Post by kevshell on Jul 1, 2020 8:32:30 GMT -5
I didn't want to hijack Mr. Thompsons' thread with Kim's knife. This is a tired old subject but here goes. Kim Ralston, Gene Ingram and the likes sell us a blade that is scary sharp. Once utilized for their intended purpose at some point something has to be done to TRY and get it back. I own stones and various mechanical devices. I'm guessing by the appearance of the edge from both makers it is accomplished mechanically. I realize there's probably no substitute for having a robot like arm that can hold an angle on a good stone. I fare pretty well there and all of my kitchen knives will dig into a dry onion skin. Some knives just frustrate me to no end. Thoughts?
Steel and heat treatment used in knife making varies widely. Old carbon steels are not particular and respond to many abrasives. Seems that old carbon steel knives were made to be sharpened with whatever was at hand, from sandstone to composite carborundum and “India” stones, to harder “Arkansas” stones. Stainless steel changed the sharpening drill, eliminating common stones which may push chromium molecules around without sharpening the edge. Hardness alone does not translate to edge-holding, with Buck a major example of a blade nearly impossible to sharpen, yet easy to dull.
Jerry Busse makes knives of carbon steel with rust resistance which are both easy to sharpen and hold an exceptional edge. A Busse Battle Mistress is the only knife with which I’ve chopped through the femur bone of a whitetail. I did intentionally, laying the femur bone on a maple chopping stump. Took two swings on my first attempt to sever the tubular bone. The edge didn’t break, nor show a flat spot. On my second attempt I put all my arm into it and chopped clean through with one stroke. The femur did not splinter, but chopped through clean as if sawn. The knife still had its cutting edge. Never before of since have I subjected a knife to such abuse. Busse calls the steel he uses Infi----whatever that is. It cuts like fury and I sharpen it on a 2”x8" gray Arkansas or 3”x8” Eze-Lap diamond-impregnated steel.
A Hendrix custom hunting knife ranks at the top as difficult-to-sharpen. A fabulous full tapered-tang hunter, beautiful to hold & use... yet to tune it drives me nuts. The Hendrix is hollow ground like an old straight razor, albeit with stronger edge. It wants, as KRal points out, a pass across a fine belt. The Eze-Lap works. The Hendrix sneaks at carborundum and Idea stones; don’t bother. Best to zip it across a fine 1” belt; follow with a zip across a buffing wheel. This knife doesn’t submit to Arkansas, let alone a composite.
A Solingen full tapered-tang Bowie made by Edge Brand in the 1960’s, well before German unification, features a flat-ground edge exceptional for keen cutting, edge-holding, and ease of sharpening on nearly any stone. Might be considered too much knife for deer hunting, yet comes alive on elk, and works as a real camp tool.
Two flat ground, carbon steel knives made for the Navy in WW II combine excellent cutting on the deer mountain with the ability to sharpen on anything from a concrete curb or a carborundum scythe sharpener, up through India composites. While these blades have handles fashioned from a stack of leather washers----same construction as the famous Marine fighting knives----the steel is harder, flat ground to the spine, with superior cutting.
A little tooth----rough finish on the edge----aids cutting though hide and cutting meat, especially with softer steel. A blade which cannot be made keen must have some tooth. Drag-through sharpeners with diamond wheels accomplish this, fast. I do not want the aggression on fine cutlery. Which precludes use of such tools on much of the cutlery in my daily use, from German chef’s blades to old French carbon paring knives with wood handles. My mother taught me how to sharpen on whetstones with her own prized paring knives, flat ground from razor steel.
David Bradshaw
No truer words have been spoken. When I was a kid I thought I was terrible sharpening knives until I got my hands on something other than a Buck.