Gerber Blade Sharpening

This forum is for posting step by step techniques used in the art of making, customizing, and repairing knives. Please stop by and teach a few things or maybe learn something new from the talented members of AAPK.
Post Reply
loganman
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2014 5:38 am

Gerber Blade Sharpening

Post by loganman »

I inherited a Gerber 600 brand pocket knife. The blade is so difficult to sharpen, I took it to a friend of mine who prides himself as a fantastic sharpener. He returned it to me saying the stainless blade was too hard to get an edge on. I worked on it for three days with a diamond type sharpener and finally got a great edge. I skinned one deer and a hog. but did not re sharpen it because it takes to long. I finished butchering with my old reliable CV Case Copperlock. My question is what can I do to get a good edge on this blade without taking so long? THANKS. Loganman
User avatar
orvet
Gold Tier
Gold Tier
Posts: 19327
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 6:23 am
Location: Willamette Valley, Oregon

Re: Gerber Blade Sharpening

Post by orvet »

In the 1980s & EARLY 1990S I managed a cutlery store in Salem Oregon. We sold mainly Gerber, Kershaw & Al Mar. As you may know Pete Kershaw & Al Mar both worked for Pete Gerber before starting their own companies.

I got a lot of complaints from Gerber owners that they could not sharpen their knives. The problem was that the older Gerbers, (pre-Fiskers) were sharpened at about a 40 degree angle. People didn’t realize that and would sharpen them at a 25 degree angle and it took forever to take the shoulder off the hard steel to end up with a 25 degree angle on the edge.

The Gerber factory used a 150 grit, 6 inch composition stone and sharpened into the oncoming stone and then deburred the edge with a hard felt wheel, (obviously not into the oncoming wheel). :shock:
We purchased an original Gerber factory machine for sharpening from Gerber and when we sharpened knives for folks who couldn’t sharpen them we would reset the angle to 25 or 30 degrees and explain the issue to them and most of them could sharpen their own Gerbers after that. Some just brought them back to us as we offered free lifetime sharpening for all knives purchased from our store.

The original Gerber edge held up well, though it was never as sharp as a knife with a 25 degree edge.
Dale
AAPK Administrator

Please visit my AAPK store: www.allaboutpocketknives.com/orvet

Job 13:15

"Buy more ammo!" - Johnnie Fain
“Evil is Powerless If The Good are Unafraid.” – Ronald Reagan
User avatar
ryanb
Posts: 54
Joined: Fri Feb 14, 2014 10:01 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Gerber Blade Sharpening

Post by ryanb »

Could this possibly be the same case for a D2 Country Cousin? I've worked on the thing for quite some time and there seems to be no progress. My Lansky type sharpener only has 20 and 25 degrees.
Accepting donations for more knife purchases.

8703
User avatar
orvet
Gold Tier
Gold Tier
Posts: 19327
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 6:23 am
Location: Willamette Valley, Oregon

Re: Gerber Blade Sharpening

Post by orvet »

I am not familiar with the knife, so I don't know what angle they set the edge to when it leaves the factory, but that is definitely possible.

I would venture to guess that most knives are still sharpened freehand (without a jig) at the factory. It is very time consuming to put a knife in a jig and sharpen each blade one at a time and then change jigs for each blade. That would require 3 jig changes for a stockman pattern. In manufacturing time is money and sharpening in a jig would add considerably to the labor cost to produce the knife.

Even with years of experience and the muscle memory of the sharpener it is difficult to sharpen a knife exactly the same way every time, though a good sharpener will be very, very close.

When you put a knife on a Lansky, Smiths, or any of the other "sharpening systems" you are limited to the preset angles they offer you. 20 and 25 degrees is not a wide choice of angles. That is why a lot of guys say they spend hours sharpening a new knife on their Lansky, but once it is sharp it holds a good edge. However, if you have a fillet knife that has a 15 degree angle, you cannot put that edge back on the knife with your Lansky. Also if the knife has a 30 degree angle you will spend a long time and remove a lot of metal to reset the angle to 25 degrees. The 25 degree edge is sharper than a 30 degree edge, but it will get dull quicker, or roll sooner than a 30 degree edge. A 30 degree edge will generally sustain less damage should you hit a bone with it than a knife with a 30 or 35 degree angle, assuming everything else is equal; such as the type of steel, hardness of the edge and the force with which you hit the bone.

All things considered, I personally prefer to sharpen a knife freehand and follow the angle of the original edge if I am happy with the cutting performance of the blade. But sharpening is all about the angle and keeping it constant. If you have trouble keeping a constant angle when sharpening a knife freehand, then a Lansky or some similar system may be a better choice for you to use; although I do find the Lansky difficult to use on small blades and impossible to use on the small pen blades.
Dale
AAPK Administrator

Please visit my AAPK store: www.allaboutpocketknives.com/orvet

Job 13:15

"Buy more ammo!" - Johnnie Fain
“Evil is Powerless If The Good are Unafraid.” – Ronald Reagan
Post Reply

Return to “Knife Related Tutorials”