Sharpening the M390 Mule with the SM

[dbcad]

Preface: Many here are much better than I am at this kind of thing. I am very appreciative of the knowledge they've shared during my time here. I have learned much, but there is still much I do not know :)

I've read that this material is pretty sharpening friendly. I'm pleasantly surprised at how little time it took to make some minor edge angle adjustments using the SM. I originally reprofiled the stock edge with the DMT Aligner system. I got it fairly close to the orginal edge engle. I still coudn't get the edge I wanted on it after the XXF stones and strop. There were some hitches and pulls in it that I couldn't strop out.

The DMT system isn't super precise, but it can remove metal quickly, so I wasn't surprised to see that my sharpie mark was being removed unevenly when using the brown rod corners on the SM. I simply stroked the side where the stones were not hitting the edge exclusively until that side was hitting the edge also. Had to rotate corners a few times and increase pressure. Only when the sharpie mark disapeared did I lighten pressure, start alternating sides, and switch to the brown stone flats. Stopped when the edge started feeling pretty nice :D It cuts paper easily and has sliced a nice little notch of wood.

The fun part, fine and UF stones are yet to come :D

I know I'm an edge nut :o Hopefully some other folks who are in the same place I was in (sharpening challenged) when I first came here can get some decent hints :) Let's see how sharp I can get this sucker :D Putting my own edge on this M390 is proving to be quite enjoyable :D

[dbcad]

After on and off pecking at it during the day :) Went thru the fine and UF stones without rush checking edge progress frequently with my thumb, sometimes with my relatively uncalloused fingertips. Light pressure and a couple of very small burrs later it is now a little crazy sharp :eek: We'll see how long it stays that way at a straight ~30 deg.

Now it will get thrown in with the Super Blue Mule which was also resharpened today with the Urban :) Both desperately needed touch ups :)

There is a large sense of satisfaction knowing I can keep these things sharp now. I encourage all of those who are sharpening challenged as I was to take the time and effort to learn. The knives become so much more enjoyable :D As with all engineering type stuff cheating is allowed

[angusW]

Nice job db. Post back how it holds up to the tasks you throw at it. I finally ordered mine today so I'm curious how it functions for me.