bayonet sharpening?

[somoss]

Hello:
This is my first posting regarding a non-firearm, I dont know why you need to know that but somehow i felt like it was important.
I have some hunting knifes and they are all Buck knives and i get them sharpened regualrly by a store. I recently got three cetme bayonets for free and since i dont have the actual gun i wanted to use them as big knives for woodworking and other general purpose stuff. They are about 9- 10 inches long and very thick (about 1/4 inch), they come with no edge on them.
I have read the sticky above regarding sharpening knives but wanted to see if there was more to sharpening bayonets?
since they are thick should i use a different method?
will they hold an edge?

 

[swgunner]

Bayonets are not designed for cutting, they designed to be used as pry bars, or other tools. Also bayonets cause tearing wounds which are harder to patch than cutting wounds. Throughout history very few styles of bayonet were sharpened. Also because of the metal it will not hold a sustainable edge.

 

[BHP FAN]

Actually the FR8/CETME bayonet is the exception to the rule.I also got three of them,thrown in on a trade [since have gifted one out] and they will take,and hold a Razor like edge.Spanish steel.However,they are a ***** to sharpen,I wore out three sharpening drums on my Dremel,and only did one.The remaining one I'm going to cheat,and take it down to the knife shop.

 

[Macgille]

A tip for you. Use a mil bastard file and draw file the edge before you waste time trying to grind one. Beware of overheating the edge with a grinder too small to do the job right. Bayonets are not meant to be sharp, and the heat treat is for toughness rather than hardness. This means that even if you get a good edge it probably won't stand up to hard use.

A note, I used to use British bayonets for throwing knives because they won't snap if they hit something hard. Take the handle off and wrap leather around the tang. They are heavy, and without a handle the balance is blade heavy which is required for throwing. That being said I think throwing your weapon away is not too smart.

 

[hso]

Some good advice so far.

You'll probably find them too thick for wood working. You'd probably have to put a full height (spine to edge) bevel on them to get the edge thin enough for your intended purpose. If they're heat treated at all that will take a lot of work, and eat up your grinding materials. A file will tend to skate off the surface of a heat treated blade so you'll have to put a lot of effort into it. If you use a grinder keep a bucket of water handy to dunk the knife in and your bare finger on the metal so you don't overheat it on the grinder and wreck the heat treat. You'll spend a lot of time going from the grinder to the bucket and back to the grinder.

 

[Macmac]

making these into other tools, usually ends up as a sort of middle of the road tool, not really doing the job as intended all that well, while it will do the job sort of.

I made a draw knife to shave rough pine bench legs with, and it worked but not as well as a real draw shave and even a long Ka Bar with the tip of the blade wrapped in rags, so you can pull with two hands..

I have used tips from bayonets as dart heads for atlatals and that works well, but is another tale.

 

[somoss]

thanks for the advice. maybe i should try and sharpen one first and see if it is even worth the time and effort. the blade has a nice curve on the last 2/3 of the blade and the first 1/3 of the tip is straight. if it could take an edge it would be good on wet wood for a draw knife type action.

 

[kBob]

Whether a bayonet is to be sharpend or not depends on local commanders and the design of the bayonet.

US bayonets based on the M3 fighting knife blade were intended to be sharpened on both the long edge and the "false edge". There was a guide on a hand cranked grinder in unit's arms rooms. It had a second guide for sharpening entrenching tools.

I carried a M 5A1 as a camp knife as a kid from age 7 to 18. It took and held a fine edge. I sharpened the long edge as it were a butcher knife. I sharpened the false edge to shaving ability.

For some reason when the M16 was adopted the blades on their bayonets were crap. Guess they had to match the rifle. The frequently featured striations that mad sharpening difficult and lead to quick lose of any edge one could put on them. M7 blades looked and sharpened no different than the older M3 FK, M4 carbine BK, M5 series Garand BK and the M6 M-14 BK.

That is Bayonet Knife BTW and US army Combative manuals made it clear that Bayonet Knives could be used as fighting knives and had instructions for doing so. As with rifle bayonet training US training included a good bit of slashes ad chops, neither of which can be done worth a hoot with an unsharpened knife.

The older bayonets used on the M-1 rifle that are either shortened M1905s or originally made a Garand bayonets can take and hold a pretty keen edge on the long edges. The false edges tend to be pretty thick though and not practical to sharpen.

The current M9 was originally issued with a sharpening "stone" or Steel" on the back of the sheath. That would indicate it was meant to be sharpened.

I have seen old mauser bayonet with a flat edge not suitable for cutting butter. I was told that this was done so that troops using these in parades would not cause injuries to one and other.

Some nations use a hard coats on bayonets so sharpening is dificult.

-Bob Hollingsworth

 

[kBob]

Whether a bayonet is to be sharpend or not depends on local commanders and the design of the bayonet.

US bayonets based on the M3 fighting knife blade were intended to be sharpened on both the long edge and the "false edge". There was a guide on a hand cranked grinder in unit's arms rooms. It had a second guide for sharpening entrenching tools.

I carried a M 5A1 as a camp knife as a kid from age 7 to 18. It took and held a fine edge. I sharpened the long edge as it were a butcher knife. I sharpened the false edge to shaving ability.

For some reason when the M16 was adopted the blades on their bayonets were crap. Guess they had to match the rifle. The frequently featured striations that mad sharpening difficult and lead to quick lose of any edge one could put on them. M7 blades looked and sharpened no different than the older M3 FK, M4 carbine BK, M5 series Garand BK and the M6 M-14 BK.

That is Bayonet Knife BTW and US army Combative manuals made it clear that Bayonet Knives could be used as fighting knives and had instructions for doing so. As with rifle bayonet training US training included a good bit of slashes ad chops, neither of which can be done worth a hoot with an unsharpened knife.

The older bayonets used on the M-1 rifle that are either shortened M1905s or originally made a Garand bayonets can take and hold a pretty keen edge on the long edges. The false edges tend to be pretty thick though and not practical to sharpen.

The current M9 was originally issued with a sharpening "stone" or Steel" on the back of the sheath. That would indicate it was meant to be sharpened.

I have seen old mauser bayonet with a flat edge not suitable for cutting butter. I was told that this was done so that troops using these in parades would not cause injuries to one and other.

Some nations use a hard coats on bayonets so sharpening is dificult.

-Bob Hollingsworth