Hey guys! I’m a total newbie at sharpening, but I finally got my WE130 last week and have been having a blast. I also added the 800/1000 grit, and 1500/2200 grit stones to my kit. I’ve sharpened about 10 cheap knives so far (waiting to break the stones in more before I tackle my Benchmades).
My main questions are about when I finally sharpen my Benchmade Altitude. I will only use this knife to skin & debone elk and deer. I use the gutless method, & I am very careful about not hitting very much bone and hair when dressing the animal. I settled on this knife because of the S90V steel, and my goal is to be able sharpen it in such a way that I can break down an entire elk without needing to re-sharpen or have to do any touch-ups in the field. I’m an “ounce counting” hunter, so I really would not like to have to carry a sharpener in the field (although I’m considering making a small leather strop to throw in my pack). Below are some of the knife’s stats:
Blade Steel: CPM-S90V
Blade Thickness: 0.090" (2.286mm)
Factory angle: I read on one site that this comes with a 16-degree angle (32 degree inclusive), but I haven’t confirmed that yet.
My two main questions have to do with the angles I use for the bevel, and the final edge finish. I’ve done tons of reading and forum searching on angles, but I’m finding lots of different answers depending on the type of steel and purpose of the knife. I also can’t find posts that pertain to my exact questions, so I’m hoping some of you might be able to help me out. I’m especially interested to hear from any elk hunters, or if you’ve played around with this specific knife.
As far as the primary bevel, my understanding is that 16-degrees is fairly steep for most hunting knives (many recommended hunting knives be around 20-22 degrees). However, some have suggested that steels like S90v are able to handle a 16-degree angle and still have great edge retention. Is that true? As I said, I want this knife to be razor sharp, and stay razor sharp, through an entire elk. Also, should I put a micro bevel on this knife to make the edge last longer? Say, for example, I make my primary bevel 16-degrees, and add an 18-degree micro bevel to it…will this still give me that razor sharp slicing motion I want, but make it last a lot longer? Again, I’m open to any possible way to make this knife perfect for breaking down an entire elk without needing to be touched up (if that’s realistic).
My second question has to do with the edge finish. I’ve read a lot of information about polished vs. toothy edges. If my only objective for this knife is slicing meat and skinning (trying to cut the hide from the skin side as much as possible to avoid cutting the hair), what edge finish is going to give me the sharpest, longest lasting results? Do I want to polish the knife as fine as I can (in which case I need to add some strops to my kit)? Or, will my knife actually cut better with a more “toothy” edge? If it’s the latter, how should I go about it? Should I just take my knife up to the 1,000 grit stones and stop, or should I go all the way through the 2200 grit, and then come back with a few light passes of a lower grit?
Please help! The more I read about knife sharpening the more overwhelmed I’m getting because there’s just so much to learn, but I am definitely having a lot of fun researching all this. Thank you very much!
- Jess