sharpening my tanto point

[Chris]

hello all, i was wondering how to make my tanto point sharp and pointy again? smacked the tip into a wall and had it fall on my kitchen table so its kind of flat now. do I take it to a smith or something? not really sure who can sharpen my knife around houston..

 

[crabbys44]

hello all, i was wondering how to make my tanto point sharp and pointy again? smacked the tip into a wall and had it fall on my kitchen table so its kind of flat now. do I take it to a smith or something? not really sure who can sharpen my knife around houston..

A pic would have been nice.

Who made your knife? Cold Steel used to offer sharpening services and might be able to fix it.

I've repaired drop (not dropped) points with the tip snapped off with judicious use of a file to get the shape back and stones (coarse and fine) to get the edge back.

If you have differential tempering, dunno how to help you.

Good luck,

 

[jtriron]

Jim Henry Enterprises Inc
900 Winston St # A, Houston, TX 77009-3655
(713) 861-4539 ‎

East end of the Heights.
They have sharpened several knifes for me and always did a good job, plus they have good supply of restaurant grade knifes for sale.

 

[M. Sage]

Show us a pic.

First thing to do with a nick or something like you have is to use a steel to try rolling it back into shape. I have a 1/4" lathe bit blank (high speed tool steel) that I use for that.

 

[cuate]

I have used one of those "diamond" sharpening stones, they cost likely $50 now but they get the job done.

 

[M. Sage]

I have used one of those "diamond" sharpening stones, they cost likely $50 now but they get the job done.

You should be able to get an entire kit for $50. I use this kit, but haven't used the guide for years. 22 degrees is easy enough to find by hand. https://lansky.com/index.php/products/dlx-5-stone-system/

 

[Chris]

Heres a pic, as you can see that little sharp corner has been flattened... =(

 

[M. Sage]

Is it rolled over?

That's honestly so miniscule, I doubt you'll notice. But if it bugs you, the only way to do it is to roll it as much as you can with a steel and then stone it out. It's easy to stone a tanto point because it's a nice straight edge.

 

[Chris]

The point is no longer sharp, i can poke my finger with some moderate pressure and it wont puncture me. When it was new I could hardly apply pressure on the tip. I dont think its rolled over, I think the tip smooshed in or broke off or something...

edit- i cant get my camera to focus but if you look at the tip from the front of the blade its clearly "flat" there is no point. My table is made of marble and it fell pretty hard. And I hit the same spot it seems when I flicked it open and it hit the side of my gun safe, left a chip safe too.

 

[M. Sage]

If it's "smooshed in", you can still roll it out a bit with a piece of tool steel. Then hit it with stones to get an edge back. You'll wind up having to start with a coarse and work your way down. It should take a lot less time than you've spent posting on here.

 

[Chris]

well thanks for your input.
im asking for information because i dont want to walk up to a smith and have him tell me what hes going to do and all i do is nod my head totally lost. I would like to have some information already in hand so i use it to cross examine his suggestions to see if hes ripping me off or not and so im not entirely lost in the during the conversation. this is also my first knife, and it cost a pretty penny i just learned how to flick the thing open without cutting myself i wouldn't trust or feel comfortable with a DIY job. and even if i did accomplish the task i would probally have scraped off more of that pretty black cloating than i would have liked to.

anyways i think i have a general idear of what needs to be done
thanks for all your feedback

 

[M. Sage]

Get a cheaper knife and learn how to sharpen them yourself, it's a skill I think every knife owner should have. If done right, the only thing you'd make contact with is the edge, where there isn't any finish anyway. With a decent kit, sharpening that out would seriously take about five minutes.

It's really not hard (and like I said, it's easier on a tanto blade). The 22 degree angle that works so well on a EDC knife is easy to find. You take 90 degrees (everybody knows what 90 looks like), half the angle to 45, then half it again (you'll be at 22 or 23 - close enough) and sharpen at that angle. There are sharpeners that give you angle guides that can help, but I've been doing mine free-hand for years. Lansky makes a great sharpener system, get the bigger kit for about $50, Gatco makes a very similar product.

My favorite "touch-up" sharpener is Gatco's Tri-Seps, it's a simple and inexpensive ceramic sharpener that can do a lot, it's just not for when you beat your knife up. Getting a steel is a good idea, too.

 

[texasmc]

I use DMT diamond stones too. They're pretty great.

If it's the piercing power you're worried about, you could file down the top leading edge to come down to the point more. Otherwise, you'll have to grind/sharpen back the forward cutting edge a lot, and it's hard to do while keeping the grind consistent and flat. You might end up convexing your edge and throwing off the line.

 

[TheDan]

Get a cheaper knife and learn how to sharpen them yourself

you could file down the top leading edge to come down to the point more. Otherwise, you'll have to grind/sharpen back the forward cutting edge a lot

Yep, and yep...

I like it when people post what I was going to say and then I can just agree

 

[texasmc]

Yep, and yep...

I like it when people post what I was going to say and then I can just agree

Rock on, TheDan! =)

And, no - I don't want to see your Wankel. Haha.

 

[tequila45]

I learned to keep a pretty consistent angle by painting the edge with a black magic marker. you can tell at what angle you are holding cause the stone is removing the painted edge. for that tanto edge, I would use a flat stone and work it till it rolls the edge. finish the back side with a piece of card board to strop the edge sharp.