Problem with Glock 78 knife getting it sharp

[the count]

I just got a Glock 78 knife (without the root saw). While its appears to be a good value overall, and it did pretty well on the knife destruction test on knifetest.com I have 2 issues.

1) Not really sharp enough out of the box. Of course the Glock gods in their infinite wisdom might have wanted it this way, but all other similar knives like Ka-bar BK 7/9 or Cold Steel SRK are MUCH sharper. To wit, the Glock fails consistently trying to slice a piece of copy paper.

2) I tried to put on a good edge with both a coarse/fine waterstone as well as that sharpening kit everybody has, forgot the name. (The one where you insert long rods into long skinny rectangle shaped sharpening stones). There was a minute improvement but the knife still fails the paper slice test.

Now I don't claim to be the world best knife sharper but I have managed to get/keep 20 other knives sharp.
What say you guys?

 

[Valkman]

Could be poor steel or poor heat treat. If you want I'll try it on my Wicked Edge since the Sharpmaker didn't work.

 

[Jaymo]

I used a diamond hone on my 2 Glock knives. Both take a pretty good edge, but neither takes as good an edge as some of my other carbon steel knives.

 

[the count]

Could be poor steel or poor heat treat. If you want I'll try it on my Wicked Edge since the Sharpmaker didn't work.

Thanks for the offer. I ordered a diamond hone. Lets see how that works, I don't give up easy

 

[rcmodel]

Glock Perfection is not supposed to be sharp.
If it was supposed to be sharp, Glock Perfection would have made it sharp.

Seriously, I have one, and the best I can say about it as a knife is, it's a bayonet without the rifle attachment hardware.

The blade is too thick and narrow, with too much edge bevel to really get a good edge on it.

And the steel & temper are probably designed to not rust, and bend before it breaks, which isn't helping either.

They do have a very nice sheath design however.

rc

 

[the count]

Glock Perfection is not supposed to be sharp.
If it was supposed to be sharp, Glock Perfection would have made it sharp.

rc

Yeah I would assume Glock knows what they are doing. Its cheap enough to mess around with so I already stripped the black finish off and will coyote brown duracoat on it soon.

 

[Valkman]

Glock Perfection is not supposed to be sharp.
If it was supposed to be sharp, Glock Perfection would have made it sharp.

ROFL! I know I couldn't stand a new knife that wasn't sharp - I sharpen them even when they are sharp!

 

[9mmepiphany]

Seriously, I have one, and the best I can say about it as a knife is, it's a bayonet without the rifle attachment hardware.

This is priceless...and exactly how I felt the first time I handled one

 

[the count]

Well..... let's see who will win, the Glock or me!

I have a Fallkniven DC3 diamond/ceramic sharpening stone on order. Fallkniven says that even the hardest steels kneel before this stone....

 

[Sam1911]

I don't think the issue is with the blade's hardness. As rcmodel said it is very thick for its width and that makes the blade angle pretty steep. You can make it keen, but it won't be really sharp, and probably won't ever pass the paper test.

It's a stabbing implement which would probably make a very acceptable tent peg. I got one for free as a parting gift (boobie prize?) for SO-ing a GSSF match and it has steadfastly filled a small vacant spot in the door pocket of my pickup. It excels at that job.

 

[the count]

... it has steadfastly filled a small vacant spot in the door pocket of my pickup. It excels at that job.

Haha...Afte I tried out the diamond stone and gave it a duracoat paint job that is exactly where I will keep mine too. It is currently occupied by a Frost Mora $12 knife. They will keep each other company (the Frost is much sharper though).

 

[JShirley]

You know, my first thought after reading the thread title was, everyone else has a problem getting them sharp, too!

In all seriousness, it makes a good throwing knife.

John

 

[hso]

There are numerous complaints about the Glock knives not taking or keeping an edge. The frequency of the complaint was why the knives weren't a candidate for the great value thread.

If you search through NFW you'll find many with the same complaints.

 

[the count]

I love this site.

Where else can a guy talk shop about the minutae of an Austrian knife? If I ever get divorced please take me as a Moderator so I can keep busy.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

I got a Glock knife back in the 1980's and it only took an edge when I put a 6 inch mill bastard file to it.

I have cut several things with it and it cut raditor hoses and such but it now way as good as my 1980's Scrade hunting knifes.

 

[MJD]

I agree on all points about the knife being difficult to sharpen and keep an edge. They do hold a niche as a pretty handy throwing knife. For the $35 I paid for mine, it has occupied my truck door and been more than adequate for impromptu knife throwing, emergency squirrel skinning, rope cutting, and a dozen other everyday tasks.

 

[EnglishmanInArizona]

If it is more a case of geometry than hardness, could you put a scandi grind on it and make it work like that?

I have an extremely thick Finnish knife and it is an excellent tool for dealing with softwoods, which is what it was no doubt intended for. Good feather sticks, and with a baton it splits wood like a cording mallet. For hardwood it is seriously useless, and for camp cooking type tasks - I'd make less mess ripping things apart with my teeth.

I'm amazed the Germans and Austrians are issuing something so bad. With reference to the bayonet thread in the Rifle Country section of THR, if you are going to issue a sharpened pry bar why not make it a bayonet?

 

[rcmodel]

They did.
It was designed as a bayonet for the Steyr AUG rifle in Austria.

Later they discovered they could sell way more of them in the USA as knives in a year then Austria would ever buy as bayonets in 100 years or more..

I cherish mine for the bottle opener feature of the guard.
However it would be better if Gaston had designed it to work to open beer bottles with the most excellent knife sheath in place.

Now I know why those old-school European officers have the eye patches and big scars on their cheeks!

Pretty sure that is why they can't be sharpened really sharp.
Attrition of the officer corp while opening beer bottles would have been unacceptably high if they would actually cut anything deep and deadly.

rc

 

[hso]

People buy them because of the Glock name, but not because of their quality as knives.

As rcmodel pointed out, they can sell far more of them to the public than to militaries simply because they're inexpensive and people will buy them because of the name. Overall, they make a reasonable bayonet, a barely adequate thrower and, far too frequently, an inadequate knife.

 

[JohnKSa]

I got mine free and use it as primarily a letter opener.

It wasn't that easy to sharpen because of the blade geometry, but it took a good edge and seems to hold it reasonably well. It will slice copier paper, but I haven't done any endurance/torture testing to see how long it will hold an edge like that with heavy use.

I did have to do a good bit of work (what I consider a good bit of work, anyway) on the blade to set it up so it would take a decent edge. The grind it came with wasn't really going to ever be sharp; I had to change the edge geometry before sharpening it.

 

[rcmodel]

I hang mine with the US M3 and German WWI/WWII fighting knives.

It seems to be the final modern culmination of an obsolete military design sticking knife in a much better sheath.
That will fit a pistol belt or any belt or pack, upside down or not, and weighs next to nothing.

And is good for very little else except sticking someone in a final battle for life between him and you.
And for that, it is at least as good, and probably better then the WWI & WWII designs.

rc

 

[9mmepiphany]

In a related inquiry, is the GLock shovel any good as a shovel. I only ask because a lot of guys that I know who got the knife also got the shovel

 

[EnglishmanInArizona]

My faith in Germans and Austrians is a little restored upon learning that they were at least issuing this in bayonet form. Still, my old Swedish Mauser bayonet is a pretty decent knife. I understand why bayonets are usually not great knives, but I can't understand why so often they are instead truly terrible knives.

Also, in my rather limited experience, I am yet to find a single knife bearing the label of a firearms manufacturer that was even vaguely decent. They have all seemed to be little more than cheap promotional items. Any exceptions out there?

 

[rcmodel]

I like the heck out of mine.

I have used it for a truck carry SD, and digging out of snow tool for years.
I have used it for excavating a hole in the back yard for a big garden pond.
Light enough for a fast swing, yet heavy enough to chop through tree roots, or "anything"? else that gets in the way!

I have not used the saw, but it makes a two-ended SD tool out of an otherwise one-ended SD tool.

Then it folds up smaller and lighter then any shovel should able to be!

Back to the Glock knife?
I got mine out tonight and played around with it for a while.

IMO: It IS the biggest pocket knife that will fit in a Jeans pocket fairly unobtrusively and come out safely with one hand.

It is also by far the biggest, longest, lightest neck knife you can comfortably carry when hung around your neck upside down on a lanyard.

And it's not that it's a good knife.
But the sheath is a stroke of pure Glock molded plastic genius for all the safe & fast carry options it offers!!

BTW: The Glock knife guard passed the "opens beer bottles with no training" test with flying colors.
And I didn't even stab myself in the eye, or slice my cheek open!

rc

 

[Mp7]

it´s my go-to prybar ... got two of them.