EDMW Knife Collectors

[vespaguy]

I would say the BK2 because of its drop point.

For Moras, you can check this guy out. You'd probably overpay a little bit depending on the model you get, but he's located in SG, so it's all good.

A couple of dollars isn't overpaying, it's being efficient!

Grab the Companion MG in stainless (better for food prep). Akai didn't mention where he's going trekking, so most utility stuff can be handled by that knife. For cooking, it's better to pack a separate, thin cooking blade (you can find those for like $10 or less). Believe me, most people won't bring any blades and they'll be trying to prepare food using SAK and leathermans with small blades when a simple $10 cheap knife will do it much better. Every trip I go on, nobody bothers to bring a knife and then they want to borrow my good knife and destroy the edge or use it as a hammer, etc

 

[vespaguy]

Bump....someone has gotta appreciate this deal but wait, I will throw in additional freebies...

hello all, bumping for some more views.

What I'm including with the Marfione Custom Anax (apart from everything it came with - knife is MINT): Tadgear Mean T-skull patch (OD), Tadgear GITD logo patch, USN (Usual Suspects Network) Goat Decal, and a special decal from a very special unit - you can't buy this I believe

What I'm including with the Hinderer Custom Spearpoint (and a pic to show you that the skull tab has been removed and the standard tab reinstalled) - a sterling silver bead from RevHartz - fantastic handwork here. If you don't like the silver bead, I can throw in an extra orange G10 scale too! That's usd60 value!

Ok, another offer for this weekend only!

Marfione Custom Anax for [revised, see posts below]! Plus you get all the freebies pictured there (some pretty cool stuff). Note: The dealers are selling the Anax for USD750 plus shipping, which costs more than $25 typically and you have to wait and pay GST too. Here's something else - I am quite particular about these safe queens, so you don't have to risk buying from some guy who sells it cheap only to find out when you get it that it has some issues. I've been through that myself so I appreciate the situation well.

 

[Shikiwaru]

Every trip I go on, nobody bothers to bring a knife and then they want to borrow my good knife and destroy the edge or use it as a hammer, etc

Literally this. Then when you try to introduce some good starter knives for them to buy, they'll say it is "expensive" when they have no qualms on dropping cash on other goods like watches.

 

[vespaguy]

Literally this. Then when you try to introduce some good starter knives for them to buy, they'll say it is "expensive" when they have no qualms on dropping cash on other goods like watches.

that's why it's better to go trekking with knifeknuts. everybody has their own knives, you get to field trial other knives and outgoor gear too

 

[neoyourlan]

Hi , any experts on classification of knives can pm me. i need to ask an opinion if my knives are classified as scheduled weapon or not. it is important please help.

 

[vespaguy]

Hi , any experts on classification of knives can pm me. i need to ask an opinion if my knives are classified as scheduled weapon or not. it is important please help.

what knives? you can PM me.

 

[Stevejobless]

Lets talk about edges and sharpening. What sharpening system do you use? Sharpening angle and steel type? V grind or convex grind? Microbevel? How fine of a grit do you go up to? Does a high polish edge work better or a coarse one for your usage? What tests do you use to determine adequate sharpness? Printing paper? Magazine paper? toilet tissue?

 

[vespaguy]

Lets talk about edges and sharpening. What sharpening system do you use? Sharpening angle and steel type? V grind or convex grind? Microbevel? How fine of a grit do you go up to? Does a high polish edge work better or a coarse one for your usage? What tests do you use to determine adequate sharpness? Printing paper? Magazine paper? toilet tissue?

I have used a variety of methods/systems. Right now I use benchstones (a variety of grits) for kitchen knives, quick touch ups on folders and long blades (like parangs). They work very well for carbon steels and steels which don't have a high amounts of vanadium carbides. The S90/110/ZDP just skips over my benchstones.

For perfectly ground edges, I have a friend who is kind enough to utilize his edgepro apex skills for me. I used to own it but the learning curve is there (plus the cleaning of the metal dust etc) and I got tired after awhile. I feel that everyone should be able to freehand.

I don't think one can freehand as consistently as a set-angle jig, UNLESS, you are sharpening for hours each day - like those togishis or professional sharpeners as you won't build muscle memory. The jigs/system help you achieve the same or better without having to invest in thousands of hours of building muscle memory.

I have a leather strop as well, to align the edge and remove the burrs.

The thing about freehand sharpening is that, I know I can pack a simple stone on a trekking trip and I can touch up my edges in the field. I don't think you can lug along an EP or a Wicked Edge or a belt sander etc on those trips.

What I'd really like is to have a nice horizontal belt sander set up (with a small footprint) and a way of having a jig installed for consistent edges. That would be the bee's knees.

As for the type of edge - it depends on the knife and application. I don't like mirror edges and I don't need my edges to split hair. I do want my edges to shave and cut well. The geometry of the blade is as important as the edge itself.

 

[Stevejobless]

Can see from your pictures that all your knives have very well maintained or pristine edges. Wish I can free hand as that well. Only tried on my chinese kitchen cleaver. Was able to get it to shaving/ newspaper sharpness. But the grind wasn't perfect. One side is shallower and it's convex instead of v. And good knows what's the angle. But guess that's a given with free hand sharpening? Not confident enough to try on my expensive knives. Have bought a sharpmaker but it doesn't match the angles on both my coldsteels.

 

[vespaguy]

Can see from your pictures that all your knives have very well maintained or pristine edges. Wish I can free hand as that well. Only tried on my chinese kitchen cleaver. Was able to get it to shaving/ newspaper sharpness. But the grind wasn't perfect. One side is shallower and it's convex instead of v. And good knows what's the angle. But guess that's a given with free hand sharpening? Not confident enough to try on my expensive knives. Have bought a sharpmaker but it doesn't match the angles on both my coldsteels.

those in pics are safe queens and have never been sharpened

but it's about muscle memory. There will always be a slight convex if you freehand, unless your hands are 100% steady. A little convexing doesn't hurt, not at those levels within the 1mm edge bevel. There'lll be a slight difference as most of us are either right or left dominant. Also, it's easier to sharpen on thinner edges...if you have to sharpen edges that are 0.05" thick, there'll be a lot of metal to remove. Seems like all the 'tactical' overbuilt blades are 0.05" and above. I favour thin edges like 0.005-0.020" (estimate based on maker's proposals).

you should see the edges of my parang, convexed to zero but it aint pretty

 

[TheBUSTED]

Can see from your pictures that all your knives have very well maintained or pristine edges. Wish I can free hand as that well. Only tried on my chinese kitchen cleaver. Was able to get it to shaving/ newspaper sharpness. But the grind wasn't perfect. One side is shallower and it's convex instead of v. And good knows what's the angle. But guess that's a given with free hand sharpening? Not confident enough to try on my expensive knives. Have bought a sharpmaker but it doesn't match the angles on both my coldsteels.

I personally free hand sharpen as well. Given that i only possess a single double-sided whetstone, i start with a 3000 grit followed by 8000 grit. Able to get softer steels to hair shaving sharpness in about 20 minutes? Tried S35VN too but that really tested my patience lol and it came out alright.

Like what vespaguy mentioned, i dont think freehand sharpening allows for a consistent angle but there are definitely ways to minimize any deviations. I personally use my finger as a guide where the knife is the hypotenuse and my finger the height of the triangle

 

[vespaguy]

I personally free hand sharpen as well. Given that i only possess a single double-sided whetstone, i start with a 3000 grit followed by 8000 grit. Able to get softer steels to hair shaving sharpness in about 20 minutes? Tried S35VN too but that really tested my patience lol and it came out alright.

Like what vespaguy mentioned, i dont think freehand sharpening allows for a consistent angle but there are definitely ways to minimize any deviations. I personally use my finger as a guide where the knife is the hypotenuse and my finger the height of the triangle

3000/8000 is more for finishing. you need to go down to 1000 for sharpening. if you have chips, try going down to 200.

My present set up is as follows: 220 for chips/nicks. 800 for sharpening. 2000 for finishing. strop or 5000 if I have nothing better to do . Sometimes I use sandpaper if the nicks are really bad or if the edge is really thick.

If I'm lazy, I just swipe on my crock stick (ceramic) until such time when I want to spend a bit more time on the benchstones.

Certain waterstones don't seem to handle high vanadium carbides. But they are great for carbon steels and steels with less vanadium carbides.

To be honest, I know I'm not a sharpening guru, but when I'm stroking on the stones, I can pretend to be an old guy in a knife shop, sharpening away using a waterwheel and then quietly smiling when I've done a (relatively) good job

 

[Stevejobless]

I personally free hand sharpen as well. Given that i only possess a single double-sided whetstone, i start with a 3000 grit followed by 8000 grit. Able to get softer steels to hair shaving sharpness in about 20 minutes? Tried S35VN too but that really tested my patience lol and it came out alright.

Like what vespaguy mentioned, i dont think freehand sharpening allows for a consistent angle but there are definitely ways to minimize any deviations. I personally use my finger as a guide where the knife is the hypotenuse and my finger the height of the triangle

8000 grit? That's very high polish. Mirror finish? Does it slice well at that fine of a polish?

 

[Shikiwaru]

I'm more of a polished edge guy for now. I use the DMT Aligner system and it works well for now.

For some reason, their super fine stone (8000 mesh) doesn't give the polish I have. So I improvise by sticking a small 5000 grit Shapton stone to the aligner and sharpening it as it is.

To finish the edge, I have previously used a hand strop with green compound. But recently, I have discovered a better way to go about my stropping. I went to Art Friend a bought a strip of balsa wood, measured and cut it so that it will fit the Aligner. I've used green compound, metal polish and some 0.5 micron paste I got off Taobao. All 3 work about the same and I'm liking the results so far.

 

[vespaguy]

I'm liking this. 2 years ago, I use to read posts where posters were asking for help to sharpen their blades. Looks like we have an established pool of experienced sharpeners to help out or conduct classes now - esp when I see how nice those mirror edges are.

Ok, getting out now before I embarrass myself further with my old skool methods

 

[vespaguy]

What do you guys use as a sharpness test (to stop sharpening call it a day) other than shaving hair? Since different person and different part of the body has different hair thickness, I guess this test isn't too consistent. I tested cutting different types of paper and water bottles and getting inconsistent results. My folding knife is much sharper than my Bowie knife when cutting paper/ shaving but can't cut a water bottle cleanly in 2 without knocking it away. While the Bowie can do it easily. How to make it cut through a bottle easily? Is there some kind of sharpening technique for this task?

not possible. it's not the edge, it's the force and mass.

 

[TheBUSTED]

8000 grit? That's very high polish. Mirror finish? Does it slice well at that fine of a polish?

Its definitely close to mirror finish. Would definitely post pictures if i could but dont have the post count to do so.

As for sharpness test, i usually use recycled printing paper and i test with a slow and wavy cut.

 

[Shikiwaru]

What do you guys use as a sharpness test (to stop sharpening call it a day) other than shaving hair? Since different person and different part of the body has different hair thickness, I guess this test isn't too consistent. I tested cutting different types of paper and water bottles and getting inconsistent results. My folding knife is much sharper than my Bowie knife when cutting paper/ shaving but can't cut a water bottle cleanly in 2 without knocking it away. While the Bowie can do it easily. How to make it cut through a bottle easily? Is there some kind of sharpening technique for this task?

For sharpness test, I use those stupid flyers that keep ending up outside my house or my mailbox. Sometimes I get those phonebook paper thin pamphlets and I save them and use them sparingly.

Personally, as long as the knife is cutting and not tearing the paper, I'm happy with the edge.

 

[squarebox]

Normally, I just test sharpness by slicing newspaper.
But sometimes, I like to test sharpness by splitting hair

 

[vespaguy]

Makes sense. Though I seen it done with folding knives on youtube.

I'm not a youtuber, so I guess I'm wrong. However, what I know is this - you don't need the sharpest hairsplitting edge to cut well. Look at the bladesports cutting competitions (Dan Keffeler is reigning and 3 times defending champion). Those edges are sharp enough to cut rolled cigarette paper yet strong enough to cut 2x4s (ok that is rather soft wood), sisal rope, golf balls, tennis balls etc. Too polished and they don't cut well. Too rough/low grit and the cigarette paper will crumple. It is mostly technique, edge geometry, blade weight/speed and the edge itself.

Have you tried cutting nylon rope, for eg. your toggle rope or marine rope with a polished edge? it simply skips off. Have you tried cutting chicken with a polished edge? it doesn't really bite, you'll edge up tearing the meat.

I prefer a shaving sharp yet toothy edge - say about 1000grit edge, maybe at max 2000 grit edge (for kitchen). anything more is not necessary for me.

I have no interest in mirrored edges that split hair - those don't last long anyway - micro-corrosion soon degrades that edge. I have experienced those (Jerry Halfrich's edges, I always thought it was a myth since I'd never experienced those edges) but at the end of the day, I still prefer the toothy yet very sharp edges...like those RJ Martin/Tom Krein edges (Tom sharpens on a 220 belt, then strops. RJ goes a higher grit). It's the perfect alignment of the edge (careful removal of the burr) that is more important.

I'm still a novice. One day I will get there