more about knives and how to care for them.
 
I second (or third or whatever) the Lansky as a starter. Easy to learn on and you can add simple stones and learn freehand after you get to know what a sharp blade is like (a sharp blade that you have sharpened yourself).
 
I agree he should probably touch it up with a Honesteel to smooth out those rough burrs too and can that edge re-aligned
 
Go with the Lansky. IMO it's a great beginner's sharpener. Get the basic (non-diamond) kit with a course, med and fine stone. Other stones can be added as you wish.

As someone stated above in regards to the Sharpmaker, the same thing can be done with with round rod system sharpeners at a much lower cost.

Freehand is cheapest, but not everyone can maintain the same angle. And this is where I think the Lansky edges out (no pun intended) the Sharpmaker.

As with all internet advice: YMMV.
 
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