SB question

[Kenakth]

Hey all,

For my 2nd and 3rd Spydercos I recently picked up a HAP40 Stretch and also a SB Delica 4. As soon as I got both of them in I reprofiled the blades, but ran into a bit of an issue with the super blue. I use an Edge Pro Apex, and have sharpened a lot of different types of steels (mostly the standard ones, vg10, 154cm, s30v, etc.) and haven't ever really run into any issues. Reprofiling the HAP40 was very quick, easy, and I ran into no problems (favourite steel to sharpen so far, in fact).

First time around reprofiling the SB delica using the 15 deg/side setting, I got a decent-sized chip about 3/4 of an inch away from the tip while using a 220 grit stone while using only the weight of the stone for pressure. It didn't go very deep into the blade, but was a couple millimetres long, leading me to believe maybe it was a burnt-out edge from a factory sharpening. This hasn't ever happened to me before, so I swapped to a new 400 grit stone (just in case there was a problem with the 220) and worked the chip out. Just because I've read the steel tends to get an extremely sharp edge, I figured I'd have fun with it and work my way up to a 6,000 grit tape. Turns out, everything I've read about it is true... I've never gotten an edge to the same level of sharpness as this knife.

After this, there weren't any problems until actually using the knife today. I had to cut some thin, clear plastic fishing line as well as some cheap, white string. All in all, I had to make around 5 cuts in each type of material by sliding the tip between the fishing line and what the line was tied around, and rotating the knife, using the hump in the spine to push the blade outwards. I just decided to check the edge, and am a bit surprised to find some minor edge damage after such a light job. Now, the damage is barely noticeable (I'm really not that concerned about it), but I was wondering if 15 deg/side is maybe a bit too thin for this metal, or if it's possible I'm still just working with a burned edge from a factory sharpening? Just wondering if I need to change my sharpening methods a bit for this particular knife.

Thanks for your time!

[Brock O Lee]

...by sliding the tip between the fishing line and what the line was tied around, and rotating the knife, using the hump in the spine to push the blade outwards...

Hi Kenakth, I'm just trying to picture your cutting method. Did you slide the tip of the blade between the line and object and then twisted the blade 90 deg to make the cut?

[dplafoll]

It sounds like the line dragged on the edge when you rotated the knife.

[Cujobob]

SB can definitely handle that edge angle. Heck, S110V can. It's possible there was edge damage from sharpening originally, a bad heat treat, or something else.

[bearfacedkiller]

I have been running my SB Delica at around 20 degrees inclusive since they came out without issue even when whittling really dry wood. The angle shouldn't be the problem.

[Kenakth]

Thanks for the replies, all. I'll use it a bit more at this angle then, see what happens.

Hi Kenakth, I'm just trying to picture your cutting method. Did you slide the tip of the blade between the line and object and then twisted the blade 90 deg to make the cut?

No, I didn't twist the blade. Best way I can describe it is if you put a delica's spine flat against the table, and then let the handle drop slowly, using the hump of the blade by the spydie hole as the fulcrum of a lever.

[ejames13]

That's really strange. I haven't had anything like that with my SB Stretch.

[Brock O Lee]

Thanks for the replies, all. I'll use it a bit more at this angle then, see what happens.

Hi Kenakth, I'm just trying to picture your cutting method. Did you slide the tip of the blade between the line and object and then twisted the blade 90 deg to make the cut?

No, I didn't twist the blade. Best way I can describe it is if you put a delica's spine flat against the table, and then let the handle drop slowly, using the hump of the blade by the spydie hole as the fulcrum of a lever.

Understood. Then the only thing I can think of is that you might have had a small burr at the tip that folded over during the cut. :confused:

[Nate]

I had some minor unexplained edge damage on my SB Caly 3.5 when I first started using it. Never did figure it out as it's only seen light use, but I haven't had any issues with it since.

My top guesses would be maybe some damage to the steel at the apex from the initial power sharpening that wasn't completely removed (I've heard as a rule of thumb that you should resharpen 3-4 times minimum before making assumptions about the steel/ht) or a wire edge/burr as Brock suggested.

[Kenakth]

I put it through a decent amount of cutting and the rest of the edge held up fine, so I'll just assume it's the one spot and see if it persists after a few sharpenings.

Thanks again, everyone. Appreciate your time.