Hey TW! Let's see your knives!

Thanks!

 

If your into the AR thing check them out. I'll be building one from PSA parts soon

 

FTFY

I've placed dozens or orders with them over the years and while some orders (during times of panic especially) may be delayed I was still always happy with my dealings.

 

I finally broke down and bought the FDE version of the Kershaw Blur w/serrated tanto blade that I've carried for years. Now I'm stylish!





It's a little more pimp gold in person than FDE but it still looks cool.

 

Do you have pics of the blade? How tiny are tiny serrations? Because all edges have serrations, it's just a matter of how small they are. I'm wondering if it isn't a manufacturing defect and if it isn't just how they're shipped without super refined edges (as they are working knives AFAIK), if they're overly refined scandi grinds then the likelihood of an edge being too thinned out is high which might roll or chip.

I assume he sharpened the knife for you? Did he refine the factory grind or did he regrind your blade? A zero ground scand is the weakest edge, and if you're using your Helle for meat processing I would suggest either a micro bevel on your Helle or a convexed scandi (scandivex).

 

I won't get it back till next week. He knows I hunt so he will put a micro concave bevel.

 

Neat little knife. Kershaw Skyline fixed blade.

 

Is this after you sharpened the blade yourself? That doesn't look like a factory flaw to me. Also, concave? Or convex? Concave (like a hollow grind) is not a good idea on a scandi ground blade, without a total regrind IMO.

Your edge in the picture looks like you weren't maintaining bevel angles when sharpening, or that you were making contact with a hard material while using the knife which made the cutting edge get chipped. Also FWIW, if he's anything like the professional sharpeners I've used in the past, he won't be doing that sharpening job by hand, and with a scandi grind the likelihood that he'll overheat the cutting edge with powered sharpening equipment is possible (Bark River has this problem) and will be a very brittle edge, particularly if he's in fact giving you a slight hollow grind as opposed to a convexed edge. If you keep having edge issues I'd really suggest convexing your existing scandi bevels, which can be done in a few hours by hand (spread over a week) with some sandpapers and a mouse pad.

 

I think he said that was a factory edge. To me, it looks like the angle is too steep.

 

Interesting..how so?

 

If I'm looking at it correctly, parts of the edge look ragged.

 

The edge chips are red, bevels are green.
The cutting edge has micro chips. Is that what you're talking about? Or the bevel grind where the dark line begins and follows to that cutting edge?

 

Yes. Micro chips might be a better description.

 

I might've missed where that was the factory edge, I know he said he was having a hard time getting it sharpened about a week ago (seems like a week anyway) and then the picture is posted after he's dropped it off at a sharpening service.

That blade is triple laminated and the center steel is 58-59 RC which isn't so hard to be chipping like that, and from the looks of his picture it's been final ground from Helle with a much higher finishing grit than those chips elude to. Here's a pic from the day he got it with the factory grind/polish.

Granted all blades have microscopic scratches which when magnified enough will look like serrations, but that edge to me looks like it's been chipped on a hard surface, and from the looks of the picture it's right on the section of the cutting edge where the belly starts to sweep up to the tip which is prime realty when you're processing meat which aficianado used that knife for, if he hit a few bones in the process of skinning then that would account easily for that damage. I've never seen a Helle come from the factory with that blade issue myself, so it isn't my first assumption knowing the knife has been used and attempted to be sharpened before the pic was posted.

Scandi grinds are not ideal for skinning purposes because the grind design leaves a very sharp edge with no shoulder behind it, which means it's easily rolled or chipped if not used properly (for the grind type) if the edge is too fine, or the material being cut is too hard. It dulls quickly and doesn't slice straight as the V shape tends to cause the edge to veer left or right.

To me it looks like it was sharpened on a fairly coarse paper/stone and improperly at that, OR that the blade was chipped during use and needs to be sharpened further until those chips are removed. Lastly the blade thickness is about 1/10 of an inch, so the bevel angles can't be too tall or the cutting edge will be very weak, Helle grinds the bevel angles perfectly IMO, in relation to the thickness of the stock so that the edge is fairly supported with material behind it.

I'm hoping aficianado clears up if that picture is after he did any sharpening, and what he's used it for before the picture was taken. I'd also be leery again of a professional sharpener using machine sharpeners on that edge as you're really increasing the likelihood of edge issues.

 

What I read into the first post was that the knife hadn't been sharpened but came from the factory like that. I could be wrong about that. Regardless, if you're sharpening a blade and it becomes too thin, it will break like that. Whether it was bone or not, idk.

From the other marks on the blade, it looks like it was sharpened on a belt maybe?

 

Factory grind is by belt, and unless it was highly polished you'd see those scratch marks anyway at magnification, I'm not sure what finishing grit Helle ships out at but I imagine it's no higher than 800 grit as it's a working knife.

 

I would imagine they aren't going to bother with more than that. It's sharp enough for the intended use.

 

Posted 11/20/2014

His knife is carbon steel and only hardened to 58-59 RC which for carbon is a very workable hardness and should be easily sharpened (not to mention scandi is arguably the easiest grind to sharpen in the first place). Additionally he used it to skin an elk, which isn't a small job and is also one where a scandi grind isn't the best choice, it dulls quickly by design - but it's easily sharpened and can whittle hairs without much fuss which is where it shines.

I'm in no way trying to knock aficianado, but my best guess is that he knicked a few bones when skinning an elk which chipped the edge of a knife grind not meant to process large animals without edge honing one or more times during the process. Either way, hopefully the sharpener gives him a convex and not a microconvex, or at least aficianado is able to more easily maintain a microconvex. The scandi grind is a fragile grind but it is excellent, with a full convex scandi bevel it's a great edge with a lot more strength in the cutting edge which would be helpful for what he uses it for. A concave grind (hollow grind) being done on his existing scandi bevels would make that knife just about useless as a tool, which is what he said he was getting done - but I hope it was a typo.

 

OK. I missed that post-makes sense now.

 

No. Knife is brand new.