Trouble With Old Hickory Knives....

R

RickyB

Joined
Dec 30, 2006
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I would like some advice and / or confirmation about the quality of the steel used in Old Hickory knives. I have tried to sharpen these knives over and over and cannot get a decent edge. I can put a razor edge on my combat knives and my huning knives but not the Old Hickory knives. I have used both a stone and a diamond steel but no luck.

I thought the Ontario Knife Company made decent blades, did I just get a set with poor heat treat and temper? Have any of you had a similar experience?

Thanks,
RB
 
I believe they are made from 1095 steel, but tempered rather soft. I recall sharpening my mother-in-law's much-abused Old Hickory butcher knife and was amazed how fast it went dull. The are pretty tough, tho'.
 
I just order 4 tonight for the kitchen hopefully I will have them at the end of the week. I don't expect them to be all that sharp out of the box so I will let you know what happens when I put a decient edge on them.


Bors
 
RickyB said:
I would like some advice and / or confirmation about the quality of the steel used in Old Hickory knives. I have tried to sharpen these knives over and over and cannot get a decent edge. I can put a razor edge on my combat knives and my huning knives but not the Old Hickory knives. I have used both a stone and a diamond steel but no luck.

I thought the Ontario Knife Company made decent blades, did I just get a set with poor heat treat and temper? Have any of you had a similar experience?

Thanks,
RB
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I have a Old Hickory knife from about a year ago. It is by far the easiest knife i have in my collection to put an edge one. I use a mouse pad block with 600 to start and 1000 to finish. I could shave me face when finished on a leather strop. Don't use to steep of an angle. 20 degrees is very good IMHO>
 
I have a bunch of Old Hickory in my personal knives. I sharpen a lot of them. Some of the new fillet knives in stainless pretty much suck.

The traditional 1095 from years ago are great. Some of that is just being used seems to bring out the best in them over time.

Newer, from the last 2 years, 1095 seems to be a bit on the softer side. For me all have taken an edge that is absolutely fantastic. One tip though on initial sharpening make a few cuts into the edge, flat to the stone to remove fatigued metal, makes sharpening so much more enjoyable and the edge will last a heck of a lot longer.

The last few weeks I sharpened a bunch of Old Hickory skinners and butchers in 1095, these are cut back to 10° per side. Polished right out to 1µ with EdgePro polish tapes then a 15° to 17° mirco bevel put on. I haven't heard a peep from any of the caribou hunters on knives not holding up through skinning and butchering. If they didn't hold up I'd hear about it.

Current production Old Hickory seem to be a bit "rougher" than those from years ago. I can't swear that they are softer but they seem to be at least somewhat less "hard", though Old Hickory have never been "hard".

If you really like the design and feel. Knock the slab handle scales off and have the blade deep cryo treated and get it HARD. 1095 can get close to 60RC without major problems. Why it isn't done as a matter of course I don't know.
 
tarmix101 said:
I have a Old Hickory knife from about a year ago. It is by far the easiest knife i have in my collection to put an edge one. I use a mouse pad block with 600 to start and 1000 to finish. I could shave me face when finished on a leather strop. Don't use to steep of an angle. 20 degrees is very good IMHO>
Click to expand...


Do you use any grit between 600 and 1000? and is the 1000 wet or dry?
 
Take a small file to it. Then finishit with a regular carbon stone and oil.
We used them alot when skinning animals at the skinning house.
You all may Laugh at the sharpening technique, but it works on those knives.
 
Mine were pretty blunt when I first bought them but sharpened up ok. They don't hold an edge all that well but like a lot of original low cost working knives, they respond well to a steel. I think that they are a bit softer than we have become used to. Old butcher's steels can be picked up for little cost - once you get the edge you want, give it half a dozen strokes of the steel on each side each time you use it and it should keep a good working edge. Don't use one of the more aggressive diamond impregnated steels for these types of knives.
 
Use an acute angle to get a nice thin edge. Don't press hard when you sharpen and use a fairly coarse hone, finish off with a butchers steel/smooth steel/ceramic stick/ strop whatever and use that to maintain the edge, works for me.
 
I find it easy to get them arm hair shaving sharp. When I got thhem I first thinned all of them with an extra course diamond hone, and used the brown rods (about 600 grit) on the Sharpmaker to put a 40 degree inclusive edge on them. Works great.
 
How do Hickory knives compare with those TV knives? or those knives found in Canadian Tire, Walmart etc.
 
Current production Old Hickory seem to be a bit "rougher" than those from years ago. I can't swear that they are softer but they seem to be at least somewhat less "hard", though Old Hickory have never been "hard".
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I've found this to be true too. I've used / sharpened these knives ever since I could use a knife, and the ones my parents have form the 70's do seem a bit harder than the new ones I bought years ago when I moved out (although my dad did say he "tempered" the edges on the stove:)). also the grinds were alot more even on the old knives, on the new ones you have to even out the edge quite a bit, this might be your problume too.

That being said I still love them, I would favorably compare them to any knife in the $5 to $50 range, and even some in the $50 to $100 rannge! They will make you good at sharpening becouse they do dull quickly, but I've never had a problume getting a hair popping edge on them, they seem to like the harder stones and do respond well to steeling.

How do Hickory knives compare with those TV knives? or those knives found in Canadian Tire, Walmart etc.
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Old Hickory hands down! The old hickory or other brands of similar knives used to be the standard "comb knife" (a cheep department store) but they have been replaced with crappy stainless steel and worthless serated kitchen knives. The old hickorys are great working knives, I've never wanted for anything more.
 
Thanks to everyone for all of your responses, I am not giving up on them, I must learn to make them work for me!

RB
 
also I forgot to mention, they do seem to respond better to steeper angles as stated by others, like 20 digrees each side or so.
 
Remember these knives are for cutting fruit,vegies and meat and are meant to be resharpened after every usage. I've made several kephart style knives out of these and don't expect them to keep an edge for long. I've used these knives for cutting meat on a dinner plate and after a few cuts they are blunt. I've used Bark River knives performing the same task and they keep their edge. A good inexpensive kitchen knife but not much beyond that.
 
I have the same problem. I don'y know if the steel is too soft or not. I have a small clip point parer and the same thing. Waterstones, Lanky, Gatco, my favourite my belt grinder never been able to get an edge that will slice paper. Same with my opinal no 8.
 
I just did a few Old Hickory knives on my Work Sharp KO with the blade grinding attachment. Just a coarse belt at ~20* and then straight to the Lansky Master's Edge at 25* per side for a microbevel. Suuuuper sharp! :thumbup:

edit: Oh, Lord! I just realized this thread is 8 years old! :eek: :D
 
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