Thread: Not really a knife guy

Not really a knife guy but saw this and just love vintage stuff, from what I can gather this particular Ka-Bar 1207 was made from the mid 60’s until the 80’s but not 100% sure, the knife upon looking at it closely was used rarely and has been sharpened at least a few times but is in overall great condition so just wanted to share

I had one of those years ago. Broke it throwing into a tree. Young and dumb!

Boy! That's pretty!

I had a Boy Scout knife from the 60s that looked a lot like that. Unfortunately, I did not take sufficient care of it and the blade rusted and the handle came apart. over the past 50 years.

Thanks guys, like I said I’m not really a knife guy and I surly struggle to sharpen one, I have tried and tried to get a decent sharp edge on a knife using a 1K Naniwa then 4/8k Shaptons and still struggle but it’s all free hand sharpening.

I don’t really have much of an issue honing a razor but as we all know that’s all different so with that said I am considering something like the Wicked Edge or the Edge Pro but those are pretty pricey but then I paid more for my razor hones than either of these systems.

Are you going to use it? A pocket-folding DMT is for that. Just me. I love the stacked leather handle. So natural-feeling.

Belt sander followed by a pasted leather belt with some compound is what I use for my knives. Easy and very fast. I use a harbor freight 1x30 ($50 +/-) leather belt for the same is $25 or so with the compound. 220 grit followed by the leather belt with compound for deburring will give you a very serviceable knife edge. You can go much higher if you like. But done right will shave arm hair easily. An edge guide can be bought or made. I bought mine but don't use it any more.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Are you going to use it? A pocket-folding DMT is for that. Just me. I love the stacked leather handle. So natural-feeling.

Get the fine folding DMT!

I find the naniwas too soft for knives, your stroke needs to be perfect otherwise you ruin the edge when you dig into the stone.

I use a 325 dmt for corrective work or to set an initial bevel followed by a 1k dmt. Hand sharpening a knife or any tool takes practice, maintaining a consistent angle is key. Pretty easy to wipe away an edge especially on lower grit hones. I’ve taken to using diamond pastes for my chisels and hand planes. Set a bevel at 1k then 6um, 3um, 1um. I use 3/4” mdf as a “hone”. I initially lap the mdf on a flat surface with 220-320 grit sand paper then blow it off with compressed air and a stiff bristle brush. Then I put dabs of the paste all over the hone. A little goes a long way.

I’ve sharpened my edc and hunting knives with that set up and they get crazy sharp but I find a 1k dmt edge is good enough and way less time spent honing. I touch my edc up 1x a week, takes about 20 seconds. I found if you don’t let the edge get away from you you spend way more time cutting and way less time sharpening.

For knives on the mdf home you need to use a stropping stroke. Edge leading you tend to dig into the mdf and then you need to start over.

I may be an ' Old Fuddy Duddy' but in my humble opinion my old reliable Norton Tri Oil Hone is the only way I'd sharpen 'Any Knife'.

Not my pic: