Can't get Para 3 LW sharp

[kontei]

Hello,

I,m from Germany, so please excuse my bad English. I'm a big Spyderco-Fan what means, IF I buy a pocket knife, it HAS to be a Spyderco.

I have a problem with one of my Spydies and I hope to get help here, since in this forum seem to be a lot more competent people than in German forums.

I had a chip in the blade of my Para3 LW (CTS Bd1N). I got the chip away with an Diamond plate. Now the blade is fine but, of course, completely dull. The problem which I now have is: I'm not able to get it sharp again, although I read many times that CTS Bd1N is easy to sharpen. I had no chance with waterstones and I had no chance with the Spyderco Sharpmaker on brown rods 40°. I don't have the diamond rods. You might not believe me, but I'm even not a sharpening beginner, I sharp knives for years.

Or is this just a question of time, eg. grinding the brown rods for hours? Can anyone tell me something usefull about my problem?

Thank you in advance!

[kennethsime]

Sounds like you’re not hitting the edge. Have you tried the sharpie trick?

Run a sharpie, or other permanent marker, along the edge of the knife. Take a few swipes on your sharpmaker, and you should be able to see where you’re removing material.

[elena86]

Your factory edge might be > than 40 degrees inclusive so you hit the shoulder of the bevel. This is the worst scenario because it means you need to reprofile the edge and reduce the angle in order to use the Sharpmaker. Anyway, as the previous poster wrote, you need to use a Sharpie or any other marker to see what is going on.

[kontei]

Your factory edge might be > than 40 degrees inclusive so you hit the shoulder of the bevel. This is the worst scenario because it means you need to reprofile the edge and reduce the angle in order to use the Sharpmaker. Anyway, as the previous poster wrote, you need to use a Sharpie or any other marker to see what is going on.

Thank you so far. What exactly means "reprofile the edge" and how to do this? And when you say "reduce the angle".. do you mean I should take the 30° section of the Sharpmaker?

[elena86]

Your factory edge might be > than 40 degrees inclusive so you hit the shoulder of the bevel. This is the worst scenario because it means you need to reprofile the edge and reduce the angle in order to use the Sharpmaker. Anyway, as the previous poster wrote, you need to use a Sharpie or any other marker to see what is going on.

Thank you so far. What exactly means "reprofile the edge" and how to do this? And when you say "reduce the angle".. do you mean I should take the 30° section of the Sharpmaker?

I mean lower than 40 degrees inclusive or lower, assuming that is higher than that, but you could go bellow 30. I assume you are not a very skilled free hand sharpener so I recommend a clamping sharpening system to help you reprofile the edge. I use Wicked Edge myself but it's quite expensive.

[vivi]

I would do the following, if you are confident free hand:

1. Color the entire edge with black sharpie

2. Reset the edge to about 15 degrees per side on your diamond plate. You can get a rough estimate of the angle you need to hold the knife at with a protractor.

3. Check that the sharpie is gone from both sides of your edge, especially the sharpie that was close to the apex.

4. Once all traces of the sharpie have been removed, go back to your diamond plate and remove the burr with very, very light strokes alternating sides of the blade with each one.

5. Once you feel like you have a working edge, use the sharpmaker at 40 degrees or 20 degrees per side with the brown rods. Again, use a very light touch, and alternate sides of the blade with every stroke.

This should definitely produce a shaving sharp edge that slices well.

[JRinFL]

Welcome kontei!

Since you are in Europe and may not have all the same brands available, Sharpie is brand of permanent marking pens. Of course, the brand is not important to the process.

[Traditional.Sharpening]

What does your sharpening approach look like? I cannot get any idea of this from your OP so it's really not easy to offer advice.

[benja-man]

The German equivalent to sharpie would be Edding. @kontei, where do you live, maybe a fellow forum user could help you out? I'm in Bonn for what it's worth.

[northmanscall]

@Kontei I am near Frankfurt Germany. No problem to help you.

[sal]

Hi Kontei, Benja-man,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

[electro-static]

Hello,

I,m from Germany, so please excuse my bad English. I'm a big Spyderco-Fan what means, IF I buy a pocket knife, it HAS to be a Spyderco.

I have a problem with one of my Spydies and I hope to get help here, since in this forum seem to be a lot more competent people than in German forums.

I had a chip in the blade of my Para3 LW (CTS Bd1N). I got the chip away with an Diamond plate. Now the blade is fine but, of course, completely dull. The problem which I now have is: I'm not able to get it sharp again, although I read many times that CTS Bd1N is easy to sharpen. I had no chance with waterstones and I had no chance with the Spyderco Sharpmaker on brown rods 40°. I don't have the diamond rods. You might not believe me, but I'm even not a sharpening beginner, I sharp knives for years.

Or is this just a question of time, eg. grinding the brown rods for hours? Can anyone tell me something usefull about my problem?

Thank you in advance!

Are you creating a Burr when you are doing your sharpening?

[Duncan]

All in this thread have given great advice. I used a sharp maker for years. No issues. If you’re still having problems , try you tube. Spyderco has one on the sharp maker. Sometimes seeing the process can help.
Also, triple B (big brown bear) has free hand tutorials on you tube. Check them out. Hope that helps.

D

[benja-man]

Hi Kontei, Benja-man,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

Thank you, happy to join this little community here.

[kontei]

Hello and thank you all for your advices!

I have to admit that I used the easy way and gave the knife to a local sharpener. He re-sharpened it to 20° for just 7 bucks (Euros).

[cabfrank]

Just curious, do you have a picture of how that turned out? I hope well.

[kontei]

Just curious, do you have a picture of how that turned out? I hope well.

It turned out well. Yesterday I used the Sharpmaker on that Para (20 strokes on brown and 10 strokes on white each side) and it became even sharper then the sharpener got it.

[D-fens]

Lol, you CANNOT go wrong with the sharpmaker system. It's one of the main (but many) reasons I stick with the brand. They perfected the art of sharpening then made the knives to go with it.

I can get any of my steels....AUS...S30...S90...XTS...M4....so fine just a light pull across the forearm just makes the hair fall off.

[kontei]

Lol, you CANNOT go wrong with the sharpmaker system. It's one of the main (but many) reasons I stick with the brand. They perfected the art of sharpening then made the knives to go with it.

I can get any of my steels....AUS...S30...S90...XTS...M4....so fine just a light pull across the forearm just makes the hair fall off.

You CAN go wrong when trying to sharp a dull blade with an angle above 20° whilst you are new new to the Sharpmaker. But that was my fault, not the Sharpmakers one. Now I know better.

[D-fens]

Lol, you CANNOT go wrong with the sharpmaker system. It's one of the main (but many) reasons I stick with the brand. They perfected the art of sharpening then made the knives to go with it.

I can get any of my steels....AUS...S30...S90...XTS...M4....so fine just a light pull across the forearm just makes the hair fall off.

You CAN go wrong when trying to sharp a dull blade with an angle above 20° whilst you are new new to the Sharpmaker. But that was my fault, not the Sharpmakers one. Now I know better.

Been a while since I've been around....lol...my apologies to the user "dfens" for me attempting to reset his password instead of mine d-fens...lol.

But seeing your response over 6 months ago, lol, Yea, you're right, it would just take a lot longer...very lot longer. I've since upgraded to using the WE system. Like you said, changing angles...yea its a chore for sure.