Sharpening military bayonets

I have am old military bayonet make of Soligen steel, fairly big[long] bugger too, tried last night to put some kind of edge on it, very duanting tast indeed, want to use it for a general camp knife. I tried the Gatco system, the lansky system, and just stroking patiently on a diamond sharpening steel, it's one tuff little jasper!!
Any thought of what the poor fellows in the trench' and or hedgrows in uniform used to do to sharpen one up without causeing a major carpel tunnel flair up??

Just proving that I still have WAY to much time on my hands, I am, tinkersd

I have a newer one, and it was dull when it was given to me. I don't know that they are supposed to be sharp.

You need to set the bevel on a stone like any other knife. I doubt it is that hard of a steel typical hardness range is HRC 56-60 which is not tough to sharpen at all.

I know approximately nothing about bayonets, but I thought they were for stabbing as opposed to slashing.

+1 holli, a slashing blade has a belly--like a Saracean sword.

As above,having actually run an armory on a navel base,Bayonets are never intended to be used as edged weapons,the edges were never sharpend as issued,Of course many were after issue by the grunts that got them.

I'm no expert, so for what it's worth;
my machetes, axes, long blades are stabilized, so I can use two hands to work the edge with a stone, usually setting the bevel with a carborundum stone / puck, then finish off with a beat up Swaty that is only used for rough stuff.

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)

Not meant to be sharpened?? I think you are correct, the profile of the blade does suggest that an edge was NOT any where in the future of the Bayonet as issued. But when I get an idea it tends to stick until I act on it or at least address the concept. WELL, I took some sanding bands that I had made for my Dremel 150/220/320 grits, sat down and dremeled away, all the time hating myself for even thinking about the project, but I did get both sides of the bevel to meet, roughly of course, I put it in my Gatco fixture and with the coarse stone finally got me an edge!!
Take my advice, if you ever decide to try this don't, just break down and buy a camp knife, much much easier.

[but as general camp/utiliy knives go it's sort of cool!]

Can we see it?

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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)

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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?

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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?

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........Attachment 99357........

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 :)

Quote:

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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?

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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. :rant: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