Thread: Sharpening military bayonets

Originally Posted by ironsidegnr

Not meant to be sharpened. The theory being that when you get stabbed by it, the dull edges tear all the surrounding arteries ect vice slicing them. That way you bleed more and die faster.


That`s what I was always told (8Yrs combat arms)

Respectfully, I think you forgot to mention the twisting motion one is supposed to perform after insertion into the enemy.

I have not sharpened a bayonet before, but if it is made of a good steel I reckon it can be sharpened and used for a camp knife.

How sharp is the primary edge? If you pressed hard on it with the palm of your hand and slid it forward would it cut your hand?

Originally Posted by xuz

I have not sharpened a bayonet before, but if it is made of a good steel I reckon it can be sharpened and used for a camp knife.

How sharp is the primary edge? If you pressed hard on it with the palm of your hand and slid it forward would it cut your hand?

................

Best be shaving with it when your done

As others already indicated, a bayonet is not meant for cutting. It needs a sharp point, not a razor edge.
And given the intended use of a bayonet, the sharpness of the edge would disappear quickly the first time you used it.
Ok, it needs to be sharp'ish' but there is no point in making it sharp as a general purpose knife.
Btw, if it gets too sharp, it might get stuck, which rather defeats the purpose of the bayonet in the first place

Originally Posted by xuz

How sharp is the primary edge? If you pressed hard on it with the palm of your hand and slid it forward would it cut your hand?

That is one of the worst ways in which I've ever seen anyone ask about sharpness.

I"m sorry that my camera is down AND misplaced!! So no image, but the edge that it came with was so dull it wouldn't hurt you hand at all, had to grind of lots' of steel to get any kind of usable edge to it.
But finally I did and though it would not shave arm hair it does cut paper fairly well even though it is quite a thick blade.
Thank you for all the great feedback, it does help.

tinkersd

Yeah that's what I thought. Some bayonets that I've seen (especially the ceremonial ones) are rounded at the edge so as to not have any edge at all.
(i.e. you could slid your hand on it and it'd just slip right off.)

If that's the case, then you'd wanna grind it down with a very coarse grit stone. Something like 80 grit till you get to and edge.
Which it looks like you've already done.
I suggest you browse the BladeForums.com for some tips on how to sharpen camping knives.

There was some interesting thread about how Ethan Becker (who makes the famous line of KABAR-BECKER camping knives) sharpens his camping knives.
He uses the Norton combination India stone that you can buy for about 10 or 20 bucks.
I've since used these stones for many of my camping knives, and it works really well.

After you grind it down, use these norton India stones, and it'll leave you with a very aggressive (but still quite keen) edge.
Best of luck to you.

The strange thing is I do have camp knives and do keep them very sharp, the band aids on SWMBO is testimate to that, but for some reason I felt the need to sharpen up that boyonet! Just one of those ideas that needed excorcising I suppose. I love sharpening metal, don't you?? I thought so.

tinkersd

It's a violation of the Geneva convention to sharpen a bayonet during peace time, but not during war.

Figure that one out. I can't.

That being said, a lot of bayonets are of such soft steel that they won't take and hold much of an edge.

Never tried sharpening any German mf'd blades. I know the M-1 Garand bayonets of the Korean war era will not take an edge worth a damn and will bend before they break. I ruined a bunch of them when back when they were CHEAP. Sold a boat load of Enfield "spike" bayonets for a buck a piece for tent stakes and threw the sheaths away back in the day too.

Hindsight is usually 20/20. LOL