Just How Sharp Should A Swivel Knife Be?

[iamasmith]

OK, I've got Bushcraft knives, field dressing knives and wood carving knives and they all came, and I maintain them so, they are sharp enough to shave hairs.

I got a kit from Tandys recently with a swivel knife in it that will cut leather but I don't really consider sharp.

At the moment I don't feel that the cuts are particularly crisp and am tempted to sharpen it properly rather than just strop it with Jeweller's Rouge as suggested but wanted to check first on how sharp they really should be.. am I aiming for shaving sharpness like my other knives or is this more a matter of preference?

If I do sharpen it then I'll probably use a DMT Diamond Hone followed up by a Fallkniven DC4 ceramic side and then go to fine honing and polish with Autosol on card an then when I'm happy I'll go to Jeweller's Rouge to strop and maintain it.. sound practical/sensible?

Edited January 3, 2011 by iamasmith

[mendedbowl]

Hi iamasmith,

It sounds like you already know a great deal about keeping blades sharp. The next step is to determine exactly what you want your swivel knife blade to do. The following is just my opinion, others, much more skilled than me, may see it differently.

The cross-section angle of your blade edge can be made more or less acute depending on what you wish the blade to do. Will it be used for filigree work? will you be carving thick leather or thin leather? Do you want your swivel knife cuts to lay open wide, or be more closed? Do you wish to use it to shave hair? Answering those questions helps you decide what angle you want your edge to be. Then use any method you wish to make that edge as sharp as you can, while maintaining that angle. There are jigs made just for swivel knife blades that help keep that angle precise while sharpening.

For best results for cutting leather, the edge needs to be polished to a mirror surface regardless of what angle you choose. Also while you are using the knife, you will get better results if you stop to strop the edge from time to time. Not to sharpen the blade, but to remove residue from the leather that builds up on the edge.

Personally I keep several different blades so that i have one to fit each need.

hope this helps some,

ken

[Ferg]

OK, I've got Bushcraft knives, field dressing knives and wood carving knives and they all came, and I maintain them so, they are sharp enough to shave hairs.

I got a kit from Tandys recently with a swivel knife in it that will cut leather but I don't really consider sharp.

At the moment I don't feel that the cuts are particularly crisp and am tempted to sharpen it properly rather than just strop it with Jeweller's Rouge as suggested but wanted to check first on how sharp they really should be.. am I aiming for shaving sharpness like my other knives or is this more a matter of preference?

If I do sharpen it then I'll probably use a DMT Diamond Hone followed up by a Fallkniven DC4 ceramic side and then go to fine honing and polish with Autosol on card an then when I'm happy I'll go to Jeweller's Rouge to strop and maintain it.. sound practical/sensible?

You need to maintain a 30 degree angle on both sides

The jewelers rouge makes it "slip" nice an easy in the leather. Less expensive swivel knives are not necessarily sharp.

You can buy swivel knife blades of different thicknesses to accomplish different size cuts as well as do filigree work. Also angle plades.

ferg

Edited January 3, 2011 by 50 years leather

[iamasmith]

Actually I just found that my Fallkniven DC4 was the most practical tool for sharpening this properly.

I didn't use a jig just a steady hand. On the diamond side I got it fairly sharp and then brought it up to something I was happy with using the ceramic side using push strokes.

I then swapped to pull strokes using a good deposit of jewellers rouge on a piece of card and the mirror finish came back instantly.

[hidepounder]

I think a swivel knife blade should be as sharp as one can get it. For me the optimum angle is about 30 degrees. That angle lays the cut open nicely and doesn't cut through the leather too quickly. For me, a slight amount of resistance is desirable for controlling my knife.

Bobby