Sharpening Round Knife

[FlHobbyist]

I also have an Abetta knife on order and am eagerly waiting for it to come in. I will be comparing it to the Tandy Damascus round knife which I picked up on sale last week. So far I like the Tandy knife, but I would like to practice my sharpening skills on a cheaper knife. I'll be sharpening it on a 1000/6000 water stone that I recently bought on Amazon, and I'm really looking forward to cutting leather like it was butter, my cutting technique still needs refinement.

[FlHobbyist]

The Abetta knife came in yesterdays mail.

I was pleased because it came in one day before the earliest expected arrival date. Their shipping address is in PA, but I'm speculating here that they importing from Canada, or more likely somewhere more distant. It looks like they only get their stock deliveries ever week or two, hence their long shipping and handling time.

The knife was packed in bubble wrap and placed in a cardboard container, if the knife was sharp this would be a problem, but as it came to me there was very little danger the knife would cut the bubble wrap plastic. The knife blade is 4.5 x 1.75 inches, so no problem there. I don't have an exact weight for you, but estimate it weight at around 3 or 4 ounces which in my opinion is very light. The thickest metal on the blade is .125 inches, and it makes a distinct tinny sound when tapped by my fingers.

The blade was not sharpened at all when I removed it from the package. I don't know if there is a test for sharpness, but I think it would cut butter, but probably not sharp cheddar cheese. In my case this is a plus and a minus, on the one hand I bought this knife so I could have something to practice my sharpening skills on, on the other hand I would sure like to see how sharp a round knife is suppose to be.

Since it only costs around 8.00 (15.00 with shipping), I'm not disappointed. Do I sincerely believe this will become a real leather cutting knife? I doubt it, but I desperately need to learn how to sharpen a knife, before I get a real knife, and ruin it.

I see a LW knife in my future, but my skills as well as my wife's understanding need to grow before that day arrives.

The Tandy Knives I also bought:

I was in my Tandy place a few weeks ago, when I was ignorant about the types of steel. The manager made me a deal on the medium Damascus round knife and the small AS round knife. I got them both for 60.00. I don't feel ripped off, but I'm not nearly as happy as I was. The Damascus knife wasn't thoroughly sharpened when it came out of the box, It will cut leather, but I have to bear down on it pretty good. I haven't touched it with a whetstone yet, as I have this vision of this very knife being available on EBay in the near future, and I don't want to screw up the blade any more than it already is.

As for the small knife, I've been practicing my sharpening skills on it, and occasionally I get it pretty sharp, however I think my angle is too narrow and my technique is lacking so I get it sharp enough to glide through paper, and then a piece of leather ( less than a foot), and it needs another round of sharpening.

If anyone has any questions, comments or observations, I'll be glad to either answer or hear them.

That LW vision continues to grow in my mind, tick, tick, tick...

[Colt Hammerless]

I got mine off of Ebay. It also comes from "HorseloverZ" and was $8.95 with free shipping. The auction said expected delivery June 14th to June 21st I believe. I got it on the 10th. The blade has no markings, but the handle has a sticker on it that says "Made in Pakistan." The handle is kind of a pretty wood. If you tap the blade, it has a nice tuning fork ring to it. Like yours, it had a joke of an edge. I sharpened it up on my belt grinder with finer and finer grits, eventually finishing on a leather belt I made for the grinder, to use as a power strop. I loaded it with green compound. This is the first time I've sharpened on a belt grinder, which is why I got this knife to practice on. It seems like it takes a fine edge. It cuts fairly well, but not as well as my antique head and round knives. I wasn't really sure why, as the edge looked pretty good. I could understand if it cut well for a short bit, then needed stropping again, but it didn't cut as well even from the outset. I think I know why though. The blade is REALLY thick. Around .090 thick almost all the way to the bevel where it's down to around .085. In comparison my older knives are around .045 thick and go down to about .040 near the bevel. So this bugger is twice as thick. The edge goes into the leather just fine, but when pushing, you have to use a bit too much force. You're trying to push some thick steel through the leather, and it drags because of this. That's my theory. When I get a chance to play with it again, I'm going to thin the blade on the grinder (being slow and careful to not get it hot) and then redo the edge. I think that may turn it into a pretty nice knife. If not, I'm out 9 bucks and got to practice with it. But I think it has potential.

Paul

[St8LineGunsmith]

sounds like you need to do some more honing on that round knife

mine cuts through 12 oz leather like it was warm butter and requires very little pressure tocut through the leather.

it cuts clean through in one pass.

you will want to get the steepest angle on the blade as you can which means completely removing the factory beveled edge.

trust me if you work it long enough at the proper angle you will soon have it as sharp as any razor blade.

and holds its edge very well just make sure not to cut with it on hard surfaces and strop it before and after each use to keep it that way.

as far as other head/ round knifes like the Al Stholman "Damascus blades" and the CS Osborne knifes they are no sharper out of the box than the abetta. in fact I have never bought any knife that was sharp to my liking

I can even get utility knife blades to cut better by spending a few minutes honing and stropping them before trying to cut anything with them.

I wouldnt mind getting a piece of 16 gauge 440 stainless and cutting out my own blade kind of like the configuration as the LW round knife. those are some very nice looking blades and look like they are very efficient at cutting leather and I imagine they are very sharp right out of the box.

Edited June 14, 2013 by St8LineGunsmith

[TomG]

So, for the sharpest edge, what angle is considered the best angle for a head knife?

And -- What is the difference between a head knife and a round knife?

[Colt Hammerless]

From what I've read, the best angle for a round knife is 15 degrees on either side, for 30 degrees combined. That's what I was aiming for when sharpening this. After looking at it next to a protractor, I think I had it at 20 degrees on each side. I went back to the belt sander, at a more shallow angle and this time wound up with 15 on each side. It's cutting better now. I did the same treatment to a couple of old Osbornes, and a Theo Harrington, and an unmarked head knife that looks like an Osborne. These knives are roughly half the thickness of the Abetta. It seems the Abetta is doing a fine job cutting with the tip on a cutting board, but when holding the leather off of the board and pushing the knife through, it requires more pressure than the thinner knives. I sharpened the thinner knives at the same time, and at the same angle, to the same grit, so the only thing I can figure is it's simply a difference of pushing a thicker blade through. I'll continue playing with it. I just came back from the shop after cutting the handle down a bit so I can palm the knife.

Paul

[St8LineGunsmith]

the angle of the edge on mine is approximately 12 degrees.

you can see the the difference between the two knives here.

https://www.osborneleathertools.com/category.php?cid=5