Another endorsement for the Work Sharp. Old Marbles blade

GunNut

I REALLY need to start taking before pictures of my rescues.  As part of a recent acquisition of an estate I ended up with a bunch of "extras" as gifts from the gentleman's brother for helping the family with their pressing needs after his sudden passing.  As they are emptying the house getting it ready to be sold I got to go through his tool bench and "outdoor" stuff and basically take anything I wanted.

So on his bench was this ooooooold USA made Marbles original knife.  I'm sure this dates back from the 50s or even earlier.  Anyway the steel on these old knives is awesome and they deserve a long life of good use.  He obviously used this as a utility knife and it was definitely sharpened with files and such so the edge was just a mess of odd angles, nicks and tool marks.

Before I got my Work Sharp this knife would have ended up in the trash bin because of the crazy amount of work necessary to bring it back to usable life.  Well 10 minutes with the appropriate belts and a final touchup with a super fine ceramic rod and now it shaves arm hair with a 23 degree angle edge which is great for a field working knife.

Now that I know the edge is good I'll spend some time cleaning the blade and aging the edge a little so it does not stand out so shinny against the vintage blade.  It will be pressed back to service sometime this year.

I LOVE bringing old broken guns and knives back to life...

Jay

Nice!

I got too excited when I got mine and sharpened every knife I could find. Haven't had to sharpen a knife in 6 months... 

GunNut

Jay said:

Nice!

I got too excited when I got mine and sharpened every knife I could find. Haven't had to sharpen a knife in 6 months... 

Yeah right?!?

But right now I’m kicking myself in the ass for all the good knives I passed up on in antique shops and flea markets because I thought they were to far gone to restore to usable status.

earlyagain

I can see the quality even in my little phone.

I used to know an old guy was a meat cutter. He told me once that the old steel holds an edge better than new knives. Something about the carbon content. I don't know but it was his trade and Ive found out thar sometimes old guys know things.

Ernie Bishop

Had one like that as a child

GunNut

Ernie Bishop said:

Had one like that as a child

There was a time when a quality fixed blade knife was considered a rite of passage for a young outdoorsman.   I gave my son a nice Case fixed blade when he was a kid and I remember the smile on his face!  I miss those days...

Linefinder

Told ya.....LOL.

Once again, thanks to Knitepoet. I'd have never tried it were it not for his endorsement.

Even then, I was hesitant, but what the heck. If I ruined 1 knife I'd not be out more than 1 what tossaway knife/stone cost.

He knew what he was talking about. I'm not a novice at knife sharpening myself, but when KP speaks to the subject, you'd be well advised to listen.

Mike

GunNut

Linefinder said:

Told ya.....LOL.

Once again, thanks to Knitepoet. I'd have never tried it were it not for his endorsement.

Even then, I was hesitant, but what the heck. If I ruined 1 knife I'd not be out more than 1 what tossaway knife/stone cost.

He knew what he was talking about. I'm not a novice at knife sharpening myself, but when KP speaks to the subject, you'd be well advised to listen.

Mike

Agreed!  This damn thing makes it too easy.  I’m probably going to be hunting for knife rescues now just so I have more stuff to sharpen 🤣

zorba

Slight thread drift: I have a rather thick cleaver and I can't get it sharp. I'm ASS-U-ME-ing that I'm using the wrong angle...

GunNut

zorba said:

Slight thread drift: I have a rather thick cleaver and I can't get it sharp. I'm ASS-U-ME-ing that I'm using the wrong angle...

What angle are you using?  A cleaver would probably do well at 25 degrees but an older one with a worn out edge might be too thick to get there.

zorba

GunNut said:

zorba said:

Slight thread drift: I have a rather thick cleaver and I can't get it sharp. I'm ASS-U-ME-ing that I'm using the wrong angle...

What angle are you using?  A cleaver would probably do well at 25 degrees but an older one with a worn out edge might be too thick to get there.

20. Probably all wrong?

GunNut

zorba said:

GunNut said:

zorba said:

Slight thread drift: I have a rather thick cleaver and I can't get it sharp. I'm ASS-U-ME-ing that I'm using the wrong angle...

What angle are you using?  A cleaver would probably do well at 25 degrees but an older one with a worn out edge might be too thick to get there.

20. Probably all wrong?

For a cleaver that’s way too thin.  Your probably not even hitting the edge.  This is a good chart that gives you rough starting points you can then fine tune as you gain experience.  I have hunting knives with angles from 18 to about 25 depending on the thickness, type of steel and intended use.

10canyon53

Zorba, didn't GunNut just say he was looking for things to sharpen?  Problem solved!

10canyon53

Ernie Bishop said:

Had one like that as a child

So did I.....but I have no idea what happened to it.

GunNut

10canyon53 said:

Zorba, didn't GunNut just say he was looking for things to sharpen?  Problem solved!

🤣🤣🤣🤣
Actually I do that for friends all the time.  Sharpening a knife is like therapy.  Kind of like reloading!  It clears the mind and soothes the soul.

GunNut

10canyon53 said:

Ernie Bishop said:

Had one like that as a child

So did I.....but I have no idea what happened to it.

That’s ok.  I have this belief that when you get to heaven there’s a room in your house with all the cool stuff you lost or unintentionally broke as a kid.  There’s a HUGE red fire engine truck with a neat working water hose in mine 😁

earlyagain

GunNut said:

10canyon53 said:

Zorba, didn't GunNut just say he was looking for things to sharpen?  Problem solved!

🤣🤣🤣🤣
Actually I do that for friends all the time.  Sharpening a knife is like therapy.  Kind of like reloading!  It clears the mind and soothes the soul.

Its funny because I know you like Lonesome Dove. In the last book of the series. Captain Call survives having his arm and leg shot off. Spends his last days sharpening tools for people who bring them to him from all over Nebraska.

bklysen

Between the angle adjustments, speed variation and after market belts that can be had in all of those in-between grits, I'm hard pressed to think of anything that can't be sharpened with it. I'm guessing there might be some blade out there that it won't work for, but I can't picture it.

GunNut

knitepoet said:

Linefinder Mike, For my EDC knives and such, I still prefer doing it by hand, because I enjoy it. However, kitchen knives, after the wife considers them dull, and new knives with a crappy factory edge. Whip it out, plug it in, swap belts around and it's SHARP. And, you're quite welcome  

Zorba,  For a meat cleaver, I'd pick somewhere in the 25-30° range

You want it sharp, but you also want a high enough angle so that the edge still has some "meat" (metal) behind it to support the edge. That's MY suggestion, YMMV

I maintain most of my edges on my knives with quick touchups with ceramic stones/rods,  I have them all the way to ridiculously fine which puts a shaving edge on just about anything.  But like KP just said, new knives or troublesome ones get the WS treatment pronto.

I also agree with the angle for the cleaver, assuming it's a heavy meat cleaver.  I have a Chinese cleaver with a relatively light blade (they are basically big knives) and that gets sharpened at an 18 degree angle like most of my kitchen knives.

NN

Nice old knife

zorba

GunNut said:

For a cleaver that’s way too thin.  Your probably not even hitting the edge.  This is a good chart that gives you rough starting points you can then fine tune as you gain experience.  I have hunting knives with angles from 18 to about 25 depending on the thickness, type of steel and intended use.

Which chart? I'm obviously out to lunch here. The WorkSharp does such a fantastic job with everything else I've tried it on, but not with this thing.

ETA: I see KN's post, I'll try 25 next...

GunNut

zorba said:

GunNut said:

For a cleaver that’s way too thin.  Your probably not even hitting the edge.  This is a good chart that gives you rough starting points you can then fine tune as you gain experience.  I have hunting knives with angles from 18 to about 25 depending on the thickness, type of steel and intended use.

Which chart? I'm obviously out to lunch here. The WorkSharp does such a fantastic job with everything else I've tried it on, but not with this thing.

ETA: I see KN's post, I'll try 25 next...

Oops...
Here you go, sorry.  I normally go just a hair thinner than these guys recommend but they are good starting points.

zorba

That's a great chart, saved it! Thanx! {BOW HERE}

GunNut

zorba said:

That's a great chart, saved it! Thanx! {BOW HERE}

👍👍

GunNut

Cleaned up the blade some more.  The Work Sharp with a worn fine belt did quick work of removing most of the nasty file marks and all the surface rust without taking the character away.  Just lay the blade flat against the belt for a few seconds.

Old trick few folks know.  To return the old knife patina just cut into some strawberries.  The acid will darken carbon blades nicely. Frozen ones will work as well at fresh.  Just rub the juice all over the blade.
Touched up the edge with the ultra fine ceramic rod and I can now do surgery with this blade.

zorba

What kinda surgery?

GunNut

zorba said:

What kinda surgery?

Make sopranos out of tenors... 🤣

zorba

Whew! Glad I'm a baritone!

bullsi1911

Nice blade!  

I need to play with my work sharp more. I have not gotten the love for it that most have.  

By the way, one of my “grail knives” is a Marbles Ideal with the stacked leather handle. My uncle had one in his hunting kit (along with a Colt .38) that somehow disappeared after he passed away. 

GunNut

bullsi1911 said:

Nice blade!  

I need to play with my work sharp more. I have not gotten the love for it that most have.  

By the way, one of my “grail knives” is a Marbles Ideal with the stacked leather handle. My uncle had one in his hunting kit (along with a Colt .38) that somehow disappeared after he passed away. 

You better hurry.  What blade length?  They are getting VERY popular (spelled collectible) and the prices are rising and getting ridiculous on examples in nice shape.  There’s a 6” one still in a good $$$ bidding range on eBay that just needs a small amount of TLC.  Also Marbles did a limited new run of the Ideal knife (commemorative) made in the USA selling in the $260 range.  Several on eBay right now.

Bigslug

OK. . .studying these Work Sharp thingies.  I'm assuming you're running their Elite model?