Knife Problems

[Guest IWI.BABYEAGLE.40]

So i have had a fixed blade maxam knife for several years. (similar to the top knife)Fixed Blade Knife, Maxam Wholesale Knife, Fixed Knifes, Honed Blade Knives, when i recieved the knife, the blade edge was never and has never been sharpened.. i have a smiths ccks 2 step knife sharpener.Amazon.com: Smith Abrasives CCKS 2-Step Knife Sharpener: Home… it works excellently on my other knives, however for some reason the maxam will not take an edge with it. any thoughts?? i have even tried drawing it up to 20 times across the side that supposeddly sets the knife edge to no avail to bring burrs.

[Oh Shoot]

Can only suggest there's a reason most Maxam knives are really cheap.

I have a Maxam "hunting knife" that was given to my Dad years ago as some service award thing. I tried to use it as a kitchen knife, hah.

It says it is "surgical stainless steel", and I guess it would work if you are performing surgery on butter or soft cheese.

On the other hand, I carried a cheapo Maxam folder for 3 years for box opening and whatnot when I was FedEx guy, and it's pretty sharp and held an edge okay, although I had to tighten up hinge now and then to keep it from falling apart.

So I guess Maxam quality varies all the way from poor to terrible.

- OS

Edited July 14, 2010 by OhShoot

[MacGyver]

OhShoot's right. It is most likely due to poor quality steel that is leading to the knife not taking an edge. There are some steels that shouldn't be in knives, and will never really take or hold a good edge.

That said, it could also be that the angle of your sharpener doesn't match the angle of your blade. Most of the sharpeners on the market like the one you posted are set at 20 degrees, which in most cases gives a nice durable edge. If your blade was initially ground at a wider angle - say 50 degrees, you may not actually be touching the edge. Rather, you may be contacting the blade higher up towards the shoulder of the grind.

Before I tossed the knife in the scrap bin, I would try and put an edge on it with an actually stone. Start slowly, pay attention to your honing angle and see if that doesn't help you out.

[hso]

Whether it is properly heat treated will also influence whether a proper edge can be established.

Materials, heat treat and edge geometry are the three factors that determine whether you have a pry bar or a knife.

I suggest that you "paint" the edge with sharpie and that you then attempt to sharpen the edge. Look at the edge with each stroke and watch the paint come off with each stroke. Be sure that you remove the same amount of material on each side. Once all the paint is off of the cutting edge you should have a sharp knife.

[Guest DanE479]

You are trying to sharpen something with no edge with a tool that is merely designed to straighten an edge out. In order to truly sharpen a knife, it requires that you remove material. That little yellow piece of junk you have is really only good for annoying people. You can't remove material from both sides of the edge at the same time. What most people call the "edge" is (on a knife that is not zero ground) actually a second bevel that provides for a steeper angle. The reason for this is that if the knife were ground to a true 20deg angle on both sides, it would have to be inches thick at the spine. Unless you decide to become a knifemaker, forget all this nonsense about the "perfect angle to sharpen a knife at." No two different makes of knives will sharpen perfectly at the same angle. It's about creating an edge geometry that does what you want the knife to do. If you want a razor, you get a very thin edge geometry so that you can get the edge as close to parallel with the surface as possible. BUT, when you grind a bevel like that, it won't hold up to severe abuse, because the edge is thin, and will deform to one side easily, or just simply break off. For a good survival knife, you want a wider angle on the edge grind so that you have a thicker, more robust edge that will take some punishment, and still be sharp.

My best advice to you would be to throw that shapener AND the knife in the trash and get yourself a Spyderco Sharpmaker system, and a decent fixed blade knife that costs more than $20. In the knife world, you truly get what you pay for. a $20 knife will only break, lose its edge, and frustrate you. It's a simple equation:

Cheap knives = crap knives.

To the Original poster, or anybody else, for that matter:

I am always willing to show someone how to correctly sharpen a knife, and what to look for in a decent knife. I've been a knife USER (not collector) for a long time, and I've made some very good friends that are heavywieghts in the knife world, and they have taught me a lot. If you are interested in learning, drop me a PM, and maybe we can get together for a quick lesson.