XHP - toothy or polished?

[sethwm]

Hey good folks, I'm nearing my first sharpening for my Chaparral. Curious what the collective minds here thing would be the ideal finish on this? Should I got to a mirror? Stop at something toothy like 300 grit range? Something else?

I use a KME for what it's worth.

Thanks!

[TkoK83Spy]

Toothy is always fun, and less work. Also, if you don't like how it cuts, you can just continue on from there!

[MFlovejp]

I finish my Chap at 600 grit and it makes a killer edge. Couple swipes on the strop just to refine a bit.

[Paraguy]

I prefer toothy for my Chap

[Scandi Grind]

I can't really polish my knives with my set up, but I've been wondering if I should put a toothy edge on my camp fixed blade. Since it gets used for heavier work and as a skinning knife, it seemed like from what I've read the toothier edge might perform better at those tasks and last longer.

[Matus]

Unless one has a specific need for a refined edge, toothy edge will always cut longer and be easier/faster to sharpen.

[JSumm]

After experimenting with a toothy edge on K390 and 20CV, I have to say I really like it. Trying it on everything now. Currently sporting a toothy edge on LC200N. XHP is a nice steel to sharpen though. It will do great in both. Maybe just what ever you enjoy more.

[Ramonade]

I only have one knife in XHP, and it's the Chaparral.
I gave it a mirror 14dps edge with Venev stones and it's pretty crazy. It grabs everything without you feeling it.

One of the biggest problem with high polish edges is the margin for error is bigger. Using one stone often yields better results cause we are not machines ^^. I speak for less than expert sharpeners of course, some people can reliably go through 6 stones without any loss in sharpness, but it's not as easy !

All of that is not taking into account what a big part of the forum is thinking about low grit edges. That's another facet I wanted to express.

[JSumm]

I only have one knife in XHP, and it's the Chaparral.
I gave it a mirror 14dps edge with Venev stones and it's pretty crazy. It grabs everything without you feeling it.

One of the biggest problem with high polish edges is the margin for error is bigger. Using one stone often yields better results cause we are not machines ^^. I speak for less than expert sharpeners of course, some people can reliably go through 6 stones without any loss in sharpness, but it's not as easy !

All of that is not taking into account what a big part of the forum is thinking about low grit edges. That's another facet I wanted to express.

That is a great point! I like to freehand for speed, but also the feel. Low grit for a newbie like me removes a lot of margin of error in working up to higher grit.

[RustyIron]

Flip a coin?

Whatever you do this time, next week do the opposite. Do something different the time after that. With so many stones, strops, angles, microbevels, and combinations thereof, a single blade can provide quite a lot of entertainment for a long time.

The first sharpening always involves straightening out the edge and evening up the bevels. Start off with this in mind, and with each subsequent stone, get the edge as perfect as you can. At the point when you check the edge and say to yourself, "Self, this is a darn nice edge," then it's time to stop.

[metaphoricalsimile]

This forum has a hive mind opinion about this sort of thing. Probably better to ask in other places too so you're getting a broader point of view.

[rabbitanarchy14]

i take all my knives up to 1200 on venev stones cut for a kme. i have tried toothy but i like a little finer. i have not tried a mirror polish because i believe i would mess up with more stones.

i hope the comment above was a joke because i think there are many different opinions on here. yes there is a large group that does think alike, i generally dont agree with them but i would say we are all different.

[sethwm]

I gave it a sharpening with 600, doing about 10 strokes per side with a strop and 4 micron cbn after. Needed a slight bit of reprofiling. This was one of the easiest steels I've sharpened on my KME diamonds. Didn't have to go higher than 300 grit.

Let's see how it goes.

[TkoK83Spy]

This forum has a hive mind opinion about this sort of thing. Probably better to ask in other places too so you're getting a broader point of view.

I don't think that's true. I see a lot of people around here that prefer finishes on the higher grit side as well. It just seems that a lot of us that tend to discuss sharpening more often in the sharpening threads, tend to prefer toothy edges...and there's obviously a reason for that. Maybe give it a try yourself?

[Toucan]

Iirc XHP is similar to D2 in that it has big ol' chonky chromium carbides. I would guess that toothy would work well.

[Skywalker]

Iirc XHP is similar to D2 in that it has big ol' chonky chromium carbides. I would guess that toothy would work well.

Since it's a powder steel XHP should in theory have smaller, more uniform, and more evenly distributed carbides than D2.

...but yeah, one year I took a Spyderco Hungarian (XHP) and reground Benchmade 806 (D2) deer hunting and gutted/skinned several deer with each. I didn't feel like there was that much difference in performance between the two, in terms of how long they would hold an edge before noticeably starting to drag rather than cut.

Toothy edges for XHP all the way for me.

[Soanso McMasters]

I went all the way to 2200 grit plus stropping through .5 micron on my Chaps and I really like them (done with a Wicked Edge). I’ve not tried a coarser edge on them.

[Wartstein]

i take all my knives up to 1200 on venev stones cut for a kme. i have tried toothy but i like a little finer. i have not tried a mirror polish because i believe i would mess up with more stones.

i hope the comment above was a joke because i think there are many different opinions on here. yes there is a large group that does think alike, i generally dont agree with them but i would say we are all different.

Hey "rabbit", haven't "heard" of you in a long time it seems -?! Did you take a break?

Welcome back anyway!

[rabbitanarchy14]

i take all my knives up to 1200 on venev stones cut for a kme. i have tried toothy but i like a little finer. i have not tried a mirror polish because i believe i would mess up with more stones.

i hope the comment above was a joke because i think there are many different opinions on here. yes there is a large group that does think alike, i generally dont agree with them but i would say we are all different.

Hey "rabbit", haven't "heard" of you in a long time it seems -?! Did you take a break?

Welcome back anyway!

whats up wartstein, it has been awhile, work got crazy then got covid twice, finally getting back to normal life and knives.

[Steeltoez83]

I think xhp is versatile with coarse and medium grit finishes so it depends on how one actually cuts with the knife. I would guess the kme diamond stones are the ones your most likely to use, so id try the 1500 finish. The cutting edge is not that long, so having more push cut prowess is what i would try first. Ive never used the kme system or stones before so im making assumptions based on DMT stones i have used in the past. Half the fun is experimenting with different finishes to see where longevity, preference, and performance are evaluated simultaneously.