EKA SwingBlade G3 Blade sharpening

[kolekoll]

Hello
Looking for wisdom to make a Swingblade  again sharp like from factory .. Tried 20 per side.. feels dull, was looking on internet, which angle does Swingblade has.. no luck.
Does anybody here had luck to make it sharp like brand new ?
Thanks everybody, who are willing to answer.

[cbwx34]

Hello
Looking for wisdom to make a Swingblade  again sharp like from factory .. Tried 20 per side.. feels dull, was looking on internet, which angle does Swingblade has.. no luck.
Does anybody here had luck to make it sharp like brand new ?
Thanks everybody, who are willing to answer.

20° per side should not "feel dull"... so I usually suggest "back to the basics"... mark the edge with a Sharpie type marker to match the angle (or set at 20° if desired), make sure you apex the edge on both sides (easiest way to check is to raise a burr on each side), then a couple of light alternating passes to remove the majority of the burr, then hone on leather wheel (or whatever method you use to debur and refine the edge).

I wouldn't bother trying to find out what it's sharpened at (seldom are knives even sharpened at the angle they claim)... you can get a pretty good idea what it's sharpened at by using the Sharpie method.

This is a quick reply... can expand if needed.  You might include more specifics on how you're sharpening and refining the edge (and how you're testing and/or what your expectation is), if you need more info.

[kolekoll]

Hello
Looking for wisdom to make a Swingblade  again sharp like from factory .. Tried 20 per side.. feels dull, was looking on internet, which angle does Swingblade has.. no luck.
Does anybody here had luck to make it sharp like brand new ?
Thanks everybody, who are willing to answer.

20° per side should not "feel dull"... so I usually suggest "back to the basics"... mark the edge with a Sharpie type marker to match the angle (or set at 20° if desired), make sure you apex the edge on both sides (easiest way to check is to raise a burr on each side), then a couple of light alternating passes to remove the majority of the burr, then hone on leather wheel (or whatever method you use to debur and refine the edge).

I wouldn't bother trying to find out what it's sharpened at (seldom are knives even sharpened at the angle they claim)... you can get a pretty good idea what it's sharpened at by using the Sharpie method.

This is a quick reply... can expand if needed.  You might include more specifics on how you're sharpening and refining the edge (and how you're testing and/or what your expectation is), if you need more info.

Morning .. well.. that "Sharpie " method does not work, because somebody already tried to sharpen it .. when I got this knife, I measured sharpening angles both sides, and somebody sharpened one side about 23 and other side 17. I put both sides 20 , but .. it doesn't feel sharp .. I have other hunting knives with 20 each side and somehow those knives feels sharper.
Unfortunately I do not have access to brand new Swingblade .. that would be easier of course .
I'm in sharpening business for over a 2 years from now, but never before I haven't experienced something like that. I thought, may be 17 degrees per side makes more sense ? Does Sandvik will hold it longer ?

[cbwx34]

Morning .. well.. that "Sharpie " method does not work, because somebody already tried to sharpen it .. when I got this knife, I measured sharpening angles both sides, and somebody sharpened one side about 23 and other side 17. I put both sides 20 , but .. it doesn't feel sharp .. I have other hunting knives with 20 each side and somehow those knives feels sharper.
Unfortunately I do not have access to brand new Swingblade .. that would be easier of course .
I'm in sharpening business for over a 2 years from now, but never before I haven't experienced something like that. I thought, may be 17 degrees per side makes more sense ? Does Sandvik will hold it longer ?

I guess you'd have to define "feels sharp" for me to understand this, and to tell whether or not a lower angle would make a difference, so...how are  you testing/checking for sharpness?

Sharpie does 2 things... allows you to match an angle, and also helps tell if you've properly apexed the edge.  Since you've been sharpening 2 years, I'll assume that you can tell if an edge is properly apexed?

A lower angle will usually improve cutting performance... but even a 20° per side edge should pass most tests for sharpness... so guess I need to understand what you're looking for here.

Edit to add:  Just a bit more on the "Sharpie Method"... you can still use it even if the blade has two different angles... in your example where one side is 17° and the other is 23°... you can use it to match one side, for example the 17°, and then sharpen both sides at the same angle... you can use it to "split the difference"... where, for example, you take Sharpie off closer to the shoulder on the 20° side, and closer to the edge on the 17°, to help even out the blade... etc... so it will still help in evaluating and sharpening the blade.

[kolekoll]

I guess you'd have to define "feels sharp" for me to understand this, and to tell whether or not a lower angle would make a difference, so...how are  you testing/checking for sharpness?

Sharpie does 2 things... allows you to match an angle, and also helps tell if you've properly apexed the edge.  Since you've been sharpening 2 years, I'll assume that you can tell if an edge is properly apexed?

A lower angle will usually improve cutting performance... but even a 20° per side edge should pass most tests for sharpness... so guess I need to understand what you're looking for here.

[/quote]

You are right .. pretty hard to explain, what does " feels sharp " means .  That Eka slices paper pretty good, but not straight down but sideways, I think, that the blade thickness is decisive .. I don't know... same time I have a RAT I, Ontario .. that blade is pretty thick too,  I have 20+20 edge on that RAT I and I can cut newspaper straight down ..
I've heard from other hunters, that when they got brand new Swingblade, it did cut pretty good and long time  ( pretty relative term   ) and after, when blade gets dull, they used original EKA firesharp, but after sharpening, it wasn't so sharp, like brand new..  Well, I'll try to find brand new Swingblade from huntingstore and see, what angle does it have.

[cbwx34]

You are right .. pretty hard to explain, what does " feels sharp " means .  That Eka slices paper pretty good, but not straight down but sideways, I think, that the blade thickness is decisive .. I don't know... same time I have a RAT I, Ontario .. that blade is pretty thick too,  I have 20+20 edge on that RAT I and I can cut newspaper straight down ..
I've heard from other hunters, that when they got brand new Swingblade, it did cut pretty good and long time  ( pretty relative term   ) and after, when blade gets dull, they used original EKA firesharp, but after sharpening, it wasn't so sharp, like brand new..  Well, I'll try to find brand new Swingblade from huntingstore and see, what angle does it have.

That does help a bit.  You're right "feels sharp" does have different meanings... I guess what I'm looking for, is what type of test, and what you're expecting.  For example, some consider an edge sharp when it shaves, others like a more aggressive edge that slices well, etc.

One thing you can try... instead of resharpening the blade to 17°... is just set the sharpening angle to 17° per side... but don't go all the way to the edge.  (Commonly referred to as "thinning behind the edge").  You can make just a 1/2 dozen passes per side (give or take)... enough that you can see the bevel getting a bit wider, but not so much that you're reaching the edge... then test the sharpness, and see if you see an improvement... in other words, you can test your theory without grinding away a whole bunch of metal.  (Hope this makes sense).

To answer your other question, the steel should hold up at a lower angle if you sharpened at 17°... you could also add a slight microbevel if needed... depending of course on what is being cut.  (But I'd just try the above suggestion first... since it's easier and doesn't remove as much metal).

How you finish the edge can also make a difference... on lower end steels, honing at a slightly higher angle (2-4° higher) for a pass or two can improve the edge quite a bit.... might give that a try too.

[Ken S]

I had not heatd of a Swingblage G3, so I did an online search. This was the first item which popped up and has a number of photos:

https://www.knivesandtools.com/en/pt/-eka-swingblade-g3-black.htm

I have never sharpened that kind of blade, however, the photos at least show what it is.

Ken

[kolekoll]

I had not heatd of a Swingblage G3, so I did an online search. This was the first item which popped up and has a number of photos:

https://www.knivesandtools.com/en/pt/-eka-swingblade-g3-black.htm

I have never sharpened that kind of blade, however, the photos at least show what it is.

Ken

Hi Ken

Yup, it is pretty popular in here, Estonia ..  First, when they started to sell them in here, the price was pretty high .. around 100 USD, then suddenly, prices went down and then Switchblade costs around 60 USD .. From beginning, the blade edge kept pretty good , hunters were pretty happy, but then, when resharpen was needed, most experienced people, who making living with sharpening service, stumbled with such problem, that after sharpening, those cutting edges didn't hold for long .. 

[kolekoll]

You are right .. pretty hard to explain, what does " feels sharp " means .  That Eka slices paper pretty good, but not straight down but sideways, I think, that the blade thickness is decisive .. I don't know... same time I have a RAT I, Ontario .. that blade is pretty thick too,  I have 20+20 edge on that RAT I and I can cut newspaper straight down ..
I've heard from other hunters, that when they got brand new Swingblade, it did cut pretty good and long time  ( pretty relative term   ) and after, when blade gets dull, they used original EKA firesharp, but after sharpening, it wasn't so sharp, like brand new..  Well, I'll try to find brand new Swingblade from huntingstore and see, what angle does it have.

That does help a bit.  You're right "feels sharp" does have different meanings... I guess what I'm looking for, is what type of test, and what you're expecting.  For example, some consider an edge sharp when it shaves, others like a more aggressive edge that slices well, etc.

One thing you can try... instead of resharpening the blade to 17°... is just set the sharpening angle to 17° per side... but don't go all the way to the edge.  (Commonly referred to as "thinning behind the edge").  You can make just a 1/2 dozen passes per side (give or take)... enough that you can see the bevel getting a bit wider, but not so much that you're reaching the edge... then test the sharpness, and see if you see an improvement... in other words, you can test your theory without grinding away a whole bunch of metal.  (Hope this makes sense).

To answer your other question, the steel should hold up at a lower angle if you sharpened at 17°... you could also add a slight microbevel if needed... depending of course on what is being cut.  (But I'd just try the above suggestion first... since it's easier and doesn't remove as much metal).

How you finish the edge can also make a difference... on lower end steels, honing at a slightly higher angle (2-4° higher) for a pass or two can improve the edge quite a bit.... might give that a try too.

Ok, thank you for suggestions, I'll try as you suggested and will play with blade a little bit. Like I said, what confuses me most, that this Swingblade has Sandvik 12c27 steel and I have Boker Outdoorsman fixed blade with same steel. On Outdoorsman I have 20+20 angle .. after honing with Tormek and the diamond paste I can cut newspaper from top to bottom very easy .. but can't do the same with Swingblade, although on Swingblade I have same angle.