I am getting myself an RSK mk1 for christmas, (couldn't pass it up at the current price) and want to know if anyone knows the angle of the edge from the factory? I have read the links about sharpening and was wondering what Doug recommends for this knife.

I have a deluxe Tri-angle spyderco sharpener which works well on my delica. Any tips on how this sharpener should be used with the mk1?

Thanks everyone!

It's supposed to be 25 degrees, but I think there might be some variation there. My mini-RSK came at about 20 degrees, and it was chipping easy so when I re-sharpened it I did it at 25, and it's holding up much better. I'm using a Lasky system for my knives.

I thought Doug posted that it is supposed to be 30 degrees from the factory, which would correspond to one of the settings on your sharpmaker. But I would expect some variation from knife to knife. I am sure that whatever method is working with your Delica will also be fine for the RSK. The sharpmaker is relatively foolproof if you follow the directions.

The one variation I make is to only use the flat sides of the stones. This helps keep the blade tip pointy.

Sorry, I searched for anything Doug said about the edge angle and couldn't find it. 30 sounds right since that is what he recommends in his knife review for a good survival knife. I keep my delica at 30. The serrated edge means I have to use the corner, rather than the flat side of the stone, but I will use the flat side for the mk1. Great advice.

I read on some knife website that a plain edge can be stroped on a the cardboard backing of a legal paper pad. Has anyone tried this?

We have a great knife shop at the mall (the owner is very informative and does nice work) and they did a bang up good bringing my serrations back to life on my delica. I described the mk1 to them and they confirmed - steal of that quality in a benchmade handle would indeed be pricey. The mk1 is a deal.

Stropping like that does indeed work to put a polished finish on the edge, but the fine stones of the sharpmaker put a sufficiently fine finish on a blade for normal use. Many people find that an overly finished edge will not slice as aggressively as one with a more normal finish. I wouldn't bother stropping anything short of a straight razor.

It's 30 degrees. At least the two that i have owned were both exactly 30 degrees.

30° - that's Doug answer to my previous post
on the same subject.

Listen, I've been EDCing a large Griptilian for over three months now. It's a 440C blade, and it astonished me.

It hasn't been to a sharpening stone once. I've been able to keep a shaving edge on it by stropping it on the palm of my hand, and on a leather strop loaded with green cutting compound.

It takes very little leather stropping, provided I'm faithful about stropping on my palm after each use.

DISCLAIMER: You should not cut yourself while stropping a knife on your palm. If you do, my discussion of palm stropping becomes purely theroetical, and intended for entertainment purposes only.

Oh, I lied. I did steel it once, to work out a couple of little bobbles I got when I hit a staple while opening a box.

The knife whittles found twigs and branches every day when I take the dogs to the dog park. It opens all my boxes and mail at work.

It really is an amazing experience, one that confirms my suspicion that I've been sharpening too much. I've been sharpening when I should have been steeling and stropping.

Bear

dchinell- that is very interesting. One of the reasons I want to go with a straight edge now after using a serrated spyderco for 10 years is the issue of sharpening too much. Due to greater coastline to cut with the serrated cuts longer but you can't stropp it as easy as a straight edge.

I was probably sharpening too much also.

I need to learn about steeling.

If you go to the home page of this site. click on the big picture of the knife, and scroll down to near the bottom, you'll find a yellowish table of knife stats. The grind angle is covered there. Click