CPM M4 Steel Free Hand Sharpening on 325 DMT and 3um Gunny Juice Strop FOR BEGINNERS

Here’s BGM Knives website for you guys!
www.bgmknives.com
This video is intended to motivate beginners to try free hand sharpening! You do not need anything fancy or expensive to bring a knife back to a working edge. As seen in this video, you can use a 325 grit DiaSharp Diamond Stone, and a 3 micron Gunny Juice strop and have a toothy working edge very quickly! I hope this helps push you guys to just try it out🥰This is obviously a quick and easy edge- not anything professional. I hope it makes you feel more at home here, and that you are being cheered on to keep learning, like me! Love you all🥰

[@glockgaston2922]

Really nice crispy edge E!! I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how your edge performs through testing. Take care and have a fantastic Independence Day 🇺🇸

[@ericasedc]

Hey man thanks so much! Happy 4th!

[@timtitus2532]

Good video on sharpening, good camera angle. Don't have any steel of this type in my collection yet. Thanks for sharing, Erica. Have a good evening.

[@ericasedc]

M4 is really fun and quick to sharpen! I hope you get a chance to try it sometime!

[@Stans_Collectors_Universe]

Great job, once again I appreciate the explanation and openness on the minor mistake that was made on the edge from the maker. Take care have a great week and God bless.

[@ericasedc]

It was very easy to remedy as well! God Bless!

[@joecalton1449]

that dmt 325 grit edge is my favorite all around working edge. i do mine with microbevels though. simple, fast to sharpen and to touch up. agressive, just a great edge. if you have a knife with a big ol honkin choil like that one, and you find yourself getting hung up usually in cloth, tarps, sheet plastic and small ropes like baling twine then you can always sharpen the inside of the choil, and that will help.

[@ericasedc]

@@joecalton1449 i didn’t even think of that! Thanks so much for the tip, Joe! I appreciate you man

[@jaystrongbow6111]

Thats fun, nice job, looks like you'll get some work outta that edge. I only have 2 M4 blades, I like 600 grit and a 16-micron (1000 grit) strop to finish. Fast and easy, good bite and gets good milage! Great vid!

[@ericasedc]

Thanks so much man! That’s a great little duo on your end as well!!!! ❤

[@beyproctor7673]

The Mini Spade looks good! I sharpened my M4 Gayle Bradley on diamond plates and had a similar experience. It was easy to form a small burr and remove it. It was and still is shaving sharp. Great steel. I went from 325 grit to 1000 grit to a strop. I like the edge and it has been durable. About the lack of choil on Spyderco blades… I understand the functional reason. I have actually got the sharpening choil irritatingly snagged on various items under semi hard use. Tough fabric can easily slip down the blade and snag in the choil. The challenge when sharpening a blade with no choil is not to ruin the profile of the bevel when you hit the ricasso. It can put pressure on the bevel on the other side of the stone and create an unintentional new shape in the middle of the bevel. I unknowingly did a little bit of this on an S110V blade. I figured it out and now am careful to keep the blade straight at that part of the blade.

[@ericasedc]

I totally get that!!

[@JoshsEDC]

Ayeeee!!! Can’t wait for this one.

[@ericasedc]

You got yours today too!!!

[@nicoledodge7240]

I really like my M4 blade from Spyderco! Great job sharpening, you make it look effortless to hold that angle so steady and change it from being convex!!! 🤣

[@ericasedc]

Always practicing!!!

[@samsonedges]

Gotta love a nice tool steel with a nice n toothy edge! I finish most of my edges at 600 grit diamond and then strop using 6 micron KME diamond emulsions. Soooo qwispy for a working edge. Nicely done btw!

[@ericasedc]

Heck yes!!!! Love that! And thanks man!

[@j.l.327]

Very similar to some of the best edges i have done with a low grit edge finished with a brief romance with a soft arkansas and no more, works great for rope, linoleum and such, i bet it gonna rock

[@ericasedc]

Totally!🎉

[@Din4747]

This is crazy I just sharpened my kwaiken in m4 today just finished an hour ago!

[@ericasedc]

Woah! TWINS!

[@Din4747]

@@ericasedcwas not easy to sharpen and I was a little upset that he didn’t put a thinker hollow grind and he used a thick stock then I asked for

[@catshark12]

Great video as always. Thanks!

[@ericasedc]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@jaxonbeilner9258]

Good job Erica! I have some Spyderco M4,I like to sharpen it to .25 um,and it still has some bite.

[@ericasedc]

Love that!

[@LastChanceKnives]

I love M4! Lately I have started testing 8 and 16 micron CBN for stropping to see if the courser grit helps keep a toothy edge longer for touchups in-between sharpenings. We'll see how it goes. The theory is to use a grit that is courser than the carbides in the steel to keep the bite.

[@ericasedc]

Totally!!! Let me know how those work for you Ken. I’m super curious!

[@mikep.9371]

A good M4 sharpening review, clean with Hoppe's No 9

[@ericasedc]

Cheers!!!🎉

[@davidkurle5418]

Good stuff, E!

[@ericasedc]

Thanks!!❤🎉😊

[@kathleensmith370]

Well done video

[@ericasedc]

Thanks!!!

[@EastCoastEDC]

Awesome video on the M4!! I am going to attempt a freehand sharpen on my MiniFreek S30V today after watching this. Last time I used the worksharp precision adjust and it put a nice toothy edge on it but didnt seem to last that long.

[@ericasedc]

Good luck brother. You CAN do it! Let me know how it goes, ok?!

[@EastCoastEDC]

@@ericasedc well I got a working edge on it between using a 325grit diamond stone then put it in the worksharp and hit it with 600grit. I seem to struggle with raising a burr on the diamond stone.

[@ericasedc]

@@EastCoastEDC interesting!!!! Are your stones clean?!

[@EastCoastEDC]

@@ericasedc 🤭……I’ll double check, just wipe them with a rag and some water? I also struggle with knowing if Im free handing at the right angle. Like when people say 17 dps or 20dps how does one really know if they are out 3 degrees when free handing? Lol

[@ericasedc]

@@EastCoastEDC you can actually buy little 3D plastic guides for your stones. Maybe look into those? They help a ton! I believe on Etsy you can find them!!!

[@petervu9773]

Every knife in my opinion should have a sharpening choil, I have yet to ever have any material ever catch.

[@ericasedc]

Same!!!

[@1977NOBODY]

With the right Work Sharp setup you can sharpen Spyderco knives fully without adding a choil….I don’t like grinding choils into my knives 👍🏻

[@ericasedc]

Yep I actually have said that a number of times on the channel! As you can see, I free hand. So these videos are for people looking to improve their free hand experience or make it easier learning. Thanks for sharing your opinion though! ☺️

[@jasonaffeldt7838]

I dont own any M4 steel knives. Thanks for info on it. Hope you enjoy your 4th of July with your friends and family. Take care.🇺🇲🔪🌲🔥

[@ericasedc]

Happy 4th brother!!!

[@RichardPoogerman]

Love M4, only have one, a Spyderco mule, but that thing has cut hundreds of miles of cardboard 😂 k390 has kind of kicked it to the curb recently.

[@ericasedc]

Ooooh K390 is so incredible! My FAVORITE🎉

[@RichardPoogerman]

It's so good, Seki Spyderco, stays sharp forever ☺️

[@ericasedc]

@@RichardPoogerman it sure does!

[@jakeganey7032]

I noticed you don't particularly care for tanto blades. My entry point for M4 was the Benchmade bailout and that knife made M4 a favorite for me. Any particular reason you may not like tanto blades?

[@ericasedc]

Just not my jam and not useful for me at all!

[@clavididk1236]

I put dollar store mineral oil on all my m4 blades coated or not and k390

[@ericasedc]

@@clavididk1236 awesome!!

[@clavididk1236]

@ericasedc thanks for the vid erica! You jared neeves and outdoors555 helped me learn to sharpen so much better 🙌 thanks! 😊

[@ericasedc]

@@clavididk1236 wow what a compliment! Thank you!!!!

[@clavididk1236]

@@ericasedc 🙌 ofc!

[@nandayane]

How thin did you you ask BGM to grind your knife?

[@ericasedc]

I didn’t . I just bought it as is

[@nandayane]

@@ericasedc One I got from him was pretty thick behind the edge (like 1mm at the tip), He said I could send it back and request a thickness to grind it to so I was curious how thick yours is behind the edge.

[@rflats771]

I don't need a choil myself, you just need to be "mentally flexible" in your sharpening techniques

[@ericasedc]

Thanks for sharing!

[@rflats771]

@@ericasedcyou bet, using smaller (broken Spyderco triangle rod) and very short "scrubbing" type movements can negate the need for more "inflexible" methods and a choil becomes whatever"🤷‍♂️

[@ericasedc]

@@rflats771 I have done that for sure! Right on😁