Clamping position of the knife to be sharpened

[Leo James Mitchell]

Clay
I noticed when you clamped my ESEE-6 to work on with the Shapton stones, that you clamped it way forward of where I would have done it (i.e. in the middle of the blade). :huh: Perhaps you can tell me why the difference from the general rule for clamping…or am I in error that clamping in the middle of the blade is the general rule of thumb?
When you got the knife I believe it was very sharp…what difference in the edge would I notice had I clamped it as you did? Does the position affect the keenness of the edge or is it only a matter of edge geometry/evenness of the edge shape?

Cheers
Leo

[Leo James Mitchell]

Hmmm! I seem to have put my question in the wrong category! Whoops! Sorry Clay!

Silly Leo! 😆

[Dave Schur]

My guess is on your ESEE 6, Clay clamped more forward because it has a rapid belly up front and because its a survival knife. I know my Navaja (belly up front) really had a wide bevel up front (I will probably change the position next time and reprofile), as did my Kabar.

I wonder if it would make sense to share some of the position settings?

Just because I happen to have them handy (was pasting them into my iPhone), and so I can use Clay’s forum as a backup 😉 here are mine for knives I have sharpened on the Wicked Edge so far:

Knife Depth Position Angle
Spyderco Military CF S30V 2 B.5 15
Spyderco Navaja CF S30V 2 C 15
Spyderco Superleaf CF VG-10 2 B 15
Spyderco Manix 2 CF CTS-XHP 2 B.25 15
Spyderco Paramilitary 2 CF S90V 2 B.5 15
Spyderco Stretch 2 CF ZDP-189 2 B 15
Spyderco Sage 1 CF S30V 1 B.5 15
Spyderco Lum Chinese CF VG-10 2 A.5 15
Spyderco Caly 3 CF ZDP-189 1 B 15
Spyerco Chaparral CF S30V 1 B 15
Spyderco Kiwi CF VG-10 1 A.5 15
Lone Wolf Lobo CF S30V 1 B 15
Kabar NextGen 440A 2 C.5 18
Leatherman Charge TTi S30V 1 A.5 15

Yes I know, I have a Spyderco problem :blink: , and I like CF :woohoo: . I’m also partial to keeping them all at 15 degrees when I can (I know, boring) for repeatability.

Knives I have left to do:
Spyderco Chicago CF S30V
Spyderco Cat CF S30V
Richmond Remedy CPM154 (hoping next week)

[Leo James Mitchell]

Thanks for your reply Dave. I am not sure I quite get it still. And even less why does a survival knife require being clamped so far up front. My ESEE-4 has the same blade shape yet it was clamped in the middle if I remember correctly.
Sorry to be so thick…the old noggin still doesn’t get it. 🙁
BTW, you have a great collection of Spyderco knives…I have only two, a Harpy and a Fred Perrin Street Beat.

Cheers
Leo

[Dave Schur]

Leo,

I can’t stay I understand it much myself and you’ve been on the wicked edge a lot longer than myself, but the closer the front edge of the blade get to vertical and drops down, the more acute the angle gets. On a pure wharncliffe straight edge blade (ex my kiwi) I don’t think it makes any difference at all, but when there is a sharply dropping tip, it seems to be huge (for me).

The best contrast I can think of in my knives are the Navaja and the Paramilitary. The Navaja seems very sensitive to where it is clamped (with the boat-like front end), and the Para, with the gently sloping blade almost not at all (independent of angle).

I think the survival knife just makes it more important as on a survival or bush crafting knife, the last thing you want is a thin edge that can easily chip or crack. That’s why I’m fine leaving the broad bevel on my Navaja for now (3MM?). It is a bit impractical, but it looks wicked cool (until I chip or roll it). The Navaja isn’t a practical knife anyways.

I wanna see you sharpen that Spyderco Harpy on the Wicked Edge, It’d be a nightmare I imagine, probably worse than the Spyderco Cricket CF I have that I didn’t even mention as it’ll never have a chance to be sharpened (pretty much on anything as it is also serrated). I have found that the wicked edge does a nice job on slight recurves (my Lone Wolf Lobo), but that Harpy I imagine would be over the top.

[Leo James Mitchell]

Leo,

I wanna see you sharpen that Spyderco Harpy on the Wicked Edge, It’d be a nightmare I imagine, probably worse than the Spyderco Cricket CF I have that I didn’t even mention as it’ll never have a chance to be sharpened (pretty much on anything as it is also serrated). I have found that the wicked edge does a nice job on slight recurves (my Lone Wolf Lobo), but that Harpy I imagine would be over the top.

Hee hee hee! Not me buddy! That would be a nightmare indeed! I sharpen it groove by groove with a Gerber diamond covered brass wand that is just right for the job. I hope Clay doesn’t ask me for the Harpy to try…I would hate to see his hair go gray prematurely! 😆

all the best
Leo

[wickededge]

I’ve done lots of harpies, both serrated and straight. The straights are easy, the serrated ones require my top secret, seemingly never to be released 🙁 , serrated attachment. The inside curve of the harpies is easy enough with the diamond stones, even easier with the more narrow waterstones. Another advantage of the waterstones for inside curves is that the corners and sides of the stones can be used to get inside the tight spots.

-Clay

[wickededge]

Hey Leo,

Just back from the Denver Show. I brought your ESEEs and put them on display – people loved them, got lots of offers to buy them 🙂

dschur is right about the belly – if you watch the stone as it enters the curve, you can see that it’s rotating on the guide rod and entering a new plane of contact with the metal. The further forward the tip of the knife gets, the more the angle becomes. What I’ve begun doing lately is to mount the blade roughly centered in the clamp and color in the bevel with the Sharpie. Using the fine stones, I make a couple passes and see how the stone tracks along the bevel by observing where on the bevel the marker is getting removed. If the stone is removing the marker from the edge along the straight portion but then removing it on the shoulder along the belly and to the tip, then the knife is too far forward. I’ve got some diagrams and a full description of the technique here: Finding the Sweet Spot

I hope that helps. I’m planning on doing a video to explain it as well. Once I figure out how to bend time to my advantage, I’ll get all the videos done that are on my list….

-Clay

[Leo James Mitchell]

Hey Leo,

Just back from the Denver Show. I brought your ESEEs and put them on display – people loved them, got lots of offers to buy them 🙂

Hi Clay
I am glad to hear that the ESEE’s were a hit and that people actually wanted to buy them. Was it the wood scales I had custom made that attracted them? Probably the nice mirror polish of the edges didn’t hurt! Thank you for doing those knives mate and also for showing them off at such an important event.You are very kind good sir.
Too bad that scale of Honduran Rosewood Burl on the Esee-6 is cracked. I am not sure what to do about that. Any suggestions?
When do you see yourself getting time to do the Fallknivens with the Shaptons and Choseras? I really am looking forward to seeing how those stones handle the 3G powder steel edge on those laminated blades.
Once again, if you haven’t already figured it out, I love this forum. Sorry but I will probably haunt the place! LOL!

Warm regards
Leo

[Doug Williams]

Is that the “secret ceramic rod thing” that I saw flashed in one of the videos? 👿

A serrated blade sharpener would be SO cool. You tease us with new toys and then won’t let us play with them! Shame on you! 😉

[Author]

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