sharpening knives

[BrokenBiker]

right, the hunting knife i use most is a cheap fishing knife thrown in by the RFD as a freebie when i bought a pile of clothing from there.

the blade is stainless, don't think it is 440, looks more like chrome than anything else.

anyway, i sharpened it a few weeks ago on an oil stone, it was shap enough to slice through paper effortlessly across the whole length of the blade. put it away and have only used it since then to skin a rabbit and cut the breast off a few pigeons.

bagged a rabbit tonight and after grabbing the knife to gut it before putting it in the bag i found i couldn't even cut the rabbits skin with it. came home, tested it on paper and it wont cut.

so is this down to the blade material or the way i sharpen them? my kitchen knives are all plenty sharp and stay that way for a while, only needing a quick honing on the steel every few weeks

 

[Wendelspanswick]

I always understood that stainless was a rubbish material for knives for exactly that reason, not holding an edge.
Carbon steels are the way to go.
I have had an Opinel No. 7 with a carbon steel blade for as long as I can remember, it gets sharpened very rarely but I do hone it when I remember to, never seems to lose its edge unless I do something silly with it.
When I hone the blade I normally use a hydraulic cylinder ram as the hone!

 

[daleyd]

Yeah, stainless is not the best for blade material, apart from the obvious advantage of not being as probe to rust.

I got a morakniv companion - cheap enough at around a tenner, razor sharp and it holds it's edge great.

 

[BrokenBiker]

yeah, though the steel would have something to do with it. I hVe a folding knife with a high carbon stainless tanto blade, might sharpen that and see how it does

 

[PTvor]

right, the hunting knife i use most is a cheap fishing knife thrown in by the RFD as a freebie when i bought a pile of clothing from there.

the blade is stainless, don't think it is 440, looks more like chrome than anything else.

Frankly, you can't expect much from a fishing knife chucked in as a freebie.

I have a Nieto with a 440C stainless blade which does hold an edge. I forget what it cost, but £15 rings a bell. Nieto have switched to their own formula stainless in recent years. Most knife makers producing quality hunting and outdoors knives seem to use high-grade stainless.

For kitchen knives, I prefer old fashioned carbon steel knives. I've never been convinced by stainless kitchen knives, although they've tried hard to improve them. Even with carbon steel kitchen knives you have to pay the price, I recall the last one I bought was £32 about 15 years back. I think a lot comes down to the heat treatment in production. I had a couple of carbon steel knives from Habitat and they were rubbish. They improved a lot when I followed the instructions for tempering steel which came with a blow lamp I bought. It should have been done in the factory.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Sharpened the folder with the carbon stainless blade, took a good edge, can shave with it anyway. Time will tell if it holds. Looking at an mtech hunting knife, about 20 quid with a 440 blade

 

[PTvor]

It's my general observation that it you're buying anything with a cutting edge, drills, wood chisels, knives, nut-splitters, you've got to fork out if you want anything any good.

 

[octo0072000]

right, the hunting knife i use most is a cheap fishing knife thrown in by the RFD as a freebie when i bought a pile of clothing from there.

the blade is stainless, don't think it is 440, looks more like chrome than anything else.

anyway, i sharpened it a few weeks ago on an oil stone, it was shap enough to slice through paper effortlessly across the whole length of the blade. put it away and have only used it since then to skin a rabbit and cut the breast off a few pigeons.

bagged a rabbit tonight and after grabbing the knife to gut it before putting it in the bag i found i couldn't even cut the rabbits skin with it. came home, tested it on paper and it wont cut.

so is this down to the blade material or the way i sharpen them? my kitchen knives are all plenty sharp and stay that way for a while, only needing a quick honing on the steel every few weeks

one tough bunny

 

[gordon stephenson]

I had a Gill Hibern ? stainless knife, Lovely looking and very well made too, First time I used it to gently dig an arrow out of some woodwork,it snapped like a carrot. Blade was absolutely glass hard right through, So much for not being able to harden stainless!!!

 

[dan.taylor.1]

My work knife for on the farm has a sandvik stainless blade and it holds an edge nicely till you try cutting stuff you shouldn't with it like alkathene pipe..!

Dont know what it is with plastic that kills an edge more than hitting a rock with it!!

Dan

 

[BrokenBiker]

My work knife for on the farm has a sandvik stainless blade and it holds an edge nicely till you try cutting stuff you shouldn't with it like alkathene pipe..!

Dont know what it is with plastic that kills an edge more than hitting a rock with it!!

Dan

dame as trying to use a knife to cut bone. I always use a cheap knife with a dull edge if i have to baton through a bone, usually try and dislocate the joint and cut the meat away though. When i worked as a butchers assistant the one butcher used to through innards at us if we were caught trying to cut home without a saw, but a saw seems a bit overkill for the spine of a rabbit, scissors work well

 

[brightspark]

My work knife for on the farm has a sandvik stainless blade and it holds an edge nicely till you try cutting stuff you shouldn't with it like alkathene pipe..!

Dont know what it is with plastic that kills an edge more than hitting a rock with it!
Dan

it certainly knacks a chainsaw the 1st cut in plastic

 

[dan.taylor.1]

It's Wierd when you think how easy most plastic is to machine!

Dan

 

[sardine]

I sharpen everything from kitchen knives to axes with a fine grit flap disk, bish bash bosh job done.

 

[Mr shiney]

I have a Webley folding knife that I use for skinning and cutting breasts of etc that I have not sharpened in 10 years. Still cuts paper like a razor blade. God knows what its made of!!

 

[outofthefire]

There are some absolutely fantastic stainless alloy for knives but they have to be worked carefully and heat treated properly so generally they are dearer. 440C is a good reasonably priced steel for small knives if it doesn't state "c" avoid it except for machetes or swords where 440b is a bit better suited to a striking blade. Aus8 is another decent steel as is 8cr13.

 

[keithski122]

I use a kitchen knife(cost less than a fiver) for my job as an upholsterer, gets sharpened on wet and dry.Its 2 years old, reckon I've got another 2 years before the blade disappears.

 

[Shox Dr]

It's my general observation that it you're buying anything with a cutting edge, drills, wood chisels, knives, nut-splitters, you've got to fork out if you want anything any good.

Not always the case. A Carbon Steel Opinel keep their edge very well, 3" blade is around 7quid

 

[BrokenBiker]

Not always the case. A Carbon Steel Opinel keep their edge very well, 3" blade is around 7quid

any links where I can get an opinel?

 

[Robotstar5]

Not always the case. A Carbon Steel Opinel keep their edge very well, 3" blade is around 7quid

I've got an Opinel, a bit tatty as it's a fair few years old, but still holds a good edge.