Help sharpening dragonfly 2 zdp 189

[Evo]

So after some extremely heavy wear my dragonfly is finally starting to choke on paper cutting tests, not surprisingly ofcourse as i have used it extensively.
I want to know if anyone has any tips of how to sharpen it, my sharpening setup is poor because I live in europe, and getting a sharpmaker or something like that here would cost 70~ dollars for shipping if it even would be shipped here.

So my question is what would be the best technique to come as close as i could to the (insane) factory edge that it had when i first bought it, i have a 1000 grit and a 3000 grit whetstone, a leather belt that i heard could be used as the poor mans strop, and some cardboard that i heard cutlerylover once give some insight on that it can actually be used to touch up/sharpen knives, and i had some success with it too. I tried touching it up with no success and im afraid if i go sharpen it that it might chip or that my inexperience in sharpening may make it worse.

Thanks

[Cliff Stamp]

ZDP-189 has a reputation for chipping in sharpening, but this is mainly because people tend to use a lot of force and as ZDP-189 is hard to grind it often makes people press harder. This high force, especially on rods, can cause the edge to break under the very high pressures.

The first time you are going to sharpen you are likely going to have a few issues because the angle is most likely not consistent along the edge and from side to side. You therefore have two basic choices :

-use a high angle and just add a micro-bevel

This will allow you to sharpen the knife pretty fast, 20 to 25 degrees will likely put a micro-bevel on the knife. The other way is to just regrind the entire knife to a constant angle. As you only have fine grit stones this could take quite awhile even on a small knife. It could easily be an hour on the 1000 grit stone to even out the edge angle, however you only have to do that once.

Do you have any information on the stones? Do they release a slurry? Do you know the name/brand?

[Donut]

Here is a thread about places to buy from in Europe. http://www.spyderco.com/forumII/viewtopic.php?t=58337" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm not sure if getting a Sharpmaker is going to help you much. I would see what I could do with your stones first.

[can't freehand]

So after some extremely heavy wear my dragonfly is finally starting to choke on paper cutting tests, not surprisingly ofcourse as i have used it extensively.
I want to know if anyone has any tips of how to sharpen it, my sharpening setup is poor because I live in europe, and getting a sharpmaker or something like that here would cost 70~ dollars for shipping if it even would be shipped here.

So my question is what would be the best technique to come as close as i could to the (insane) factory edge that it had when i first bought it, i have a 1000 grit and a 3000 grit whetstone, a leather belt that i heard could be used as the poor mans strop, and some cardboard that i heard cutlerylover once give some insight on that it can actually be used to touch up/sharpen knives, and i had some success with it too. I tried touching it up with no success and im afraid if i go sharpen it that it might chip or that my inexperience in sharpening may make it worse.

Thanks

The idea with sharpening is generally to keep the secondary bevel parallel with the stone during a pass. Having a well lit area really helps so that you can see the edge riding the stone. Also, I don't stroke away from myself when sharpening anymore: I use both hands and switch the blade over so that I'm always watching the bevel/edge ride the stone so as to have more control. Beyond that it's a matter of angles or micro bevel. You want your bevel 'edge' to be as uniform as possible.

Try to find a cheap oil stone. Those are usually of very coarse grit. With that you can grind away the damaged steel, shore up the bevel and then the water stones should be able to sharpen the zdp-189. Apply only very light pressure during the pass at that point.

[can't freehand]

So after some extremely heavy wear my dragonfly is finally starting to choke on paper cutting tests, not surprisingly ofcourse as i have used it extensively.
I want to know if anyone has any tips of how to sharpen it, my sharpening setup is poor because I live in europe, and getting a sharpmaker or something like that here would cost 70~ dollars for shipping if it even would be shipped here.

So my question is what would be the best technique to come as close as i could to the (insane) factory edge that it had when i first bought it, i have a 1000 grit and a 3000 grit whetstone, a leather belt that i heard could be used as the poor mans strop, and some cardboard that i heard cutlerylover once give some insight on that it can actually be used to touch up/sharpen knives, and i had some success with it too. I tried touching it up with no success and im afraid if i go sharpen it that it might chip or that my inexperience in sharpening may make it worse.

Thanks

The idea with sharpening is generally to keep the secondary bevel parallel with the stone during a pass. Having a well lit area really helps so that you can see the edge riding the stone. Also, I don't stroke away from myself when sharpening anymore: I use both hands and switch the blade over so that I'm always watching the bevel/edge ride the stone so as to have more control. Beyond that it's a matter of angles or micro bevel. You want your bevel 'edge' to be as uniform as possible.

Try to find a cheap oil stone. Those are usually of very coarse grit. With that you can grind away the damaged steel, shore up the bevel and then the water stones should be able to sharpen the zdp-189. Apply only very light pressure during the pass at that point.

[awa54]

The good news is that the Dragonfly is small enough that reprofiling the edge doesn't take long even with a hard steel like ZDP... If you can find a small coarse or medium grit diamond stone to start your progression with that would probably be a better investment than a larger "basic" coarse stone, which probably won't cut as quickly or stay flat for long when working with ZDP 189.

[noseoil]

Just be patient & use light strokes. The tendency is to try "too hard" at first. This stuff is incredibly hard compared to softer steels. I ended up getting a diamond stone to completely re-set the bevel, even it out & get the edge correct. The natural stones I had were pretty much useless with this stuff. Once the bevel is set, a few light passes will keep it sharp. If it's really dull, just figure a couple of evenings will be what it takes to get it back in shape. Light passes with this stuff!

[Evo]

Do you have any information on the stones? Do they release a slurry? Do you know the name/brand?

Its naniwa abrasive 1000/3000 whetstone

[Cliff Stamp]

Its naniwa abrasive 1000/3000 whetstone

Ok, this is a traditional slurry type stone, it will work very well on ZDP in one respect, but not in another.

As it will generate a slurry it will grind the edge of ZDP-189 fairly easily and not tend to either develop a strong burr or chip the very tip of the edge (the apex). However the same slurry can make it a bit difficult to form a very high sharpness as the slurry can bang into the apex and dull it. Here is a fairly simple method, it is basically Murray Carter's approach :

For immediate results :

-strop on the 3000 grit stone, very light, edge trailing, alternate side, use a fairly high angle, 20+ degrees

This will apply a micro-bevel to the very last bit of the edge (apex) and it should bring up the sharpness readily.

Every few passes, just check the sharpness on light paper and you should see an increase readily. The critical part is to not use too much force and to make sure you use edge trailing (stopping) passes.

--

When you get comfortable with this then you can use the 1000 grit stone to reset the edge bevel directly and then you just repeat the 3000 grit stone work.

[_centurio_]

I use Silicon Carbide stones for that types of steel (~20$ made by Tyrolit). Works very well.

[TomAiello]

I use the stropping belt on my work sharp and very light pressure. It works great.

[kwakster]

@Evo: in which country are you ?

[uhiforgot]

IMHO, sharpening a dull ZDP-189 blade is an exercise in masochism, so the best advice I can give is to not let it get dull. Sure, it will hold it's edge for a good while longer than most steels, but even when I carried a ZDP Delica and used it on a daily basis, I found it smartest to give it an ever-so-gentle touch-up (literally 2 swipes per side) on the sharpmaker white stones at the end of each week.