Sharpening a stiletto blade

[YorkshireMartin]

Bit of an unusual one maybe. I normally send my knives off to the local sharpener as once i'm outside plane irons and chisels, I get a bit lost.

I have an automatic stiletto knife (some would say flick knife/switchblade) which has a very fine bevel (0.1mm probably) on it. I can't give it to someone else, even to sharpen, as it would be illegal.

Is there anything I can do, such as stropping etc, to bring the blade back into line, without wrecking it. It's not had a hard life but now it's failing to cut cellotape, which means I'm forced into action.

It's a decent quality german knife so I really dont want to bin it, not to mention its a very handy letter/parcel opener.

Thanks chaps.

 

[Jacob]

It's just a knife, what's the problem exactly? An ordinary steel should be OK. Or a stone for for more drastic sharpening. Or one of those kitchen knife gadgets where you pull the blade through.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

It's just a knife, what's the problem exactly? An ordinary steel should be OK. Or a stone for for more drastic sharpening. Or one of those kitchen knife gadgets where you pull the blade through.

Hey Jacob.

It's just that the bevel is so fine, finer even than my little veg knives, i didnt know how i'd maintain the angle. Hadn't thought of a kitchen type sharpener to be honest, I just have a steel which I figured would wreck it.

Will give one a try, thanks.

 

[bugbear]

Given the uses you mention, it's possible it's not blunt, but gunged up with envelope/sellotape glue, which will stop a blade cutting anything.

Worth checking - a quick wipe with meths or white spirit on 0000 wire wool would remove any gunge.

BugBear

 

[YorkshireMartin]

Given the uses you mention, it's possible it's not blunt, but gunged up with envelope/sellotape glue, which will stop a blade cutting anything.

Worth checking - a quick wipe with meths or white spirit on 0000 wire wool would remove any gunge.

BugBear

Will try that first. I reckon its blunt though, it's that new tape amazon started using I think, the reinforced stuff. I deal with a lot of parcels at times and it cant be very kind to blades to be cutting that sort of thing. Probably should get myself a simple box opener instead.

 

[Rorschach]

Pop it in a vice with the blade pointing towards you (be careful obviously) and hold a small stone in your hand. Put a desk light behind the blade and it should be easy to follow the edge.

 

[Jacob]

It's just a knife, what's the problem exactly? An ordinary steel should be OK. Or a stone for for more drastic sharpening. Or one of those kitchen knife gadgets where you pull the blade through.

Hey Jacob.

It's just that the bevel is so fine, finer even than my little veg knives, i didnt know how i'd maintain the angle. Hadn't thought of a kitchen type sharpener to be honest, I just have a steel which I figured would wreck it.

Will give one a try, thanks.

The bevel is what it was left with by the makers who no doubt had a particular machine for the purpose.
You don't need to "maintain the bevel" there's nothing magic about it. You just need to sharpen in the ordinary way, with whatever kit you have, and accept a different looking bevel. Steel is fine - why would it wreck it?

 

[Eric The Viking]

For small knives I use a very cheap fine-cutting diamond plate, and gently wipe them over it at the desired angle. Wipe once or twice each side, strop, test, repeat as needed. It's usually done dry, but under the kitchen tap if there's a lot of remedial work to do. It works a treat, and turns out to be one of the best usss for those plastic-backed plates. I have never had success with them for woodwork...

 

[AndyT]

If you are nervous of messing it up, Paul Sellers demonstrates a minimally jigged approach here, using a scrap of wood and a paddle.

https://youtu.be/bailuQUh2mY