Community Sharpening Journal, Part 2

[cabfrank]

That is amazing sharpness. I'm sure it would cut hanging paper towel or tissue too.

[Brock O Lee]

That is amazing sharpness. I'm sure it would cut hanging paper towel or tissue too.

Thanks @cabfrank. I'll give hanging paper towel / tissue a shot next time!

In my experience Magnacut likes to get very sharp, similar to a carbon steel, Cruwear, or LC200N. I cannot get S45VN (or other high carbide steels) quite as sharp when I use the same progression.

[vivi]

CE Manix has seen a lot of use this week. It's been handling rougher, dirtier jobs that dull a blade fast while the Buck 110 on my belt is kept razor sharp for finer tasks. The entire edge needed reset.




SE - Diamond rods @ 20 degrees until apex refreshed. Medium rods at ~21 degrees with deburring strokes until the edge caught arm hairs above the skin.

PE - 120 grit diamond plate to thin out the edge and reset the apex. Once happy with the angle I used light alternating strokes until a scrape shaving edge was achieved. Stropped once per side on bare oak. Then one stroke per side on my spyderco fine ceramic bench stone at a more obtuse angle.

[vivi]

Touched up some larger knives today, and a tiny Buck 425 I just got in the mail.












M4 Manix got medium rods at 15 degrees.

Buck 110 white rods at 40 degrees. Surprisingly the 15 degree slots were only hitting the apex on one side of the blade. Gotta thin out the edge eventually.

425 was super dull, had a rolled edge, and looked to have never been sharpened. Fresh ~12 dps edge on a DMT Coarse, followed by mediums then fines at 20 degrees per side. Hadn't 100% removed the factory edge at the belly and figured the 20's had a better chance of apexing that area. I'll re-do the edge a bit thinner some day and apex at a thinner angle.

Excited to have another 425. It was my first Buck, but I lost it over 30 years ago!

[Manifestgtr]

A knife I just CAN’T get sharp…

This is probably best suited for this place instead of its own thread. I have two specimens of zdp189…an Endura and a Stretch 2. What’s the difference besides the obvious? For over a year, I’ve been trying to get the Stretch up to my personal standards of sharpness and it just refuses to “take”. The Endura? No problem…after a single sharpening session, I had it exactly where I wanted it. But the Stretch, to this day, eludes me. I’ve tried different progressions. By now I’ve removed enough metal that I’m positive there’s no “burnt edge” factory nonsense that I’m dealing with. I can get it to cut paper but no further. I don’t think it’s entirely my doing either…I have maxamet, 15v and rex 121 knives all beyond the point of shaving. Even another zdp model in the Endura…that one will whittle hair for petesake. I desperately want to get the Stretch up to snuff because it’s right in the wheelhouse of stuff I love to carry…

[RustyIron]

I’ve been trying to get the Stretch up to my personal standards of sharpness and it just refuses to “take”

What does the edge look like under 10x magnification?

[u.w.]

hmmm....
that's interesting IRT your ZDP Stretch II.


I recall Gerald (Outpost76 on youtube) had some issues with a ZDP Delica some time back now..

u.w.

[Manifestgtr]

I’ve been trying to get the Stretch up to my personal standards of sharpness and it just refuses to “take”

What does the edge look like under 10x magnification?

One of these is the endura which gave me no issues whatsoever…the other is the stretch. I think it’s probably pretty obviously which is which lol

[RustyIron]

One of these is the endura which gave me no issues whatsoever…the other is the stretch. I think it’s probably pretty obviously which is which lol

Yup... like so many of life's challenges, dull blades can be figured out by taking the time to examine them closely.

[u.w.]

I’ve been trying to get the Stretch up to my personal standards of sharpness and it just refuses to “take”

What does the edge look like under 10x magnification?

One of these is the endura which gave me no issues whatsoever…the other is the stretch. I think it’s probably pretty obviously which is which lol


IMG_5039.pngIMG_5040.png

Wow - What a marked difference.

Based off my own very limited knowledge, I'd say cut that apex-ish off, and make a new one. Do the whole - wash, rinse, repeat - thing until you stop getting raggedy, crumbly, sticky/gummy burr vestige(s) edges.
Off the top of my head, I've had three Spyderco knives that had edges that just wouldn't "take", then after multiple sharpenings they did finally take (and hold) an edge. Two of those three took more than six new edges before the edge finally "took".

I always question my own sharpening skill/ability when I first notice it (an edge not "taking") - defaulting to some sort of error on my part. As you have done, a good look under magnification usually provides good data with which to go from.
i.e. For me, if under magnification I verify zero burr remaining, and the edge crumbles and/or rolls, then I'll got a little thicker/more obtuse and try again. If going thicker/more obtuse doesn't help, I'll just apex over and over until the edge stops failing.
I've definitely felt frustration about it in the past.

u.w.

[Manifestgtr]

I’ve been trying to get the Stretch up to my personal standards of sharpness and it just refuses to “take”

What does the edge look like under 10x magnification?

One of these is the endura which gave me no issues whatsoever…the other is the stretch. I think it’s probably pretty obviously which is which lol


IMG_5039.pngIMG_5040.png

I always question my own sharpening skill/ability when I first notice it (an edge not "taking") - defaulting to some sort of error on my part.

Which is exactly what happened to me here. The stretch was the first ZDP specimen I picked up so when it was totally fubar after the initial sharpening, I immediately began reevaluating my progression, technique, everything…”does my sharpening style just not work when there’s an overwhelming abundance of chromium carbide?”

Then the endura was no problem, which at least hinted that it wasn’t ENTIRELY my own doing.

[Paul Ardbeg]

I’ve been trying to get the Stretch up to my personal standards of sharpness and it just refuses to “take”

What does the edge look like under 10x magnification?

One of these is the endura which gave me no issues whatsoever…the other is the stretch. I think it’s probably pretty obviously which is which lol


IMG_5039.pngIMG_5040.png

Sharping is sometimes a mystery to me and one of the things is visibility. I'm using my grandfathers pre war loop recently to check the edge but that's not "cutting" it. What tool do you use to get those nice and clear images? A microscope connected to a laptop?

[Scandi Grind]

Double post

[Scandi Grind]

Somebody recently had what might be a similar problem with a super blue gyuto. Maybe try the same fix:

viewtopic.php?p=1797302&hilit=super+blue+gyuto#p1797302

[Manifestgtr]

I’ve been trying to get the Stretch up to my personal standards of sharpness and it just refuses to “take”

What does the edge look like under 10x magnification?

One of these is the endura which gave me no issues whatsoever…the other is the stretch. I think it’s probably pretty obviously which is which lol


IMG_5039.pngIMG_5040.png

Sharping is sometimes a mystery to me and one of the things is visibility. I'm using my grandfathers pre war loop recently to check the edge but that's not "cutting" it. What tool do you use to get those nice and clear images? A microscope connected to a laptop?

I’d love to be able to tell you that I used the “visible wavelength x3000” feature on my crazy, electron scanning microscope…but I just used the default “magnifier” app on my iPhone. Hay…if it works, it works.

[Paul Ardbeg]

What does the edge look like under 10x magnification?

One of these is the endura which gave me no issues whatsoever…the other is the stretch. I think it’s probably pretty obviously which is which lol


IMG_5039.pngIMG_5040.png

Sharping is sometimes a mystery to me and one of the things is visibility. I'm using my grandfathers pre war loop recently to check the edge but that's not "cutting" it. What tool do you use to get those nice and clear images? A microscope connected to a laptop?

I’d love to be able to tell you that I used the “visible wavelength x3000” feature on my crazy, electron scanning microscope…but I just used the default “magnifier” app on my iPhone. Hay…if it works, it works.

True that! You are getting some sharp images Ill give it a try with my Samsung tonight....Oh, and thanks for saving me all that money on the “visible wavelength x3000” . With the "flux capacitor" upgrade it costs a pretty penny

[Manifestgtr]

True that! You are getting some sharp images Ill give it a try with my Samsung tonight....Oh, and thanks for saving me all that money on the “visible wavelength x3000” . With the "flux capacitor" upgrade it costs a pretty penny

HAH for sure

And let’s face it, if an iPhone has it, chances are that the Samsungs already had it five years ago

[ejames13]

CE Manix has seen a lot of use this week. It's been handling rougher, dirtier jobs that dull a blade fast while the Buck 110 on my belt is kept razor sharp for finer tasks. The entire edge needed reset.




SE - Diamond rods @ 20 degrees until apex refreshed. Medium rods at ~21 degrees with deburring strokes until the edge caught arm hairs above the skin.

PE - 120 grit diamond plate to thin out the edge and reset the apex. Once happy with the angle I used light alternating strokes until a scrape shaving edge was achieved. Stropped once per side on bare oak. Then one stroke per side on my spyderco fine ceramic bench stone at a more obtuse angle.

What do you do with the non-presentation side when resetting the bevel on SE or combo edge blades?

[vivi]

CE Manix has seen a lot of use this week. It's been handling rougher, dirtier jobs that dull a blade fast while the Buck 110 on my belt is kept razor sharp for finer tasks. The entire edge needed reset.




SE - Diamond rods @ 20 degrees until apex refreshed. Medium rods at ~21 degrees with deburring strokes until the edge caught arm hairs above the skin.

PE - 120 grit diamond plate to thin out the edge and reset the apex. Once happy with the angle I used light alternating strokes until a scrape shaving edge was achieved. Stropped once per side on bare oak. Then one stroke per side on my spyderco fine ceramic bench stone at a more obtuse angle.

What do you do with the non-presentation side when resetting the bevel on SE or combo edge blades?

Nothing really. When I'm about done with the show side I'll check for a big burr on that side before I progress to the next rods, otherwise I leave it be.

[Brock O Lee]

K390 wharnie users



Edge Pro 400 grit CKTG diamonds @ 16-17 dps. Spyderco UF @ 20 dps only to deburr. A few passes on 1um diamond on balsawood, and a quick finish on clean Kangaroo leather.