D2 steel sharpening

[TAB2you]

Greetings gents,

One of my first posts here on AAPK. I'd like to ask the experts about their Queens. I recently purchased a 4 in Birdseye maple stockman, and it came from the factory pretty dull. I'm pretty decent with a sharpener, and have had good results with AUS8, carbon steel 1095, Case stainless steel (420HC I think) among others.

Fastforward to this Queen. Its my first, and for the life of me I cannot get a decent edge on it. I use a lansky sharpening systen, and for the clip blade, was using a 30 degree angle, coarse stone first, medium after that, and then the fine blade. I went back and forth over the blade 10 times each way the first time, all sets, and got nothing. So I tried running it 20 times back and forth with each set, and marginally better.

What do you guys with Queens do?

Thanks for the help!

TAB

[1967redrider]

I'm surprised that Lansky didn't work for you but I usually sharpen at a 24° angle, not sure if that would matter?

[basser5]

Welcome TAB,

Mark your edge with a sharpie and see if your cutting all the way to the edge with the stone.


Tim

[TAB2you]

I will try that sharpie, and perhaps a lower angle. D2 shouldn't be that much tougher, should it? I am new to it.

Thank you all,

Tab

[basser5]

Tab,

It is that much harder to sharpen to me. My first experience was with a new, dull, Queen muskrat .
I thought i would throw the knife away before i got the two bevels to meet. Keep working at it.


Tim

[TAB2you]

Gents,

Thanks all. Made a mark on the blade, indeed, my bevels did not meet. So I ran a coarse diamond lansky on it, fifty times each side. Then my usual 10 medium stone on each side, and the fine stone. Still marginally better. This knife ought not to have left the factory, this way. I cant decide if to send it back or keep trying. I am beginning To think I cannot sharpen a blade. Except I took a case ss peanut that never had a lansky on it, ran it my usual routine, 30 angle, 10 swipes each side with coarse medium and ine, and it's cutting sharp.

Frustrated. And I havnt touched the Spey or sheepsfoot!

Tab

[trey]

I am having the same problem as you. I have just set it aside for now.

[wishful]

TAB, Is there any blade left?

[Colonel26]

TAB, I know we've talked about this before, and I have had much the same problem you've had. I've finally gotten my sheepsfoot and spey blades decent (if it don't shave I don't call it sharp). But that big California clip blade is a bear.

I usually sharpen freehand and normally can get a good bevel with a small diamond whet rock, then I follow that up with a steel. But this blade is tough. I sharpen on it until I get disgusted and set it aside a while. I might work in it some more tonight now that I think about it. But you're right, mine should have never left the factory with as bad a grind job as it had. I love the knife in all other regards though.

I'll let you know if I get a solution figured out.

[TAB2you]

Gents, there is some blade left, indeed.

At this point, I need to decide to keep going or send it back. Not sure queen would make it better.

For sure, great built knife, but those dull blades!
Argh!

[basser5]

This may be a dumb question, but i'm going to ask it anyway.........

Are you keeping your stones clean?

Tim

[1967redrider]

Good question. I usually smack mine, stone side down, on my jeans a few times while sharpening. It seems to get the small fragments of steel out of the cutting surface.

[gringo]

way too much..fifty times over a stone????? that is half the life of the blade...
on a diamond ???

patience...consistency...angle is adaptable to what the knife is used for...

i could sharpen a rock with less effort...practice on an old pos...then go for the new blade.

[TAB2you]

Gentlemen,

It heartens me to have a conversation about this and see I am not alone. Thank you.

I do keep the stones clean, and use a drop of 3/1 oil.

Gringo, right now the a rock is worth more. I've been sharpening many blades on different knives for 10 plus years, not exactly an old pro, and willing to listen to advice, of course, but I have been around the block. Not, however, with the D2 steel. This same set of Lansky stones has sharpened a lot of blades with very little effort.

Btw, there's not a lot of the edge gone, at all. I do try to go low pressure and genteel when working on a new knife to me. One more try, again with the sharpie idea and the lower angle- if that doesnt work, back to Queen.

TAB

[Colonel26]

I tried the Sharpie thing last night. It made some difference. I used my Arkansas stone and finally got the bevels meeting. I then worked it on the steel and it's fair. Still not finished by any means.

I got out some of my Solingen blades and an old ten dot case and it made that D2 look like a butter knife. I love the knife, but I'm with you tab, I don't think I'm a fan of D2.

[gringo]

sorry tab if i sounded snottie...i am having a bad day.
take care, donald

[TAB2you]

No harm meant and none taken, sir. I have had those days!

Tab

[orvet]

I started sharpening knives professionally about 1982. I learned on a Baldor ¼ HP 1720 RPM grinder with 150 grit composite wheel from Gerber Legendary Blades. I sharpened into the oncoming wheel and then deburred the blade on a hard felt wheel with a jewelers rouge compound (you NEVER deburred into the oncoming wheel)!

Later I learned to use a 1” belt sander, just like Kershaw uses in their factory (I have seen them do it).

Now days I use a 150 ceramic belt and then I deburr with a leather wheel with white jewelers rouge. I can sharpen anything from a tiny penknife blade to a lawnmower or planer blade.

The two critical things are 1- constant angle; for me this is muscle memory- doing it so many that I don’t have to think about the angle. The second critical thing 2- is when using the belt…….move at a constant fast speed even while changing the angle of a curved blade in relationship to the belt, in order to keep a constant angle on the blade. Go too slow, you WILL burn a blade on a belt sander!

Now days I do 90% - 95% of the knives I sharpen on the belt sander. If I need to reshape a blade and remove a lot of metal from a small area, I use a slow wheel that travels through a water bath to keep the blade cool.

Now, I don’t recommend everyone go buy a belt sander to sharpen their knives, Not a good idea! But, if you use any system for 30 years, you should be fairly good at it.

All that being said (not to put down you fellows who are having problems with the D-2), I STILL have an off day when I cannot sharpen a Popsicle stick! On those days I turn off the belt sander and wait until the next day when I can hold a consistent angle. If I let a knife stump me, or get in my head, I can’t ever sharpen it. So I wait until the next day when I am fresh and I can hold a decent angle and I start over.

There are certain knives I have had difficulty sharpening, but it is usually an angle issue (me not using the manufacturer’s angle) & not a steel issue.

Not sure if this helps you or not, but as long as I have been doing sharpening (30 years) and doing it professionally I still have a bad day now & again.

[TAB2you]

Gents,

I want to follow up on this thread. I got to speaking with orvet after his excellent post on sharpening and he is a 1st class gent. We worked out an arrangement, he took pity on me and sharpened that d2. He noted it took a little longer than usual, so indeed there might be something unusual in the steel. However, he's a miracle worker, and I have a usable knife now. Thank you Dale. Thank you aapk for such great forums!

Tab

[orvet]

No problem, just glad I could help!

[wazu013]

Burke's Law
This from a previous thread back in 2008.
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... f=4&t=8936

[Daryl]

I'm glad to have found this old thread.

I LOVE my Queen knives, but sharpening them??? OMG!!!

I'm not so good with a flat stone, so I use things like the GATCO Edgemate, and the angled rod systems (A.G. Russell, Lansky). On most knives, I have no problem obtaining the shaving-sharp edge that I prefer. On the Queens, though - ay, ay, ay!!!

I just bought a beautiful Joe Pardue Queen Canoe/Whittler, but its blades (untouched until me) weren't even close to sharp in my book. I've just spent the last three hours working on them. In the end, as much as I hate to do it, I resorted to using a WorkSharp with an extra coarse belt just to get a decent back-bevel. I hate doing that, because it's so easy to mess up a beautiful blade with a belt sharpener. Even then, though, I still only have a good edge on two of the three blades. It's crazy!

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who's had this struggle.

[Daryl]

Burke's Law
This from a previous thread back in 2008.
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... f=4&t=8936

Love it!