Spyderco Forums

sal wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 22, 2022 7:38 pm

Hi David,

SE to follow. Can't d it all at once.

sal

sethwm wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 9:56 am

Combining my love of two things in this response. I was able to get my SPY27 para 3 shaving sharp on the golden stone this morning. About 10 passes per side. Prior to that it was still cutting paper but hanging up. Now it's sliding through paper and shaving. SPY27 is shockingly easy to sharpen. Is it the best on edge retention? No. But given it took 30 seconds to sharpen with no KME setup and no water and no oil, I don't mind doing this twice a week.

WilliamMunny wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:17 am

sethwm wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 9:56 am

Combining my love of two things in this response. I was able to get my SPY27 para 3 shaving sharp on the golden stone this morning. About 10 passes per side. Prior to that it was still cutting paper but hanging up. Now it's sliding through paper and shaving. SPY27 is shockingly easy to sharpen. Is it the best on edge retention? No. But given it took 30 seconds to sharpen with no KME setup and no water and no oil, I don't mind doing this twice a week.

I was thinking about this myself after reading a lot of feed back on high edge retention steels like S90V, Maxamet, etc. It seems like it is highly recommended to not let these go dull and you need to tough them up weekly. Even with high edge retention steels it seems like you need to still maintain the edge almost as much but in a different way.

weeping minora wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 11:57 am

WilliamMunny wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:17 am

sethwm wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 9:56 am

Combining my love of two things in this response. I was able to get my SPY27 para 3 shaving sharp on the golden stone this morning. About 10 passes per side. Prior to that it was still cutting paper but hanging up. Now it's sliding through paper and shaving. SPY27 is shockingly easy to sharpen. Is it the best on edge retention? No. But given it took 30 seconds to sharpen with no KME setup and no water and no oil, I don't mind doing this twice a week.

I was thinking about this myself after reading a lot of feed back on high edge retention steels like S90V, Maxamet, etc. It seems like it is highly recommended to not let these go dull and you need to tough them up weekly. Even with high edge retention steels it seems like you need to still maintain the edge almost as much but in a different way.

Touching up the higher carbide steels weekly to keep "sharpness" is kind of like removing gunpowder from your ammunition; you're underselling its worth and the overpaying its cost. A huge part of the advantage to these steels is their edge retention, which in many cases is the working edge. The working edge on many steels of this class, at least available in production knives, tends to be toothy and can feel a bit dull on the finger after that fresh edge has broken in. This can be most noticeable on S30V, S90V, S110V, IME. K390 and Maxamet seem to keep their "sharpness" better in that regard after use. The edge still wants to "bite" like a fresh edge, however they are still incredibly aggressive with "teeth".

You're constantly removing steel and potentially fatiguing the edge touching steels of this calibre up so frequently, thus reducing usability and lifespan of your knives. I suggest keeping strops handy for weekly touch ups in between sharpenings. Gather the right abrasives for your arsenal and these steels will pay off for your time invested on the stones; it just might take more concentration and more steps to get there, as some of these steels can be unforgiving to mishaps (muffing edge angle, abrasives, skipping too many abrasives...).

That being said, SPY27 is a steel with great attributes and I believe should be offered (and will be, in time) to a wider range of the Spydie line-up.

sethwm wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 1:03 pm

weeping minora wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 11:57 am

WilliamMunny wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:17 am

sethwm wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 9:56 am

Combining my love of two things in this response. I was able to get my SPY27 para 3 shaving sharp on the golden stone this morning. About 10 passes per side. Prior to that it was still cutting paper but hanging up. Now it's sliding through paper and shaving. SPY27 is shockingly easy to sharpen. Is it the best on edge retention? No. But given it took 30 seconds to sharpen with no KME setup and no water and no oil, I don't mind doing this twice a week.

I was thinking about this myself after reading a lot of feed back on high edge retention steels like S90V, Maxamet, etc. It seems like it is highly recommended to not let these go dull and you need to tough them up weekly. Even with high edge retention steels it seems like you need to still maintain the edge almost as much but in a different way.

Touching up the higher carbide steels weekly to keep "sharpness" is kind of like removing gunpowder from your ammunition; you're underselling its worth and the overpaying its cost. A huge part of the advantage to these steels is their edge retention, which in many cases is the working edge. The working edge on many steels of this class, at least available in production knives, tends to be toothy and can feel a bit dull on the finger after that fresh edge has broken in. This can be most noticeable on S30V, S90V, S110V, IME. K390 and Maxamet seem to keep their "sharpness" better in that regard after use. The edge still wants to "bite" like a fresh edge, however they are still incredibly aggressive with "teeth".

You're constantly removing steel and potentially fatiguing the edge touching steels of this calibre up so frequently, thus reducing usability and lifespan of your knives. I suggest keeping strops handy for weekly touch ups in between sharpenings. Gather the right abrasives for your arsenal and these steels will pay off for your time invested on the stones; it just might take more concentration and more steps to get there, as some of these steels can be unforgiving to mishaps (muffing edge angle, abrasives, skipping too many abrasives...).

That being said, SPY27 is a steel with great attributes and I believe should be offered (and will be, in time) to a wider range of the Spydie line-up.

You think even for the SPY27 that's too frequent?

weeping minora wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:39 am

sethwm wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 1:03 pm

weeping minora wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 11:57 am

WilliamMunny wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:17 am

I was thinking about this myself after reading a lot of feed back on high edge retention steels like S90V, Maxamet, etc. It seems like it is highly recommended to not let these go dull and you need to tough them up weekly. Even with high edge retention steels it seems like you need to still maintain the edge almost as much but in a different way.

Touching up the higher carbide steels weekly to keep "sharpness" is kind of like removing gunpowder from your ammunition; you're underselling its worth and the overpaying its cost. A huge part of the advantage to these steels is their edge retention, which in many cases is the working edge. The working edge on many steels of this class, at least available in production knives, tends to be toothy and can feel a bit dull on the finger after that fresh edge has broken in. This can be most noticeable on S30V, S90V, S110V, IME. K390 and Maxamet seem to keep their "sharpness" better in that regard after use. The edge still wants to "bite" like a fresh edge, however they are still incredibly aggressive with "teeth".

You're constantly removing steel and potentially fatiguing the edge touching steels of this calibre up so frequently, thus reducing usability and lifespan of your knives. I suggest keeping strops handy for weekly touch ups in between sharpenings. Gather the right abrasives for your arsenal and these steels will pay off for your time invested on the stones; it just might take more concentration and more steps to get there, as some of these steels can be unforgiving to mishaps (muffing edge angle, abrasives, skipping too many abrasives...).

That being said, SPY27 is a steel with great attributes and I believe should be offered (and will be, in time) to a wider range of the Spydie line-up.

You think even for the SPY27 that's too frequent?

I've had good results just stropping SPY27 for the better part of 3 weeks following sharpening. The steel seems to have a way of retaining its aggression, even after continued stropping(s), leading to its prolonged edge life before a sharpening is necessary.

sethwm wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:55 am

weeping minora wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:39 am

sethwm wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 1:03 pm

weeping minora wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 11:57 am

Touching up the higher carbide steels weekly to keep "sharpness" is kind of like removing gunpowder from your ammunition; you're underselling its worth and the overpaying its cost. A huge part of the advantage to these steels is their edge retention, which in many cases is the working edge. The working edge on many steels of this class, at least available in production knives, tends to be toothy and can feel a bit dull on the finger after that fresh edge has broken in. This can be most noticeable on S30V, S90V, S110V, IME. K390 and Maxamet seem to keep their "sharpness" better in that regard after use. The edge still wants to "bite" like a fresh edge, however they are still incredibly aggressive with "teeth".

You're constantly removing steel and potentially fatiguing the edge touching steels of this calibre up so frequently, thus reducing usability and lifespan of your knives. I suggest keeping strops handy for weekly touch ups in between sharpenings. Gather the right abrasives for your arsenal and these steels will pay off for your time invested on the stones; it just might take more concentration and more steps to get there, as some of these steels can be unforgiving to mishaps (muffing edge angle, abrasives, skipping too many abrasives...).

That being said, SPY27 is a steel with great attributes and I believe should be offered (and will be, in time) to a wider range of the Spydie line-up.

You think even for the SPY27 that's too frequent?

I've had good results just stropping SPY27 for the better part of 3 weeks following sharpening. The steel seems to have a way of retaining its aggression, even after continued stropping(s), leading to its prolonged edge life before a sharpening is necessary.

I suck at stropping. Maybe it's just my setup. I feel like it does nothing. But I have one strop with green compound absolutely caked onto it, so maybe it's time to reset, get some diamond spray, and try again.

weeping minora wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:20 am

sethwm wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:55 am

weeping minora wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:39 am

sethwm wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 1:03 pm

You think even for the SPY27 that's too frequent?

I've had good results just stropping SPY27 for the better part of 3 weeks following sharpening. The steel seems to have a way of retaining its aggression, even after continued stropping(s), leading to its prolonged edge life before a sharpening is necessary.

I suck at stropping. Maybe it's just my setup. I feel like it does nothing. But I have one strop with green compound absolutely caked onto it, so maybe it's time to reset, get some diamond spray, and try again.

Try some diamond emulsion or suspension spray. Jende has some solid product at still reasonable prices; available through Sharpening Supplies, or Gritomatic. I'd go no further than 1 micron. I've gone down to .5 micron just for the "lets see where this takes us" and I find little-to-no benefit. It seems the more common mindset these days is to just clean the burr off the steel to a grit as coarse as possible, but I find better results in longevity with a finer finish. Just kind of have to play with the results you're after.

FWIW, I'm currently using the Sharpening Supplies paddle strop (~12"x3"?) that I split between two different micron ratings; in my case 4 and 1 micron diamond suspension from a brand called Stroppy Stuff, available through Gritomatic. I only use the stiffer, smooth side of leather on the strop. I wish that SS would offer the strop in dual-sided smooth leather, instead of one side with suede; as the suede side seems more impeding, not allowing enough stiffness to get the results I'm after, but it does allow experimentation and I'm sure could be more useful for softer/lower alloy steels.

sethwm wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 27, 2022 1:50 pm

weeping minora wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:20 am

sethwm wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:55 am

weeping minora wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:39 am

I've had good results just stropping SPY27 for the better part of 3 weeks following sharpening. The steel seems to have a way of retaining its aggression, even after continued stropping(s), leading to its prolonged edge life before a sharpening is necessary.

I suck at stropping. Maybe it's just my setup. I feel like it does nothing. But I have one strop with green compound absolutely caked onto it, so maybe it's time to reset, get some diamond spray, and try again.

Try some diamond emulsion or suspension spray. Jende has some solid product at still reasonable prices; available through Sharpening Supplies, or Gritomatic. I'd go no further than 1 micron. I've gone down to .5 micron just for the "lets see where this takes us" and I find little-to-no benefit. It seems the more common mindset these days is to just clean the burr off the steel to a grit as coarse as possible, but I find better results in longevity with a finer finish. Just kind of have to play with the results you're after.

FWIW, I'm currently using the Sharpening Supplies paddle strop (~12"x3"?) that I split between two different micron ratings; in my case 4 and 1 micron diamond suspension from a brand called Stroppy Stuff, available through Gritomatic. I only use the stiffer, smooth side of leather on the strop. I wish that SS would offer the strop in dual-sided smooth leather, instead of one side with suede; as the suede side seems more impeding, not allowing enough stiffness to get the results I'm after, but it does allow experimentation and I'm sure could be more useful for softer/lower alloy steels.

If you're just touching up after a bunch of cutting, would you use both 4 and 1 micron? Or just one of them? if I were to start with just one, would it be the 4?

(I know this is off track a bit... except we're talking about SPY27 sharpening here! :D)