Any way to get a good edge on an AKC stainless stiletto?

[Monkeyleg]

I've been trying to sharpen a 13" AKC stainless stiletto blade, and and only have been able to make it feel sort of sharp. It still won't cut paper with the edge of the blade. I've been using coarse and fine wet stones.

Is there any way to get a good edge on these, or is it just impossible? From searches on topics here, it doesn't look promising.

[Bill DeShivs]

If it is a bayonet blade, you won't get it really sharp. The grind angle is too steep to get a fine edge. Bayonet blades are designed for sticking. Flat ground blades can be sharpened.

[ILikeStilettos]

There's no simple answer, give me a call sometime and we'll make a plan. Even if you get stainless blade sharp it's too soft to hold an edge. Also, the thicker the blade, the harder this gets.

[ILikeStilettos]

http://www.sharperdeal.biz/forums/viewt ... it=sharpen

Here's a post I created on the other forum on the subject. It may answer many of your questions or it may simply raise more.

What Bill said is an oversimplification, plenty of thinner bayonets and daggers can be given a wicked edge, especially with hollow grinding. It all depends on what the grind and thickness are, and what material the blade in made from.

I have an 11" AB dagger that has a reasonable edge on it, and my 10" Frosolone came with a fairly sharp factory edge. Cutting paper is one test, shaving hairs from your arm is another. Bill is correct that stilettos are intended as stabbing weapons, not slashing weapons. George Cameron insists on a dull edge. Walt's Latama's come through dull, but in a couple of weeks I will have one that is sharp and polished so that that it doesn't look like it's been touched.

If the blade on your 13" is not too wedgy, I can sharpen it for you, but it's going to look sharpened and I may have to remove a fair amount of metal to get it edged. The more smooth the edge; finer and finer, it will not feel sharp because the little microteeth on a medium sharp edge is what makes it feel sharp and do the mundane cutting. A real razor doesn't feel that sharp, until you move your finger down the edge and it cuts you.

[Tom19176]

I have an old Craftsman wet stone power sharpener that I have used for 25 years to do the job well. There is a new power sander sharpener that I bought but have yet to use, that works well too. Hand sharpening by stone does not work well on this hard steel....


http://www.worksharptools.com/knife/sha ... pener.html

[METALGOD]

you may want to have it "professionaly" sharpened . lately Frank B stilettos in all sizes come razor sharp, no kidding i just had some 13" bayonets from Frank that were sharp as razor and a needle point tip. im not sure if Frank is using a different sharpening method but lately his knives are like razors just like they should be , me personally i hate dull or un-sharpened knives , the point of having a knife is to cut or slice stuff and with a dull or un-sharpened blade you are not going to do neither basicly you have a letter opener or a knife for display purpose only.

[DonFannuci]

you may want to have it "professionaly" sharpened . lately Frank B stilettos in all sizes come razor sharp, no kidding i just had some 13" bayonets from Frank that were sharp as razor and a needle point tip. im not sure if Frank is using a different sharpening method but lately his knives are like razors just like they should be , me personally i hate dull or un-sharpened knives , the point of having a knife is to cut or slice stuff and with a dull or un-sharpened blade you are not going to do neither basicly you have a letter opener or a knife for display purpose only.

I could not agree with you more. I've never understood the dull blade thing. Of course its a stabbing weapon but so is a screwdriver or a stick for that matter. I just recently had a couple knives that came to me unsharpened and I thought it wouldn't bother me but once I got them I couldn't get past that fact. So I returned them and won't be buying anymore of those. These knives should come sharp with a needlepoint tip in my opinion.

[METALGOD]

you may want to have it "professionaly" sharpened . lately Frank B stilettos in all sizes come razor sharp, no kidding i just had some 13" bayonets from Frank that were sharp as razor and a needle point tip. im not sure if Frank is using a different sharpening method but lately his knives are like razors just like they should be , me personally i hate dull or un-sharpened knives , the point of having a knife is to cut or slice stuff and with a dull or un-sharpened blade you are not going to do neither basicly you have a letter opener or a knife for display purpose only.

I could not agree with you more. I've never understood the dull blade thing. Of course its a stabbing weapon but so is a screwdriver or a stick for that matter. I just recently had a couple knives that came to me unsharpened and I thought it wouldn't bother me but once I got them I couldn't get past that fact. So I returned them and won't be buying anymore of those. These knives should come sharp with a needlepoint tip in my opinion.

Hi Don the 5mm walts classics i have are sharpened as i requested from Frank they be sharp, if you buy direct from walter they are un-sharpened, i can have them professionally sharpened for around 5 bucks a knife. i like my knives like a razor-- sharp with needle point, in fact that is what " Stiletto" translates to is " needle-point" .
Thanks Bernie ***( FOLGORE KNIVES USA ) ***

[Bill DeShivs]

I sharpen them for Walter and for customers. I don't/won't sharpen antiques.
Thick blades with sharp tapers (grinds) will simply not get as sharp as a thinner blade of the same size/shape. That's why razor blades are thin.
Oversimplification? Yes. But these new knives are simply ground wrong to get really sharp. The steel in the new, thick knives from Walt/Frank/Akc is extremely hard, and You can get them reasonably sharp, but not really sharp.

[ILikeStilettos]

The original stilettos (misericordia) of the 13th century were triangular cross-section.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiletto

They were indeed, stabbing weapons, not slashing weapons (rather like the difference between an epeé and a rapier). Some 19th century and modern weapons pay homage to this approach by having rounded false edges. The Froslones are assassination weapons, not fighting weapons, so they also could appropriately be unsharpened. (I am referring to the ostensible purpose of the lower guard to catch the blade of an opponent and to have an edge than can be employed in a slicing motion). It can also be argued that the more or less modern Italian Stiletto automatic knife is multi-functional and hence could be sharpened.

There have been a number of statements by various experts at various times as to the effectiveness of particular blade shapes and the type of wounds that they produce. I have heard that a dagger with one flat side and a double hollow grind on the other produces a wound that wont close if the blade is twisted, and hence creates extreme bleeding. This is patent nonsense. Twisting any almost any blade enlarges the wound track and increases bleeding.

I can attest to what I have personally observed. A diamond cross section point (like on a bayonet or dagger) reduces the cross section of the point and makes it double-edged and this significantly reduces the thrust force needed to produce a deep wound. As a teen while wrestling with a friend I merely poked the back of his hand a few times, like you would do with a pin, to tease but not to injure. Each thrust, I later learned, produced a wound about 1/4" long and 1/4" deep - the flesh split away from the point like a sausage in a casing. Another time a friend feinted toward my leg and I stepped into it - that put almost a inch of the blade into my thigh and 50 years later I still have the scar.

The conclusion to be drawn is that all of these stiletto ilk will produce a deep wound without much effort. So, is your knife to be used for that, merely looked at, or used functionally. There is no right or wrong to this - it's just whatever the builder decides to do or how you want to use the knife.

[Monkeyleg]

Thanks for all of the replies. It sounds like there's widely differing opinions, but a closer reading shows there's not.

I'd like to have it sharp enough to cut the edge of a sheet of paper. Standard test for a sharp knife. If it won't do that, then I'll get another knife that will.

I'm looking for a defensive knife. I know there's more practical ones, but I'm just used to Italian stilettos.

[DonFannuci]

Well if and when I decide to get another one I will definitely get it through you Bernie since I've been happy with every knife I've gotten through you.

[Zazu]

These guys have it well covered. Though thought I'd add my 2c anyway and say you should leave it how it came. If you need a knife for cutting and daily chore stuff, get something else. Stilettos aren't really made to be utility knives. You're going to lose a bit of the blade by getting and keeping it sharp and that'll change the actual shape. So I'd say keep it factory. Unless it's just one of those $20 chinese stilettos then why not. But yours isn't, so maybe just leave it and get something else for cutting stuff.

[krakenten]

There is a device-well, a kit with several devices-called the Raz-R-Edge. It was developed by a guy who loves sharp edges-he does those shave with an axe contests-as an industrial sharpening device. For meat packers and such.

It costs a bit of money(less than a hundred buck-dollars), comes in a nice plastic carry case, and does the job! It would be a pain to take hunting, but really, this system is for the really dull knife. Use it once or twice a year, mostly, it establishes a good edge angle, easily maintained.

The 'bayonet' blade is never going to be a good cutter, the geometry is all wrong, but it can be sharpened to a utility edge and used. A razor edge is not practical for utility use(shaving and surgery excepted)because it will turn. This is easily corrected with a sharpening steel, and you ought to have one when you go afield.

I've found that the good old thumbnail test is perfect-I learned about it from meat cutters, they ought to know! The knife that drags a bit on the nail(do be careful, friends)will do any cutting you may need done, and will last a while. My method is sharpen/steel, cut,sharpen/steel and put away. You always have a working edge that way.

I'm very fond of the flat grind stiletto, you can use it for cutting! And that's what I use a knife for.

[Monkeyleg]

Looks like some folks missed the part where I said I wanted to make this a defensive knife. I wouldn't be cutting rope or branches or boxes with it. Whatever edge I would get would stay, as it wouldn't be used unless I was attacked.

I carry a gun with me all the time (which I don't use for hammering nails or prying frames off doors), but there's certain places where carrying a gun is near impossible, such as at the gym, which I usually visit around midnight. That's where a knife is a good alternative. I'm too old for martial arts.