Community Sharpening Journal

[Fireman]

[BeggarSo]

It's the stones guys, not the systems.

Buy the system that gets you the most access to high performance stones.

Don't put the cart before the horse.

Well said, gimmicks are just gimmicks.

This from my purchases is a gimmick company by and large not another dollar from my wallet so says I.

[DavidNM]

Wow! There are some very nice and very expensive sharpening set-ups in this thread. I am impressed and while I do enjoy sharpening my knives some of the members here take it to an entirely different level. I think I am going to avoid temptation to upgrade my equipment and ignore this thread.

[Scandi Grind]

Wow! There are some very nice and very expensive sharpening set-ups in this thread. I am impressed and while I do enjoy sharpening my knives some of the members here take it to an entirely different level. I think I am going to avoid temptation to upgrade my equipment and ignore this thread.

[tcarltonw]

I would hazard a guess that the answer is yes. Sic powder is used to dress other bonded diamond stones. Loose or affixed to paper (i.e. sandpaper) not sure that's the most important factor. I'm awaiting other responses as well.

Appreciate the response Bemo. I'm holding off until I receive some more feedback just incase there is something to having sic free floating opposed to being fixed in place. Luckily work has been eating into my free time so the edges can wait.

[Ramonade]

I'm spending a lot of time working on making knives lately. And when you are very, very focused on the stuff you work on, you are a bit less focused on how you use your knife

I had to sharpen out damage on that S30V PM2 2 or 3 times during the 2 last weeks. I'm rocking F240 edges on most of my high carbides knives right now. S30V ended up getting the same treatment, I've tested many stones progressions on Spyderco's S30V but staying relatively coarse and with that particular scratch pattern is what I came to prefer.

[Bemo]

I would hazard a guess that the answer is yes. Sic powder is used to dress other bonded diamond stones. Loose or affixed to paper (i.e. sandpaper) not sure that's the most important factor. I'm awaiting other responses as well.

Appreciate the response Bemo. I'm holding off until I receive some more feedback just incase there is something to having sic free floating opposed to being fixed in place. Luckily work has been eating into my free time so the edges can wait.

If I'm either too busy or too lazy to dig out the glass and the SiC powder, I've actually used a nagura to dress my bonded stones. It seems to work well enough and doesn't appear to do any harm. YMMV of course and I'm just one small data point.

[Josh Crutchley]

Question for you guys: I recently purchased Venev cerebus dog series stones and I was wondering if using sic sandpaper on top of a slab granite w/water would suffice for dressing them.

Appreciate it

I've used sandpaper on glass to dress all of my bonded stones. Just make sure the paper is stuck flat to the surface and not curled up around the edges.

The loose abrasive will probably create a flatter surface since sandpaper can vary in thickness. Most high precision surfaces are lapped in a similar process.

[tcarltonw]

Appreciate yalls help

[Strauss95]

This looks interesting.

I'm hoping the aftermarket will make a new stone holder for this unit to utilize Edge Pro format stones, if so I may purchase one of these. Looks like a nice package overall but far from being a "game changer".

[Brock O Lee]

I'm spending a lot of time working on making knives lately. And when you are very, very focused on the stuff you work on, you are a bit less focused on how you use your knife

I had to sharpen out damage on that S30V PM2 2 or 3 times during the 2 last weeks. I'm rocking F240 edges on most of my high carbides knives right now. S30V ended up getting the same treatment, I've tested many stones progressions on Spyderco's S30V but staying relatively coarse and with that particular scratch pattern is what I came to prefer.

Impressively uniform edge! Coarse is the way to go for me too.

What guided system do you use?

[Brock O Lee]

S90V's are hair popping again.

DMT F micro bevels (PM2 15dps and Military 20dps). Stropped twice per side with 1 micron diamond on kangaroo leather. Aggressive edges.

[vivi]

Pacific Salt 1 still going strong a few weeks since I chopped some metal fencing with it

Handed it to a co-worker the other day to open a package. "**** vivi, this knife is sharp!!" Took some self control to hold me tongue and not go on a monologue on how a real edge should cut

[vivi]

S90V's are hair popping again.

DMT F micro bevels (PM2 15dps and Military 20dps). Stropped twice per side with 1 micron diamond on kangaroo leather. Aggressive edges.

That's a killer looking PM2!

[Ramonade]

Impressively uniform edge! Coarse is the way to go for me too.

What guided system do you use?

Thanks ! When I reprofile I tend to use the Work Sharp Precision Adjust (with lots of improvements) and venev dtones.

I recently started myself enough to start reprofiling by hand but I'm far from producing even scratch patterns !

[Brock O Lee]

That's a killer looking PM2!

Thanks! It was born as a teal G10 exclusive, but the OD green revs my engine much more.

[Bolster]

I've noticed some unwanted scratches on blades after sharpening with Venev diamond stones on a Hapstone R2. The blade is clamped, the stones are on a guide rod, and obviously the stones never get close to the higher portions of the blade, just the edge. Yet, as you can see, scratches far up the blade.

The only explanation I can think of is: it may be from swarf? Maybe this happens with new Venev diamonds and is less an issue as the stone breaks in? But I'm uncertain -- Other causes?

Obviously the solution is to tape the blade, which I now do regularly, but I've not had this happen with other guided sharpening stones/systems.

What do you think is causing these high scratches? It's the only disappointment I have with the Hapstone/Venev setup. All else is wonderful, and the solution is relatively simple. But it has me curious.

I emailed Konstantin at Gritomatic and he offered no explanation, he just said "tape the blade", which I already started doing.

[RustyIron]

What do you think is causing these high scratches?

Could it be from a contaminated rag? When I'm sharpening, I have a terrycloth towel that I use to dry my hands. I also have a paper towel that I FREQUENTLY use to wipe the blade. Once a section of the paper towel has been used once, and shows dark swarf, I NEVER use that area of the towel again. A contaminated paper towel is pretty much the same thing as emery cloth. I also rinse off my stones often, and wipe the surfaces of my EdgePro.

I used to get some scratches on my blades, so I started taping them. I HATE taping. Then I got lazy and started keeping everything clean. Wipe the blade, wipe the tools, wash my hands. Also, avoid sliding the blade on anything. The scratches are clearly the result of some kind of sliding.

[tcarltonw]

But it has me curious.

The angle and location might be telling? Of what I'm not sure... not familiar with the hapstone set up. Too much pressure and the the clamp system gave a little bit? Stone was slightly laterally rotated while the clamp gave? No sey.

[Ramonade]

I've noticed some unwanted scratches on blades after sharpening with Venev diamond stones on a Hapstone R2. The blade is clamped, the stones are on a guide rod, and obviously the stones never get close to the higher portions of the blade, just the edge. Yet, as you can see, scratches far up the blade.

The only explanation I can think of is: it may be from swarf? Maybe this happens with new Venev diamonds and is less an issue as the stone breaks in? But I'm uncertain -- Other causes?

Obviously the solution is to tape the blade, which I now do regularly, but I've not had this happen with other guided sharpening stones/systems.

What do you think is causing these high scratches? It's the only disappointment I have with the Hapstone/Venev setup. All else is wonderful, and the solution is relatively simple. But it has me curious.

I emailed Konstantin at Gritomatic and he offered no explanation, he just said "tape the blade", which I already started doing.

I had a similar thought recently. It never scratched the blade that bad, but I noticed micro scratches on some models. I use a variety of venev stones too and when I use them on a system, I block the ends of the rod so that I don't fall off the blade or on it.

My thought is that this happened with the paper towel I use to wipe the blade. Before noticing I always simply wiped it in any direction. Now I still do it but only go in the same direction as the satin finish (which is present on most of my knives).
RustyIron kinda said it already. Since then I have no issue. It just means that you have to be careful while sharpening, but also while doing anything surrounding this activity