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What do you sharpen your BM with?

3K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  mKosel 
#1 ·
Just got a 710 but it isn't that sharp when it came. I like it as sharp as possible. I have the Smith sharpener but that doesn't seem like it's doing anything at all :thumb: What do you guys sharpen your BM with?
 
#2 ·
Leather strop. Why isnt it sharp enough? You do the paper test? You try to shave with it?

Ps you didnt go nuts with the smiths sharpener did you? And which is it? Ive moved away from ones that have the fixed angle because they dont really work that well. Every knife has a certain angle, so get used to free handing on a stone or leather strop with compund. Free handing gets my knives sharp enough to shave hair off.

Ps, benchmade will sharpen the knife for you for a nominal fee, check out the warranty.

I just checked out what knife you got. Especially if youve never really sharpened knives before you might have a problem with the knifes slight recurve. Also the steel is D2...which is a hard steel and alittle harder to sharpen then others. That little smiths sharpener may not be good enough. Id get a stone for the D2...someone else will probably chime in.
 
#6 ·
Why isnt it sharp enough? You do the paper test? You try to shave with it?

Ps you didnt go nuts with the smiths sharpener did you? And which is it?
The reason why it wasn't sharp enough was probably because the Smith's sharpener wasn't good enough to sharpen the D2 steel...?

Yeah, I did the paper test with the 710... not good... in fact, after a few tries I thought it got worse; then I stopped. I also did the paper test with the blade on my Leatherman and my old pocket knife I bought from Wal-Mart many years ago as well and it did got a little sharper touch to it though.

No, I didn't go nuts with the Smiths sharpener; thinking of returning it. Maybe I'll just keep it for sharpening the Leatherman and the old pocket knife or as a cheap back up.
 
#3 ·
A leather strop is a great finishing touch but if your knife is really dull you'll have to use a fine stone first. Also, is the steel carbon or stainless. Stainless is harder to sharpen and probably won't get as sharp as carbon steel will (in most cases).

Anyway, I've had great results from using the DMT diamond stones. I also recently bought a set of Norton wet stones. Here's a few pics:







 
#4 ·
take a ceramic coffee mug, turn it upside down on a towel and run the blade across the bottom(unfinished rim)as if trying to shave thin slivers . follow up with long strokes on a leather belt rough side(inside) first then the finished side. should be able to shave with it now.
 
#10 ·
I bought a Benchmade 710 Axislock in ATS-34, the first yeat they came out and it was shaving sharp when I received it. It has been a good knife over the years. I generally use either a tungsten carbide sharpener, or a fine oil stone
 
#11 ·
On my Mini-Grip, a fine diamond block and Arkansas stone work great.

On my 710, I used the fine diamond, then the Arkansas stone. I wasn't quite satisfied as I had a hard time with the little recurve section at the back of the blade, so I finished it up with a ceramic rod. Now she is a very sharp lady!
 
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