KME Sharpener

[Sharpster]

Daniel,

Unless I’m missing something, I’m pretty confident that what you’re seeing is the difference in the factory grind from one side of the blade to the other. Factory bevels are rough and generally done free-hand and it’s exceedingly rare to find any blade (even a high end knife) that has uniform bevels on both sides and the cutting edge positioned dead center on the blade as it should be. (double bevel blade).

Whenever we take a free-hand or factory sharpened blade and put it in a mechanical fixture that doesn’t vary more than 1/2 degree from side to side, the fixture is going to show us every minor flaw or inconsistency in the bevel. This is not suggesting that BHD or knife manufacturers are doing anything wrong. If we really want flawless bevel geometry right out of the pack, we’d need to expect the cost of the knife or BHD to at least double. Even putting a rough grind on is very labor intensive for these manufacturers.

I’d say pick the angle that you like better and just sharpen the blade. As mentioned earlier, use the coarsest side of the Jewelstik. If you want your bevels to look perfect, then work only the narrow bevel at first. This will remove material from the narrower bevel and from the wider bevel too because you’ll be moving the cutting edge back to the center of the blade where it should ideally be. That said, this level of attention to perfect bevel geometry is really completely un-necessary for BHDs . We just need them to be sharp. If one bevel is wider than the other but the blade shaves hair off your arm, the deer will never know the difference.

Call me if you need any help,

Ron

[Doc Nock]

Straight from the horses mouth!!!

Everytime Ron speaks, I learn something. I never stopped to think that a factory grind on most tools would have different bevels due to hand grinding!

Never too old to learn... just pry the mind open and let it pour in!

Thanks, Ron... Guess I'm just too lazy to get that involved and just put the marker line on the very edge and adjusted till it was taking it off and never looked beyond that...no problem now using single bevel...    

[DanielB89]

Originally posted by Doc Nock:
DAn,

I wasn't trying to belittle you, but truly in awe that you could measure bevels to that degree.        I never was much for precision work I fear...so I'm impressed.  

as for the markings on the knife sharpener, I think Ron told me the angle changes depending on how much of the blade is sticking out from the clamp.  Some heads/knives are wider and the markings on the set up bar are only approximate, if I'm not mistaken. ( but that too is open for validation!)     :rolleyes:    

The BH sharpener with the roller on it, is more inclined to 25*...i think...doh!

I got Ron's newer Gold diamond stones and a super coarse one and things have gone better and faster.

I'm sure there are Grizzly heads still in the pipeline from the old source...that had the Right Bevel only and were 30*.

I'm thinking Bill Dunn's current stock would be much easier to touch up and put the finished edge on... I talked to a chap on the phone in TX today who said it was quick like to get a super edge on the Griz he just got from Bill.

It's been amazing to me what tiny things I did wrong that created me such headaches learning to sharpen even with the KME! Hopefully, that is behind me. To be sure, last tutorial I had on the phone, I made notes, hung up and then typed up my notes and emailed to Ron for validation... I think I still had one or two things somewhat backerts, but with luck, I'm on track now...

Now where did I file that document...?      

Doc Nock,

I did not take any offense from your post.  It is hard to tell someones tone by typing words, so if mine seemed defensive I do apologize.  

I wish Ron(hint hint) would come up with a chainsaw file that would fit in the little hole to make cutting these bevels a lot quicker!  

[Doc Nock]

If you don't have the GOLD diamond series plus the extra coarse, you might try that and wish less about yet another inventory item!    :D  

I plumb wore out my original diamond stones on just Tuskers...and they're not as hard as some...

Course, you have the curved simmons, right?

One reason I went with the 3:1 style...

Glad I didn't offend in anyway... just seriously was impressed, but now I see how you arrived at your idea, but I think you missed Ron's point.

You do not need to have perfectly matched sides...you can just run a line of marker down the bevel edge and set it to take that off... forget matching the bevels...

Biggest thing I had to learn was to stick with the coarsest grit till I got a "wire edge" on the opposite side (true for double or single bevel) and then...ONLY then, flip that bad boy over and work the other side till you get a wire... then flip again, and start that 15-flip, 15-flip, 10-flip, 10- flip, 5 flip, 5 flip, then one each side flip 10 times each and then and ONLY THEN, switch to another grit and start it over.  Takes longer to tell it then do it!