This video is a look at the Great Eastern Cutlery #78 American Jack. There’s discussion on sharpening the knife, and dealing with the knife’s geometry in sharpening. The video documents sharpening the knife.
Hi Michael. What angle did you freehand at to get such a small bevel? I just got into freehanding on whetstones but i think I’m holding too low, I was trying to hold at 15 degrees but my bevels are much wider that your. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Good video. I love the pull of my 78 American jack. But sharpening it for the first time was definitely interesting, the angle I had to rise my hand was almost the same as when I hold a pencil. Maybe twice as high as a spyderco.
Great video on a great pattern. I know you've done at least one video on your freehand technique. But I would welcome more tips and tricks you've learned on maintaining a consistent angle in freehand sharpening. I know I'm not the only who struggles with this. If there's more you can share other than "practice", would love to see any tips that really transformed your results. Thanks again for the quality content.
I've been trying to free hand sharpen for 10 years or so and I just can't do it. I understand edge geometry and angles but I just can't apply it. Great video man!
It seems recently you stop sharpening at 1 micron. Before you it looked like you were very proud of your .005 micron edges. Where have they gone? Also how are the numbatama stones, I got a 5000 and it does the job well. Lastly, are you still using the jende products? Have you seen any increases in performance with kens products compared to jende?
Hi Dude my sharpening progressions change from one day to the next. I think it’s fine to stop at one micron sometimes. Sometimes I’ll want to take it as far as I can, and go to .005 or .003 micron. I like Nubatama stones a lot. Jende makes great products and I still use them some, but I prefer Ken Schwartz 1 micron over any other 1 micron I’ve used.
Michael, love the videos. Are you planning on getting the Para2 or Para3 in REX 45? I read they are going to be releasing a sprint run soon in burnt orange G10. I'd be interested to know what you think about that.
Another stellar video. Thanks for sharing the knowledge. I have a KME and managed to put a really ugly bevel on a 56. My 78 is not that bad. But I realized some of the Northwoods knives tips are crazy fat at the tip and I'm now gun shy about sharpening them. :( I keep trying to do free hand sharpening but I don't have the skills or time right now to do it. Especially when it comes to $150 knives.
Another great video, Michael. Do you have someone that cuts down full size Nubatama and Suehiro stones for you, or is there someplace you can buy this smaller hand-held size?
Same question Michael - where do you buy these narrower Suehiros? As those 6ish x 1 Shaptons are no longer made, can one buy a set of Suehiros to complete the grit progression?
How to lose an afternoon - interesting stuff, thanks Michael. Not knowing who Ken Schwartz was, I went googling and found links to Mr. Schwartz and Jende industry. Also found a pretty full set of 1"x 6"x 6mm Suehiro stones at the latter.
If you like the 78 you should try the 71. It’s has just about the same quality but is so much cheaper. A while ago they made an O1 tool steel run which I want so badly but they went back to 1095.
jon lipton I have a 71. My 71 has terrible blade rap. I found out that was common on that model. It was from the 2017 run. When the 2018 run was released, I waited to see if it would have the same issues, which it did.
