Sharpening S30V

[gad226]

I have been having trouble getting my knives with S30V as sharp as other steels I have. My sharpening method is the sharpmaker, all 4 steps , finished with 4-5 passes on a strop with gold compound. In comparison with the same method VG-10, Hap40, and S35VN reach the same, better sharpness which grabs and pops hair. The S30V knives in question are Chokwe, Chapparal and Sage 2, all with the same sharp, but not shaving sharp result. Has anyone else had this experience , or any thoughts, suggestions.

[farnorthdan]

First, welcome to the forum. Have you tried using a sharpie to mark the edge/bevel to see exactly where its hitting the stones. Sometimes the apex isn't being hit and only the shoulder is. I would try this and adjust accordingly. I also try to work a side until I can feel a burr on the other then work the other side.

[gad226]

Thanks for the advice, it helped a lot. I was able to get them sharp, my conclusion is that the issue was not the steel, but that they are all Taichung knives and they have a noticeably steeper edge grind, at least the ones I have. They needed a steeper angle on the sharp maker and the strop and they got super sharp.

[bearfacedkiller]

My Taichung knives all came with obtuse angles. I don't get it. Some came over 40 degrees which basically makes them impossible to sharpen on a sharpmaker unless you reprofile. Strange to me that they can make a knife with that level of fit and finish and then they put an obtuse bevel on it. It also frustrates me because it makes the edge seem ground thinner than it is because the bevel looks so small. Then you reprofile and see that the bevel is actually much bigger. It is a little deceptive. I love my Taichung Spydies but I don't love reprofiling out of the box. When I handled the Sprig I noticed that it was ground very thin and that the bevel was very, very small but I also assume that it is probably set at 40 degrees so the bevel and edge will be a little thicker after I put a functional 30 degree bevel on it. I hope I am wrong about the Sprig. I am gonna buy it so I will find out either way.

[Surfingringo]

My Taichung knives all came with obtuse angles. I don't get it. Some came over 40 degrees which basically makes them impossible to sharpen on a sharpmaker unless you reprofile. Strange to me that they can make a knife with that level of fit and finish and then they put an obtuse bevel on it. It also frustrates me because it makes the edge seem ground thinner than it is because the bevel looks so small. Then you reprofile and see that the bevel is actually much bigger. It is a little deceptive. I love my Taichung Spydies but I don't love reprofiling out of the box. When I handled the Sprig I noticed that it was ground very thin and that the bevel was very, very small but I also assume that it is probably set at 40 degrees so the bevel and edge will be a little thicker after I put a functional 30 degree bevel on it. I hope I am wrong about the Sprig. I am gonna buy it so I will find out either way.

Yes, I've had the same experience with several Taichung folders. I think Spyderco does a great job of keeping their factory bevels (the ones out of usa and Japan) close to 30 degrees. I would imagine they pay attention to this as that bevel works very well with their sharpening system. I think someone might need to give the sharpeners in the Taichung factory a little refresher course.

[elena86]

I may add that my S110V Para2's( I purchased 2 of them) came with a very consistent bevel.I suspect they started to use their sharpening robot lately.On many of my previous Golden models the bevel was all over the place.

[Evil D]

My advice is to NEVER blame the steel for any sharpening irregularities you encounter. The only exception there might be something like weakened/burned steel from factory sharpening, but reaching a desired sharpness is ALWAYS the user's fault, not the steel. You can go out and get aluminum sharp enough to whittle hair with if you know what you're doing, it just won't hold an edge lol.

I don't say this to bust your balls, I say it from experience because I learned the hard way that this kind of mentality will just hold you back and prevent you from growing as a sharpener. The steel that did it for me was ZDP-189, that stuff made me hate life and I was certain the knife just wasn't able to be as sharp as my other VG10 knives. I learned quite a lot from that knife and to this day any time I run into sharpening issues where I just can't seem to get an edge where I want it, I remind myself of that knife and the things I learned from it.

[Skellz]

My Taichung knives all came with obtuse angles. I don't get it. Some came over 40 degrees which basically makes them impossible to sharpen on a sharpmaker unless you reprofile. Strange to me that they can make a knife with that level of fit and finish and then they put an obtuse bevel on it. It also frustrates me because it makes the edge seem ground thinner than it is because the bevel looks so small. Then you reprofile and see that the bevel is actually much bigger. It is a little deceptive. I love my Taichung Spydies but I don't love reprofiling out of the box. When I handled the Sprig I noticed that it was ground very thin and that the bevel was very, very small but I also assume that it is probably set at 40 degrees so the bevel and edge will be a little thicker after I put a functional 30 degree bevel on it. I hope I am wrong about the Sprig. I am gonna buy it so I will find out either way.

Had exactly this issue when I reprofiled my Sage on an edge pro (at ~18 per side not even 15), I've handled several Sage's but this one's ground like an axe in comparison to a Sage 2 I had. I also have a Chokwe which has a thin bevel but doesn't get that sharp on the Sharpmaker due to obtuse angles, I'll probably end up reprofiling that one too at some point.

My Sage and Gayle Bradley both came with very obtuse and thick/blunt tips as well which meant that as soon as I got them I had to get them on the edge pro, because personally I prefer a nice acute and functional tip than a blunt one.

Seki's are generally pretty good from my experience but they do deviate on the bevel symmetry more than others, I found. Golden seems to be the most consistent for me.