High Carbide Microbevels

[Sharp24/7]

Question: can a high carbide steel like K390 be microbeveled on the SM ceramics without a significant decrease in performance?

[WyoJon]

Yes

[Brock O Lee]

Yes

[Bemo]

This should be an interesting thread. If you want to expose the carbides from the underlying steel matrix and not cut them, then I say yes.

[wrdwrght]

This should be an interesting thread. If you want to expose the carbides from the underlying steel matrix and not cut them, then I say yes.

Maybe yes, but maybe no.

At some risk of plucking some carbides out of the matrix, if the microbevel is too acute and if the carbides in question are harder than Spyderco’s browns or whites?

That’s what I conclude from BBB regarding 15V’s maintenance, anyway.

Have I misconstrued?

[Bemo]

I really don't know and I'm not sure anyone does. I will say that I've been doing little touch ups on my 15v with the white (fine) bench stone an it's worked really well. How it works, and what it does on a electron microscope level..... well that would be the purview of Science of Sharp. I like to think it's revealing the vanadium carbides. But I keep in mind what the physicist Feynman said "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool." Confirmation bias is ever present.

[Josh Crutchley]

It would probably make it cut like the factory edge. You should check out Scienceofsharp.com if you haven't already. There's some interesting articles on all sorts of blade related things analyzed with an SEM including S110V, Maxamet, and K390.

[Steeltoez83]

Last time I tested s90v with a diamond and ceramic microbevels I saw s90v hold an edge slightly better than bd1 with the ceramic. I used more passes to set the microbevel bcuz the spyderco ceramic is not as hard as diamond. Now I used a shaman with diamond and a manix with the brown spyderco ceramic. 2 different knives but a major drop in performance.

[Geometry]

I do remember a time I tried to get k390 sharp again with just ceramics and pretty much couldn't. Once I got dmt plates out, good to go. Now that I've been also carrying some maxamet, my ceramic doublestuff is almost retired. My skill could be to blame, but using the right abrasives (basically always diamond) I get the sharpest edges I ever have.

[RustyIron]

Question: can a high carbide steel like K390 be microbeveled on the SM ceramics without a significant decrease in performance?

The question suggests that Sharpmaker ceramic rods are in some way inferior to diamond when working with K390. I don't think that's the case. I think that a superior edge can be obtained in serrated K390 by using the Sharpmaker ceramic rods, as opposed to the Spyderco accessory diamond rods.

Stick with the ceramics if you're working on keeping a well-maintained knife sharp. If you need to move a lot of metal on a knife that's been damaged or neglected, get out the diamond rods.

[Bemo]

Question: can a high carbide steel like K390 be microbeveled on the SM ceramics without a significant decrease in performance?

The question suggests that Sharpmaker ceramic rods are in some way inferior to diamond when working with K390. I don't think that's the case. I think that a superior edge can be obtained in serrated K390 by using the Sharpmaker ceramic rods, as opposed to the Spyderco accessory diamond rods.

Stick with the ceramics if you're working on keeping a well-maintained knife sharp. If you need to move a lot of metal on a knife that's been damaged or neglected, get out the diamond rods.

I suppose this depends on the the definition of superior/inferior and the the goal. If you wish to actually cut the vanadium carbides then the answer is yes diamond/cbn is superior.

[RustyIron]

I suppose this depends on the the definition of superior/inferior and the the goal. If you wish to actually cut the vanadium carbides then the answer is yes diamond/cbn is superior.

Yeah, nah.
I stand by what I said.