Hunting Knives

[Wesley Adkins]

I am new to the forum and have a question for you seasoned pros. I am getting ready to sharpen up my knives for hunting season and am wondering how far to take them on the stones? I love the mirrored edge but am wondering if a bit more tooth will be the better route to make short work of a white tails breast bone? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[cbwx34]

Welcome to the forum!!

You might want to take a look at the “Knife Database” found here…

http://wickededgeusa.com/index.php?option=com_joodb&view=catalog&Itemid=94

Clay, the owner of WickedEdge has a few posts there you might find of interest. For example, here’s what he posted on sharpening a Browning knife he uses for hunting:

I’ve used this knife for over a decade to field dress hundreds of elk and have tinkered with a myriad of angles and finish levels. I finally settled on 20 degrees for the skinner with a moderately toothy finish of 3.5um and for a final bevel of 17 degrees for the hide blade with a polished finish of .25um. I relieved the shoulders on the hide blade down to 13 degrees and the added the micro-bevel. With continued stropping at 15 degrees, the edge is now nicely convex.

You should find other examples that might guide you.

If you don’t find what you need there, check back in here… maybe with the specifics of the knives you use, for additional tips! 🙂

[wickededge]

Hey Wesley,

Welcome! CBW is right – if you tell us a little more about your knives I might be able to help.

–Clay

-Clay

[Wesley Adkins]

The two knives I am sharpening for the field are a buck 119 and a blackjack which has a convex edge that has never been sharpened only stropped. One of the reasons I bought the wicked edge and am still reading up on how to do the blackjack. So the buck will be my primary for now also it is 420c.

[wickededge]

The two knives I am sharpening for the field are a buck 119 and a blackjack which has a convex edge that has never been sharpened only stropped. One of the reasons I bought the wicked edge and am still reading up on how to do the blackjack. So the buck will be my primary for now also it is 420c.

Perfect. Which stones and strops do you have right now?

-Clay

[Wesley Adkins]

Diamonds to 1000 grit. The 1200 1600 ceramics. Leather strops in 14-10 and 5-3.5. Planning on adding those kangaroo leathers and some spray when they are back in stock.

[wickededge]

Diamonds to 1000 grit. The 1200 1600 ceramics. Leather strops in 14-10 and 5-3.5. Planning on adding those kangaroo leathers and some spray when they are back in stock.

I’d go with a final angle of 22 degrees per side and I’d use all the stones and strops you have. If you have the time, you could re-profile the blade to 20 degrees per side and work through all the grits. Then go back and set the angle to 22 degrees and put a micro-bevel on with your 1600 ceramics with 5-10 light strokes per side, definitely alternating from side to side so you don’t create a burr. Then set the angle back to 20 degrees and do 3-5 light strokes with your 3.5 strops to clean up the edge without removing the micro-teeth you just created with the 1600 ceramics. This should give you a very aggressive and durable edge with slim polished shoulders for less drag. You could test it on a few things before you head out and make sure it’s working the way you want. To touch it back up, you should only need a couple light strokes at 22 with the 1600 ceramics and a couple light strokes at 20 with the 3.5 strops. Please share your results as I think we’d all love to know how it does for you. I’d like to hear your hunting story too when you get back.

-Clay

[Wesley Adkins]

Thank you clay I will try that out for sure. Hopefully I have a story to tell but there are some nice white tails showing up and a 350 pound black bear visiting near my stand. Kudos on a wonderful product and for creating this community.

[wickededge]

You’re welcome and good luck on your hunt! Whether you come home with something or not, I bet you’ll have a story or two and hopefully will succeed at having a great time.

-Clay

[Wesley Adkins]

Well clay you were on the money. This did an awesome job on my 8 point buck and splitting the breast bone really did not dull the edge nearly as much as I expected. Also I sharpened my skinner at 18 per side and took it to a highly polished edge with no micro teeth and this made my skinning task a breeze very slick. I will post a picture of my European mount when I get it back.

[wickededge]

Well clay you were on the money. This did an awesome job on my 8 point buck and splitting the breast bone really did not dull the edge nearly as much as I expected. Also I sharpened my skinner at 18 per side and took it to a highly polished edge with no micro teeth and this made my skinning task a breeze very slick. I will post a picture of my European mount when I get it back.

That’s great and congrats on your hunt. I’d love to see your pictures if you get a chance to post them.

-Clay

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