Polished Edge: When, Why, What Steels??

[Airlsee]

Coarse edges work. If you were not aware, you should be now.

When do you actually polish your edges? Ever? Is it purely aesthetic for you? Is it steel driven? Use driven?

I see lots of love for coarse edges positioned as going against popular beliefs, but when do you, forum members, actually put in the effort to get the mirror?

Personally I haven't set out seeking a mirror polish in a couple of years at least.

Let's hear from the polished, extremely high finish, mirror edge advocates*!

*the last edge I actually polished was probably my pre-cqi Advocate

[wrdwrght]

Never have understood polishing edges as preparation for actual work. Sorta runs counter to the Spyderedge. I hope to get clarity here.

[Fireman]

Correct me if I am wrong, but aren’t polished edges better for push cuts?

[Airlsee]

Whittling? Push cutting wood seems like a polished edge job.

Edit to add: Push cutting dense materials, logically a polished edge seems advantageous.

[vivi]

I never polish the full bevel.

If I run a polished edge, I only polish the apex.

Cutting performance is identical while sharpening time is cut down to about 1/4 if not less.

As for when I use polished edges?

1. Serrated knives. I like running them more polished than PE, because I feel the serrations already lend themselves towards aggressive slicing and good edge holding. Giving them a polished apex balances out their cutting abilities well, giving them pretty good push cutting ability.

2. Chef knives. I keep a few polished chef knives around, and some with toothy edges. Push cutting a lot of veggies I'll pick the polished edge. Slicing raw meat I'll reach for the toothy edge.

In general I feel polished edges work best on high hardness, high strength steels. I've had good results with ZDP189 and Rex45, for example.

Steels that are soft and deform easily at the apex will not hold on to slicing aggression long enough to make polishing them worth my time.

This kind of runs contrary to what I've read from others folks, but on softer steels like AUS8, 420HC, H1 PE, and Swiss Army Knives, I prefer a coarse edge. It helps compensate for the lack of edge retention.

Most folks recommend toothier edges for the high edge retention steels (K390, Rex45, S110V, ZDP189 etc.) but these steels are where I like polished edges best. Their high hardness helps them maintain a keen apex after being dulled some, and they do not deform as rapidly at the edge.

Now that doesn't mean I'd never give a K390 knife a 200 grit edge or that I'd never polish a Swiss Army knife - these are just general observations.

[GarageBoy]

Guys on Japanese kitchen knife forums love polished edges on their white/blue steels

[The Meat man]

Edge finishes are like steels - all good, just different.

Coarse edges may lend themselves to greater aggression and longer cutting ability, but they don't cut as smoothly as a polished edge, and probably don't actually stay "sharper" longer, either.

Both have their uses, their pros and cons. Each is better for some things than the other.

Personally, I tend to run somewhere in the middle, usually 600 to 1,000 grit.

[Airlsee]

Personally, I tend to run somewhere in the middle, usually 600 to 1,000 grit.

So Spyderco Brown/M stones?? Or diamond?

[vivi]

Personally, I tend to run somewhere in the middle, usually 600 to 1,000 grit.

So Spyderco Brown/M stones?? Or diamond?

Found this while searching:

This directly from Spyderco .


" Our Sharpening stones are made of high alumina ceramic. There is not actual "grit" rating for these style of stones because a grit refers to the size of the abrasive particles in a sandpaper. A approximate "grit" for the Spyderco High Alumina Ultra Fine Ceramic is 2,000 , Fine is 1,800 and Medium is 600 . Thank you for your question.

Spyderco Factory Outlet
820 Spyderco Way
Golden, Colorado 80403

IMO the mediums feel more fine than a 600 grit rating would lead me to believe. I'd guess it's more like 1,000 if we're comparing to wet / dry paper.

[The Meat man]

Personally, I tend to run somewhere in the middle, usually 600 to 1,000 grit.

So Spyderco Brown/M stones?? Or diamond?

Actually, I rarely use the Sharpmaker anymore for anything other than serrated edges. These days I prefer to strop back an edge rather than microbevel.
On SE I usually go Ultra Fine, though sometimes I stop at Medium.

[Airlsee]

Personally, I tend to run somewhere in the middle, usually 600 to 1,000 grit.

So Spyderco Brown/M stones?? Or diamond?

Found this while searching:

This directly from Spyderco .


" Our Sharpening stones are made of high alumina ceramic. There is not actual "grit" rating for these style of stones because a grit refers to the size of the abrasive particles in a sandpaper. A approximate "grit" for the Spyderco High Alumina Ultra Fine Ceramic is 2,000 , Fine is 1,800 and Medium is 600 . Thank you for your question.

Spyderco Factory Outlet
820 Spyderco Way
Golden, Colorado 80403

IMO the mediums feel more fine than a 600 grit rating would lead me to believe. I'd guess it's more like 1,000 if we're comparing to wet / dry paper.

Yeah, in my head and my uses I equate it to ~900-1000 grit wet/dry paper...

[TkoK83Spy]

I've never polished an edge to a mirror finish, but I've got some pretty close. Way too much time, for poorer results compared to coarse edges for my line of work. Major win for me! I also like the look of a toothy, coarse edge. I haven't put an edge on a knife in the past 6 months or so that's higher than 600 grit, and have been very happy with every knife I've done this with.

[w3tnz]

Always, looks cool, micro bevel at 20dps with brown rods to give some bite and maintain sharpness.

I go up to 1500 15dps on stones and strop to mirror finish, there are still some lines if you look really closely.

[Airlsee]

Always, looks cool, micro bevel with brown rods to give some bite and maintain sharpness.

I would love to visit the islands one day.

So you reprofile all new knives to get the refined edge, and then micro and touch up on browns?

What do you use to reprofile?

[w3tnz]

You were faster than me :p

Added to my post, use a wicked edge system, I’ll reprofile factory edge once dull or immediately if its un-even

[Airlsee]

You were faster than me :p

Added to my post, use a wicked edge system, I’ll reprofile factory edge once dull or immediately if its un-even

Yeah, I had to edit a couple of times to keep up, LOL. I don't have much going on today, obviously...

[Airlsee]

You were faster than me :p

Added to my post, use a wicked edge system, I’ll reprofile factory edge once dull or immediately if its un-even

Yeah, I had to edit a couple of times to keep up, LOL. I don't have much going on today, obviously...

I don't think 1500 grit is overly polished, in fact I do the same most times. I will sharpen up to ~1200-2000 then micro on the brown stones usually.

With a brand new knife, in my view the more refined I can get it the better, but then very lightly micro on the brown side of the double stuff and strop afterwards.

It took me way too many knives to realize that I was spending my time, energy, and effort on something that was, in the end, mostly aesthetic. I do believe that mirroring an edge, then going back and roughing it up with a higher grit is the best way to go.

I don't do crazy tests, or even have demanding cutting tasks for an EDC, but in my experience the knives that I have taken to a mirror edge and then have sharpened or touched up on lower grit stones seem to do the best. It's entirely circumstantial since I've done no testing, but seeing others' tests, on top of logic leads me to believe this is the best situation for an EDC edge.

[sbaker345]

I usually went for about 1,000 grit on knives I knew Id be sharpening a lot due to the high chance of them experiencing metal on metal contact. However I did always go for polished mirror or near mirror edges on less carried knives, it was for the challenge as much as anything. Try polishing s110v to a mirror finish, you'll be there a while. Some steels particularly high HRC steels seemed to take to a polished finish better, but really it was always some sort of minor edge damage that brought them back to the stones before true dullness, though in fact it felt like the more polished the edge, the more resistant it was to minor damage.

[The Meat man]

I usually went for about 1,000 grit on knives I knew Id be sharpening a lot due to the high chance of them experiencing metal on metal contact. However I did always go for polished mirror or near mirror edges on less carried knives, it was for the challenge as much as anything. Try polishing s110v to a mirror finish, you'll be there a while. Some steels particularly high HRC steels seemed to take to a polished finish better, but really it was always some sort of minor edge damage that brought them back to the stones before true dullness, though in fact it felt like the more polished the edge, the more resistant it was to minor damage.

Excellent observation. It only makes sense, too. A coarse edge is, microscopically, very rough and uneven, with many individual "points" that protrude and may break off. It will not be as strong as the smooth, unified edge of a highly polished bevel.

This difference is no doubt exacerbated by the fact that the coarser the edge, the more skill it takes to completely remove any burr and leave a crisp apex.

The question then, is, would this difference be noticeable in daily use? In your case, it would seem so.

[DFD04]

Personally, I use the Edge Pro and have found that with fresh stones, the edge can get to a mirror finish dang quick. That being said…it’s all about the angle first and then the polish second.

I have a Randall Woodsman that is my field go to…I also have a Randall Fireman coming for work. I have/will have these at 22 degrees per side to support their 440B stainless steel. The Woodsman has had a mirror finish for years and ive had no issues using it or having the edge break down.

My K390 Police also has a mirror finish, but it’s down to 12 degrees per side. That knife has not been touched up for months even with of daily use. The edge as it breaks down has become more toothy, and I’ve not noticed any advantage of stopping at a lower grit, other than saving time not going up to the 6k polishing tapes.

My Maxamet blades don’t take kindly to polishing for some reason…ymmv.

Part of the mirrored edge is about the look for sure, I find it quite attractive and fun to try to get to that pretty polish.