Matriarch/Civie Sharpening

[Mancer]

Hi guys, I dont find sharpening these hawkbills a problem, they come out razor sharp, problem is I use my Harpy very often and thus I sharpen her aften, I sharpen as shown on the tape with the corners of the white stones which make the teeth razor sharp, the thing is due to all the use the tip of the blade (the plainedge bit at the very tip) has become quite blunt, its not even sharp enough to cleanly slice a piece of paper which I dont like at all.

I was wondering, should I just stick with the white stones on the corner?, does this cure it, or do I resort to sharpening the tip with both the dark and white stones as I would a plainedge(on both flat and corners).

I have thought of holding the blade upwards so that the tip is horizontal to the floor, then just work that on the dark and white stones, but I dont know if this is advisable.



Thanx for your time



MaNcEr



It's Time To Kick @$$ 'N Chew Bubble Gum

[Dmitry]

If I've understood clear you are using Fine grit stones (you've mentioned white ones). If I want my Civvie to be wickedly sharp I dont stop with Fine Grit sticks from Spyderco Pro-Set (great thing for sharpening serration by the way). After fine grit I apply thin steel rod (or back of another blade as a substitute). I make moves like if I want to slice extremly thin shavings from steel rod. This process helps to tighten edge at micro level, so it could cut paper cleanly without chewing it. Hope that helps. Very good sharpening tips are located at http://www.bladeforums.com (look in tutorials/FAQS section).

[FREDERIC K]

I had the same problem with my Matriarch, the tip is plain edge and wasn't realy sharp.
I sharpened it with my sharpmaker, as if it was a really small plaine edge blade.
Took a little time and concentration, but it was worth it!!!

[Sword and Shield]

Best way I know to really sharpen a difficult blade is this: Go to your local hobby store and get a set of sanding films. Use the medium (280, 320)grits to build an edge, finer (400, 600)grits to polish the edge and get it to paper shaving sharp.

If that is not enough, do as another forumite already mentioned, take a piece of steel and work it as you would an ordinary sharpening steel. I find an old long screwdriver to work best by just drawing the blade across the steel gently. I have gotten some very cheap and very poor quality knives almost to shaving sharp doing this.



Keepin' it real...real sharp, that is.

[Mancer]

I didnt use the metal rod suggestion, but held the blade tip up, so the edge of the plainedge tip is parallel to the floor, then I went through all the steps (dark & light stones), it worked very well, shes almost factory sharp now, and can shave hair with the tip, the teeth are awsome, real mean.

Thanx guys

MaNcEr

It's Time To Kick @$$ 'N Chew Bubble Gum