Forgot to mention last night while sitting here, I tried to bring back the edge of my 411 by stropping it and it will not come back. The Rodent Solution that DT and I re-profiled comes right back with a stropping. That edge is 20 degrees according to the tree rat.

I wonder how my RS 311 411 will perform with the factory edge profile. the elmax blades made fast work of the doe and geese i cut up this fall.

Man! I can feel your pain! In my experience bringing the edge back by stropping is best suitable for convex and shallow V. 411 has considerably thin blade (at least near the cutting edge) so you could ask DT to do his magic with the Worksharp. 20 degree convex should work but like Randy I like more V grinded edges.

Remember: stropping is for bringing the sharpess BACK (making sharp sharper). If your knife wasn´t sharp you can´t strop it sharp (at least not before the hunting season ends). I said that my 411 was sharp - it was - but not shaving sharp. I think I´ll first show my Triangle Sharpmaker or Lansky for my 411 and after that I might strop it a bit. It has quite wide angle V...

I´m sorry I can´t help you more. I´m not a hunter yet so I don´t have the knowledge to help you with the exact question. Did DT get a 411? What are his experiences?

One more thing again. Like someone allready said: be careful with your belt sanders and such machines so that you don´t let the edge heat up! It can spoil the hardening!

i often knock the shoulder off the grind and it comes out allmost convex. makes me want a work sharp. and a good strop

The strop works because the edge isn't dulled so much as deformed. The strop pushes the edge back into alignment, IIRC.

Try some touching up with a Gordon's handheld knife sharpener. These are simple but effective ceramic sharpeners which do a good job on my blades. Of course, it helps if you already have an adequate bevel on your knife.

Back in the day I used a Laplander Leuku made in Finland as my main deer processing knife. The scandi grind kept a good edge but was never close to razor sharp AFTER the processing. For camp work, food prep and deer hunting I would say that even the 411 would benefit from a good re-sharpening.

yep. i also want to be able to polish my edges. when the side of the grind is rough from the stones it seems to hold flash when skinning and also wants to rust even when there is a light coat of oil.

Well...I have tried several kin blades in the field. The stainless versions work best. I have the Basic 04 and the ElMax blades to try this year (haven't spilled any blood yet). Any of the CM 154 blades seem to excel at edge holding in this environment. INFI next. I don't know about SR101 yet....

To answer your question...I'm still trying to find a Kin knife that will process a dear as easily as my Gene Ingram's. I think the ElMax blades might have done it...but I have yet to put them through the test. Time will tell. Gene uses S30V in 1/8". I'm curious if the dulling has something to do with the heat and moisture of cutting a deer up....effectively oxidizing the edge a bit on the SR101?

I personally think anything over 1/8" is not for processing deer. My opinion. You need a slicer. 3/16 is rather fat. You'll need to reprofile it to make it work "good".

If there's one thing I really need to do...it's learn how to hand sharpen a knife. I need to spend more time sharpening, as I currently have two left hands while doing it.

the elmax blades excelled at the doe i gutted and all the geese they cleaned. they are still very sharp. and the elmax didnt brea when it fell tip first onto concrete.

I have to think edge geometry is the story, but I don't hunt as yet! I say swing over to the rat chat and ask Carl and Ian...Ian has cut up everything Australia has for game or farm and he uses sr101 a ton.

With several of my coated Bussekin blades I have found that the edge is not actually ground in deep enough to reach the actual heat treated layer of steel with all of it's properties. If your edge is say .005" away from that level, a good resharpening can make a world of difference if it takes you into the properly treated layer. I don't know if there is a way to even see it at the point of sharpening at the factory since I can't see it when I sharpen, <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> but I do know the performance difference between the right depth of sharpening and not is night and day. The outer heat treat layer can be slightly brittle and easy to dull, more with SR101 than INFI, but INFI will dent/roll pretty easy in that layer. Just my personal experience with having used 30+ different Wauseon blades.

Satin blades require grinding below those layers to get rid of the dimples/imperfections, so the chances of the edge being stronger have been pretty good. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

I have a theory that different batches, or locations within a batch yield different results as well, but it's just an educated guess from my user experience.

There have been some great explanations on this and I like what you’re saying AZMTHotDog. RN, I will head over to the Swamp and see what I can learn.
Seeing how we are honoring VA Day Monday, I will be heading out in the AM for some bow hunting. I will be using the WD tomorrow now that it has been re-profiled. It’s nice to hear that DT and I are not the only once experiencing this dilemma. Again thanks for your posts.