Clamping an Osborne

[illtrick]

I’ve been shopping around for a long time for a system that will make efficient and consistent work of my Benchmade Osborne 942.  The single most frustrating challenge about sharpening this knife is the grind on the back of the blade.  Currently I have a lowly Gatco angle clamp / guide and trying to get the clamp to get solid purchase on the back of this blade is a pain in the ass.  I use a bit of that grippy shelf liner stuff to assist in the grip.  Needless to say it’s a bugger and leads to a very inconsistent positioning of the guide on the blade.  In my hopes of graduating to the next level I’ve been looking at this system.  While I’m excited about the clamp for pretty much every other blade I own I’m really worried about fighting with the clamp.  Has anyone else sharpened a Benchmade 940-943 Osborne?  I believe both blade styles (reverse tanto and traditional) have this same grind on the back of the blade.

[Josh]

Use the Tormek small knife jig along with an angle cube to make sure the knife is indeed vertical in the clamp. All the cool guys are doing it… 😉

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M1rrorEdge, Organic

[cbwx34]

Shouldn’t be an issue… clamp it near the handle on the flat.

Couple of videos…

[Mark76]

I was surprised, too. I’ve had an Osborne (don’t own it anymore), but it clamped just fine in the standard clamp.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Josh]

Yeah I normally use the Tormek jig because I’m trying to get 15 dps many times, and trying to do this on the gen 3 clamp with a narrow blades won’t work in my experience. I don’t have a 943 right in front of me atm, but if you don’t have enough clamping room then you can simply remove the thumb stud (which I also frequently do).

From looking at the video above, clay is using a gen 2  clamp which won’t have an issue since it’s narrower, but the gen 3 clamp does I believe.

[wickededge]

I seem to receive a lot of these Osborne Benchmades for sharpening. I normally sharpen them at 17° and then add a 20° micro-bevel. If it’s a version with S90V steel, you could maybe go down to 15° per side and the add an optional micro-bevel a few degrees higher.

-Clay

[illtrick]

Thanks everyone!  I think one of the largest challenges of the Gatco system is the little notch in the end of the clamp, it’d be far easier to use with out that.  

Josh wrote:

Use the Tormek small knife jig along with an angle cube to make sure the knife is indeed vertical in the clamp. All the cool guys are doing it…

 – you’re saying use that on the Tormek, not in conjunction with the Wicked Edge right?

I think it’s clear but to be super sure – If I were to go after the current generation of WE would it work without any further adapters / clamps?

wickededge wrote:

I seem to receive a lot of these Osborne Benchmades for sharpening. I normally sharpen them at 17° and then add a 20° micro-bevel. If it’s a version with S90V steel, you could maybe go down to 15° per side and the add an optional micro-bevel a few degrees higher.

I’ve had issues with edge retention with anything less than 22 on my S30V blade which seems odd to me.  Mostly light duty work with the knife too, I rarely cut anything hard.

 

 

 

 

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[wickededge]

What Josh (razoredgeknives) is saying is to use the Tormek small knife jig in your Wicked Edge clamp to be able to reach very low angles and to be able to clamp the knife by the handle. In the specific case of the Osborne, it’s not really necessary but it is useful for very low angles on small knives.

-Clay

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M1rrorEdge

[M1rrorEdge]

I agree, the Tormek small knife jig is a winner!  I use it like Josh based on his recommendation last year (Note it works on my AMK-75 as well).  Basically, it holds the knife handle and gives you the flexibility to sharpen all of the unusual blade geometries (Click here to view a video).  Instead of mounting the small knife jig into the Tormek SVM-45 you mount it into the WE clamp (This is just brilliant).  At times, I will also remove the blade from the handle and scales and clamp at the “Flat” pivot point of the knife. However, the Tormek jig was the perfect inexpensive solution that works well and protects the knifes manufacturer warranty.   You must use a angle guide, to ensure the blade “Flat” is perpendicular (90 degrees) to the clamp for the WE angle guides to be accurate. (Best of Luck)

Eddie Kinlen
M1rror Edge Sharpening Service, LLC
+1(682)777-1622

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Organic

[Organic]

I’ve also been using the Tormek small knife jig in conjunction with my Wicked Edge. I have found it helpful for traditional style slip joint folders as well as for those blade shapes that don’t have a flat portion (such as a spear point). I think I paid about $40 for the jig on Amazon and it has been well worth it in my opinion.

[Author]

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