Community Sharpening Journal

[MFlovejp]

Did a first reprofiling on my Chaparral FRN this evening, only took about 30 minutes. On the KME, I quickly ran through 140, 300, and 600 grit diamond hones. CTS-XHP works up a very nice tactile burr that’s easy to push back and forth and weaken. The steel is also very easy to grind for how long it holds a keen edge.

I did the final deburring by hand on my small translucent Arkansas stone before stropping on rough leather with 4 and 0.5 micron diamond solutions applied. Angle was set to 15 dps as that’s about as low as KME will go on such a small blade without risking unstable clamping.

The resulting edge is not quite as coarse as I normally go for- but this is a gentleman’s working folder so I just enjoyed the smoother, more whispery sound of it gliding effortlessly through receipt paper.

XHP is one of my all time favorite steels- predictable and easy to sharpen and it takes a wicked keen edge.

[vivi]

Reprofiled a Pacific Salt 2 SE to 15 degrees on diamond sharpmaker rods:







Used light pressure and 1:1 strokes until the knife readily shaved off diamonds, then did 5 strokes per side at 20 degrees on the medium rods.

The edge went from spikey factory fresh to quite rounded off quicker than I expected. With the apex being slightly rounded and sharp enough to pop arm hairs without contacting the skin, cutting ability is extremely efficient.

[Cambertree]

Nice sharpening jobs guys. :)

Hey Vivi, do you use a scrubbing motion when you’re thinning out an edge before you reach the apex?

Or just downwards passes?

Do you do passes from tip to heel as well?

[vivi]

Nice sharpening jobs guys. :)

Hey Vivi, do you use a scrubbing motion when you’re thinning out an edge before you reach the apex?

Or just downwards passes?

Do you do passes from tip to heel as well?

Back and forth scrubbing motion, then I finish with regular heel to tip strokes. Much faster than doing it all heel to tip.

[Cambertree]

Back and forth scrubbing motion, then I finish with regular heel to tip strokes. Much faster than doing it all heel to tip.

Thanks! :)

Yeah I did the same on my Vic Soldier, although I’ve yet to do a full thinning out on a SE Spydie.

I think I’ll try it on my SE Z-Cut, and see how it goes.

I sharpen the PE tip section in a separate operation using the flats of the rods, or a benchstone.

[vivi]

Back and forth scrubbing motion, then I finish with regular heel to tip strokes. Much faster than doing it all heel to tip.

Thanks! :)

Yeah I did the same on my Vic Soldier, although I’ve yet to do a full thinning out on a SE Spydie.

I think I’ll try it on my SE Z-Cut, and see how it goes.

I sharpen the PE tip section in a separate operation using the flats of the rods, or a benchstone.

I do the same thing.

Speaking of z cuts I still haven't sharpened mine at all. Its been holding an edge well.

Put a fresh edge on my new Perrin:



440C takes a polish so easily. Took the microbevel up to the sharpmaker medium rods then stropped with 7 micron. Tree topping sharp.

[Salty Dog]

Just used my diamond sharp maker rods for the first time and found out they are an essential bit of kit.
They make taking out a wavey grind a breeze and reprofiling a breeze.
Used them with very light pressure, hardly need any pressure at all, very happy I got them.
There should be an option where they come included with the sharpmaker for a heftier price, they are a must have imo.

[Steeltoez83]

So I decided to time myself and see how long it takes me to do a 2 stone progression on s110v. I opted for my ukpk in s110v that still had it's factory edge. Before sharpening I ran the edge 25 times across a stone to remove any edge. The knife was ground perfectly from the factory, so in theory replicate follow up sessions after the initial reprofile sharpening. First stone was the 400 cbn spyderco bench stone. Burr created on both sides and some alternating passes to remove it. My cbn stone has seen about 10 knives so far including maxamet and s90v. After that I went with the splash and go King neo stone. Just like the cbn a Burr was created on both sides with alternating strokes to remove the Burr. Total time was 4 minutes and 3 seconds. Would have taken an extra 30 seconds if I used a strop.

[vivi]

Put a fresh edge on my Street Beat.




180 grit plate until there was no microbevel, then 8 strokes per side on a medium Spyderco stone at about 15 degrees per side, finished with two strokes per side with my 40 micron strop. Sharpest its ever been, it'll be fun putting it to use tomorrow.

Trying out a new paracord setup too.



This lets me carry horizontal, vertical or pocket carry comfortably.

Since putting this edge on my Street Beat I've been touching it up with nothing but the sharpmaker since.

Started with medium rods, and eventually tried my fine rods.

It had been a while since I had one of those edges that seemed to cut things just by looking at them. It took a wicked edge and push cut through everything with ease.

For two or three days.

I was pretty abhorred at the edge holding the fine finish gave me. I forgot how bad it was. Cuts great when fresh, but after a few days of work with a steel like VG10 and a slice slips more than it bites.

So tonight I reset the edge on my diamond rods at 20 degrees, since my 15 degree slots are compromised, and stropped with 40 micron paste.

The resulting edge is sharp enough to pop arm hair stubble while showing a vastly more aggressive bite during a slice.



Sometimes I wonder why I ever polish over 500 grit. Edge longevity takes such a hard hit stepping up from 400 grit to the 1,000 grit range, and past that I feel like I need to sharpen daily.

Saw the same thing in my 10" Victorinox chef knife. I've tried a raw 200 grit diamond edge, medium shaprmaker finish and ultrafine sharpmaker finish so far this year. While the push cutting ability of the UF finish is nice, having to sharpen every 3 days VS every 3 weeks with the 200 grit edge isn't so nice.

[ThomC]

Sometimes I wonder why I ever polish over 500 grit. Edge longevity takes such a hard hit stepping up from 400 grit to the 1,000 grit range, and past that I feel like I need to sharpen daily.

Saw the same thing in my 10" Victorinox chef knife. I've tried a raw 200 grit diamond edge, medium shaprmaker finish and ultrafine sharpmaker finish so far this year. While the push cutting ability of the UF finish is nice, having to sharpen every 3 days VS every 3 weeks with the 200 grit edge isn't so nice.

If anything, you're the forumite who second-handedly convinced me to try coarse edges on all my knives, kitchen included.

I cannot thank you enough for the time you saved me :D

Edge performance is different but since I'm not interested in making paper thin slices of anything, the XC finish is more than enough for my needs.
It still allows me to have very fine and precise cuts, which is all that matters

[TkoK83Spy]

I agree with Thom, had it not been for Vivi I likely never even would have experimented with a coarse edge. It's awesome how much less work and longevity you get from the working edge, especially in a warehouse setting. Thankfully I've never got into the mirror finish edge. I'll go fine at times, but I don't think my working man knives deserve a prissy mirror edge. It's like throwing chrome rims on a jacked up Jeep Wrangler haha. Just doesn't go together! For a light use, classy carry knife I think the mirror finish looks great though. One little scuff in that edge ruins the whole look though.

[wrdwrght]

I must add here that Vivi, some years ago, single-handedly restored my confidence in the edge-holding of H1 on my PE Pacific Salt.

Bevelling its edge at 10 DPS with no microbevel (rather than at 20 DPS bevel/15 DPS microbevel) gave me near-VG10 performance.

Until he weighed in, I’d pretty much given up on that Pacific Salt and my PE Dragonfly Salt.

Interesting learning experience.

[vivi]

Glad the low grit edges are working for you guys too.

I had been using them for a while but half way through January I started using the medium and fine ceramics for touch-ups.

The edges they leave cut very nice when the apex is fresh, but they require much more frequent touch-ups to keep cutting well.

Using the diamond rods or one of my reprofiling diamond plates to finish the apex, I find cutting ability is still very high after shaving ability is completely gone.

I can't say the same for polished edges.

[p_atrick]

I’m curious if this trend in low-grit edges is causing people to reevaluate S30V. That steel is now seen as “boring”, but I hear it responds well to coarse grits. So, any newfound love for S30V?

[ThomC]

I’m curious if this trend in low-grit edges is causing people to reevaluate S30V. That steel is now seen as “boring”, but I hear it responds well to coarse grits. So, any newfound love for S30V?

I think Larrin's edge testing contributed to S30V's newest spike in popularity.

[TkoK83Spy]

I’m curious if this trend in low-grit edges is causing people to reevaluate S30V. That steel is now seen as “boring”, but I hear it responds well to coarse grits. So, any newfound love for S30V?

I think Larrin's edge testing contributed to S30V's newest spike in popularity.

I actually hope to use my new WorkSharp adjustable sharpener on my S30V PM2 sometime this upcoming week. I freehand sharpened it sometime last year when I was first learning to freehand and gave it a bit of a wonky edge. I'm planning on refining it a bit and leaving it at the coarse grit provided with that system (320 grit)

I'll report back once I finish.

[vivi]

New rule of thumb. If I run my thumbnail down the edge and feel no teeth, the apex is too polished.

Sharpened my work knife (Vic 10" chef) a little different last night.

Ran it along the diamond sharpmaker rods at 15 degrees until the old apex was ground off. Usually I free hand this part.

Finished with alternating strokes after minimizing the burr until it cleanly shaved.

Then I did exactly 1 stroke per side at 20 degrees with the medium rods.

It cuts much better than it did. I'm sure edge retention will be better too. I can go weeks without touching up this knife with a raw diamond edge 180-300 grit, but using the medium rods like I was I have to touch it up every 3 days or so.

[vivi]

Reset the bevel on my s30v manix xl with a 200 grit diamond stone, finishing with alternating passes until it could scrape shave.

I measured the bevel and got 21.6 degrees inclusive.

Next I did three strokes per side at 15 degrees with the fine sharpmaker rods. Refined the apex without polishing out the teeth from the 200 grit stone.

Cleanly shaves but still feels rough if I run my nail along the edge. Should be a versatile edge.

[MFlovejp]

Reprofiled my new P4 LW in K390 on the KME today. Having learned from my Endela experience, I started coarser at 100 grit diamond vs my usual 140. I set the bevel at 13dps- the lowest I could get it to go on the KME system. I progressed through 140, 300, 600, and 1500 diamond hones before finishing with a leather kangaroo strop with 4 micron diamond emulsion.

I liked the edge that came off the KME, but decided to refine in further with several passes on brown and white stones on the Sharpmaker. I followed this up with 4 and 1 micron diamond emulsion on a paddle strop. The resulting 30 degree microbevel gives a very smooth glide- but still a pleasing hiss- through copy paper at any angle and is violently popping hairs in any direction as well. I’m very happy with it, love the design, and love the fact that Sal and I now carry the same knife :)

[MFlovejp]

Double post