The Edge is (no longer) a Ghost

[soc_monki]

I need me one of these scopes. Been checking my edges with my loupes to make sure I have a good apex and no burrs, and I'm getting better at sharpening as a result. A microscope would really help!

[vivi]

Yojumbo reprofiled to 15dps on a sharpmaker using the diamond rods. Stropped twice per side with 7 micron diamond paste.

My favorite thing about strops is using them to check for burrs. First two times I tried going to the strop one side scraped off more compound than the other, showing me there was a burr my eyes or fingers couldn't detect.

I tried deburring better off the stones two more times before I was happy with the edge. Came off the strop clean with minimal compound on either side.

Extremely toothy but also hair popping sharp. One of my cleaner edges off the diamond rods.

[u.w.]

that is an outstanding looking edge vivi

I cut the edge off my Endela and sharpened it again, at work this evening. I keep a Smith's combo diamond sharpener, that I broke all the parts off of so I can just hold in-between my fingers, in my bag. I just use the coarse side, which I believe is 325 grit. Sharpened and deburred on that 325 grit side.



I do find it interesting that the scratch pattern from the 260 grit HF stone looked a lot like the machining "scratch pattern" on the primary bevel, and that the new 325 grit edge looks perhaps finer. It also looks like I might've held an ever so slightly higher angle this time around too...
Might've never known that were it not for the USB microscope.

u.w.

[BeggarSo]

Here are some pictures of my S30V Yojumbo being reprofiled & sharpened on the TSPROF Kadet. I first used an 80 grit edge pro diamond matrix stone to reprofile. The knife was dull from the factory with a 16.9 degree edge so 17 degrees per side.

After achieving 15 degrees per side with measurements taken from a digital angle cube, with the 80 grit I used the Extra Coarse stone followed by the coarse stone followed by the medium stone that came with my other TSPROF Device the Blitz 360. This of course required recalibrating the angle with the digital angle cube as the stone thickness is different.

Yes I use guided systems because there is no way I am going to get as dead accurate as my OCD demands via hand sharpening. Can I sharpen by hand? the answer is yes but not to the degree I can get out of these systems.

This is a coarse edge right now that can best be described as sticky sharp, I will finish with the Fine and Extra Fine stones but wanted to get this coarse edge in with the Microscope before progressing on.

S30V is a breeze to reprofile / sharpen and hone with these systems, much easier than CTS204P or S90V.

Reprofiling is really where you can tell the differences in wear resistance in different steels especially as you go from a 17 degree factory edge way down into a 10 degree edge like I did with two Militaries each one in the above described more difficult steels.

Here you see the Spyderco Yojumbo in S30V mounted In the TSPROF Kadet I am using USPS Packing tape to protect the flats which is a tip / trick I learned from the ApostleP YouTube channel by Mr. Rob Bixby.

I always sharpen with water to keep the dust down and the last photo under the microscope shows grit still present as the blade has not ben cleaned yet because I plan to go further with two more levels of refinement.











Current edge Please note removed excess material at the ricasso next to the plunge grind, this was done very carefully with the 80 Grit edge pro matrix stone by placing it on top of it working it down and then when reprofiling the area next to it leaning into it and carefully blending avoiding creating a recurve.





All in all I have to say the Diamonds that came with the system are working better than I could have ever hoped and far better than how my Wicked Edge Gen3 used to perform.

Here is a tip if you have a TSPROF with the upgraded stone holders like I have you can take a Spyderco Double stuff that has come apart on you like mine did or even if they are still glued together and use them as stones with the sharpening system I find they work very well.

[BeggarSo]

Final edge on the Spyderco S30V Yojumbo but may go back to coarse and give it a try, still very sharp with the refined edge but not sticky sharp. It cuts through plastics very well without snagging. The strange stuff on the bottom is Packing tape I use to protect the flats from setting scratched up during sharpening.

[Josh Crutchley]

S45VN Mule 15dps edge with scratches from stray grit particles.



S110V Manix 2 LW after a few pass on a fixed angle system. It was previously sharpened freehand and you can clearly see how convex it was.

[Josh Crutchley]

Thought I would bump this thread in the hopes others will share.

M4 Manix 2 LW factory edge

First edge damage not even sure how it happened. You can see the rolled metal starting to tear away from the edge.

[Scandi Grind]

I should probably get a digital microscope for taking pictures of my edges. I don't know if I can post pics here, but if I get a microscope and I figure out how to post them I definitely will. This topic could be really interesting if we could get pics of a bunch of the edges people are putting on their knives.

[Guts]

Here's a few.

Factory edge on a PM2 Maxamet (notice the corrosion)


Broken tip on a second hand Canis I bought


Factory edge on the recent St. Nicks 4V Millie


Factory edge on the 15V PM2


Not a Spyderco knife but still related:
400-mesh side of the Spyderco CBN Benchstone


800-mesh side of the same Spyderco CBN Benchstone


Para 3 SPY27 edge fresh off the 800-mesh side of the Spyderco CBN benchstone

[Cycletroll]

Nice pics Guts; thanks for sharing :)

[legOFwhat?]

Thanks Guts, the CBN benchstone shots are quite intriguing!

[Senfkarte]

My pictures don't have the best quality we have seen here, but this is the best I can do right now.

Here is the comparison between CPM Rex 45 and CPM 15V

This is the Rex 45

And this the 15V

Call me crazy, but I think, the little dots might actually be the vanadium carbides. Hard to say. But with the naked eye, they diffract the light into many little rainbow dots. Hard to show in the pictures. Or maybe the dots are something completely different, and I only think they are the carbides, because I know, they are there, but they can't be seen with this magnification.

[Scandi Grind]

Neat pics, Senfkarte. How were these two knives sharpened? Same way as each other? To what grit?

The Rex 45 seems a little toothier perhaps. I don't know how these two steels compare chemically but I know they are both considered pretty high edge retention, 15V more so if I'm not mistaken. Interesting to see the comparison of the edge they form up close. Pretty similar, but a bit different looking.

[Senfkarte]

Sorry for not providing this information.
Both were first reprofiled on a coarse diamond stone (the Rex a long time ago) and then sharpened on the same 600 grit diamond stone until there was no burr. After that both got a few passes on fine ceramic. The 15V might have gotten a few more passes on the ceramic.

[awa54]

My method for setting a bevel right to the plunge, is to use an EZE-LAP medium or coarse 1"x6" hone in my Hapstone (Edge Pro knockoff) system. These "stones" are made with diamond grit fused into a steel base, rather than plated on like most other metal diamond hones, this means that the diamonds stay attached to the hone and the edges of the hone remain square, even when you apply pressure to remove lots of steel (unlike friable matrix, or even "bonded" diamond stones).

The only thing to look out for is stray diamond particles that protrude from the sides of the hone, I prepped my dedicated reprofiling hone by carefully squaring it up on a bench grinder (also providing a subtle undercut, so the abrasive goes all the way to the edge of the hone face), then flattening the edges of the side faces with a coarse diamond bench stone. This prevents the front face of the plunge from getting scuffed up and allows the bevel to run all the way back.