Sharpening near handle?

[Tony Cho]

I have recently started using Wicked Edge stuff and have had great successes, mostly.

I am not able to get the same sharpness near the handle of my pocket knives (Benchmade Mini Griptilian, Kershar Natrix-Carbon Fiber) as I do get for the rest of the blade. I have tried concentrated up and down swipes but not too much in fear of creating uneven surfaces compared to the rest of the blade.

Just wondering if there is any technique to sharpening the FULL length of the blade, especially that bit near the handle.

[Marc H]

Welcome to the Wicked Edge forum Tony.  Is it possible to post a photo of one of these knives clamped in your vise, in the same position you sharpened it.  That may help us to help you.

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

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wickededge

[NotSharpEnuff]

Tony,

I had the same problem early on with both the heel and tip area.  tcmeyer had an excellent post about how much of the paddle grit travels over those areas.  I did a quick search in the knowledge base and couldn’t find the post.

What I found was that I was starting the stroke at the heel with an immediate push forward.  That area did not get the same amount of paddle surface contact as the middle of the blade.  Same thing for the tip, I ended the stroke without as much paddle contact.

Now I spend dedicated time to just the heel and tip area.  I use the microscope to ensure those areas are as refined as the middle of the blade.

I use the term refined to mean looking straight down at the apex with the microscope I see the same amount of light reflected back up by the apex.  My goal is to not have any reflected light along the whole blade.

Ed K.

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wickededge, Tony Cho, Marc H

[Tony Cho]

NotSharpEnuff wrote:

Now I spend dedicated time to just the heel and tip area. I use the microscope to ensure those areas are as refined as the middle of the blade.

This gave me more confidence in just “over-doing” the blade near handle and it has done the trick. I have re-done my Kershaw Natrix-Carbon Fiber this way and its sharp evenly all across the blade.

I think I am going to do some disassembled sharpening for folding knives (at least for the very first re-profiling) as its just going to be so much simpler when doing sweeping motions. I have tried one knife (Benchmade Griptilian 551-1) disassembled and sharpened, and its has gotten very good result. And it gave me an excuse to do full disassembly maintenance.

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wickededge, Marc H

[tcmeyer]

The post that Josh refers to might be https://knife.wickededgeusa.com/forums/topic/working-the-heel-and-the-tip/

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wickededge, Organic, Marc H

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