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How to Sharpen a Colt Tactical Knife

If you're like most knife owners, you care about the condition of your blade. You always keep it on your person because it's your go-to tool for everything from cleaning your fingernails to stripping wire. You should keep your knife sharp; it's one of the basic skills any knife owner should know, and if you own a Colt tactical knife, you need it sharp for any situation, whether for daily use or combat. Keeping your blade honed can even be an enjoyable past time.

Things You'll Need

Whetstone
Sharpening steel

Instructions

Instructions
- 1
  
  You will likely use a handheld whetstone for grinding your bevel, but mechanical options are faster.
  
  Identify the bevel of your knife, which is the angle of the edge the manufacturer establishes. Your Colt knife has an edge designed to be both durable and to cut well, so it's between a fine angle and a flat angle, approximately 20 degrees. The bevel may need to be reground using a whetstone. Maintain a consistent angle, 20 degrees in this case, and stroke the blade against the edge to grind the bevel until the angle is set, and then pull it in the direction of the hone to finish.
- 2
  
  The sharp angle that makes knives cut is called the bevel.
  
  Hold the edge of the knife against your fingernail at an angle, and turn it over. You should feel that the edge has a consistent angle on both sides. Paring or fillet knives have a smaller angle, and you can customize your knife by understanding how the bevel determines how the knife cuts.
- 3
  
  Razors use a different method of sharpening than regular knives.
  
  Sharpen the edge by honing and polishing the bevel with a fine hone or sharpening stone, until the bevel is as finely sharpened as possible. You can use a ceramic or natural whetstone. Use light to medium pressure, and sharpen each side with an equal number of strokes. You can also use a sharpening steel to smooth out the roughness of the blade, but it's not required.
- 4
  
  You will need a special cone-shaped sharpener if your Colt knife has serrations.
  
  Sharpen a serrated knife using a special tool, and sharpen each serration one at a time. Many knives, including some Colt tactical knives, include a serrated section on the blade. A cone-shaped sharpener can be used to hone a serrated knife. Sharpen each serration with a back-and-forth movement, being careful not to widen the serration, and only sharpen the side with the serrations.

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