Why won't this 501 take an edge?

Ceramic hones do not cut very fast. It takes more effort to remove metal from 440C than a lot of alloys. The high chrome content and the hardness make it difficult to abraid. In addition all that chrome makes it harder to get a razor edge on 440C. The more rugged (thicker) edge profile on the old 440C Buck blades also contributed to sharpening challenges. I wouldn't be surprised if it took you and hour of honing to sharpen your knife on a sharpmaker. When you were done you would not have nearly as nice (thin) a blade profile as the factory will give you. You should be able to maintain the edge with the Sharpmaker.

I think that the newer Bucks are much easier for normal mortals to keep at a high level of cutting performance than the old 440C Bucks. I used to thin the edge of my old Buck 110 with a silicon carbide sanding disk chucked in an electric drill. It didn't help the looks, but after some finish honing it was twice as sharp as my friends. I wouldn't tell them how I did it.
 
Originally posted by Kimberholic
I'll update as soon as it gets back.
Click to expand...

Were is the update? How did you like the edge on the knife when you got it back?

Any of you guys use the Razor Edge System? I use the guides along with my DMT hones and the razor edge fine hone. I really like it.

I have never tried a sharpmaker as I found the razor edge system first and it worked so I stuck with it.
 
Just a couple of tips for using a sharpmaker on older, thicker knives.

First of all, try out the magic marker technique. Coat the edge bevel of your knife with a magic marker and then make a few passes on the sharpmaker. If the very edge part is still black, that means the edge angle is more obtuse than the sharpmaker angle. You would then want to thin out your edge bevel, but do not use the sharpmaker- that will take too long! Go get a coarse benchstone and just scrub in new bevels by hand. THe angle doesn't matter much, nor does accuracy. Angle your knife in the 10-15 degree range and scrub away. I usually scrub one side of a knife for a minute, then flip and do the other side for a minute, and then keep alternating that way- it just helps keep the bevels even. A coarse hone and a good circular scrubing motion will have the bevels thinned out quite quickly. WHat will happen is that you'll get a burr on one side, and then you want to flip the knife and get a burr on the other- that way you know the whole edge bevel has been thinned out. The bevel will be between 20-30 degrees. You can then use the sharpmaker to put an edge on your knife. This is a double bevel technique, by the way. For more on that, read Joe's FAQ, the Razor Edge Book of Sharpening, or ask here and I'll add more to the thread! SO anyways, with the thinned out edge bevel, it will take only a minute or two to put an edge on your knife. Use the coarse sharpmaker stones first, and only do one side until you get a burr. Do the other side until you get a burr, and then do the alternating technique. You want a burr first because you want to make sure you have an even edge. The alternating step will then help really ensure the edge bevel is even. Typically, while alternating you will want to ease up on the pressure. With this sharpening technique, you can quickly put edges on your knife. A shte knife dulls, you just go back to the alternating steps on the sharpmaker. Eventually the knife won't respond too well to the sharpmaker, so then you have to spend 2-3 minutes on your coarse hone again.

Or you can send your knife to Joe and have him do it!

Good luck all!
 
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