All INFI is created equal... or is it???

I know it's about as unscientific as it gets but with my TGLB and my SOB, I can tell a difference in the sound and feel of the steel going over the sharpening rods. The SOB seems harder and so far it seems to hold an edge better.
 
clampdaddy said:
I know it's about as unscientific as it gets but with my TGLB and my SOB, I can tell a difference in the sound and feel of the steel going over the sharpening rods. The SOB seems harder and so far it seems to hold an edge better.
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That is interesting. I have had the same thing with some. But if you check hardness, Busse's are some of the most uniform Rc knives I have ever seen. The post straight handles average 59 +- .3, which is amazing consistency.
 
Cobalt said:
[video=youtube;zzpL9CW_AJA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzpL9CW_AJA[/video]


I have yet to see a steel that can do better than this. And yes I have tested some 10+ steels this same way. Most of them broke through.
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Thank you for this community service, Cobalt!
 
TripleT said:
I'm not sure I agree. I think your sharpening is just better than the factory edge. I don't think the belt is going to change the properties of the steel.

There are also some models that have been heat treated harder.
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I don't have all the answers, but some folks really into testing knives say they have evidence that the heat generated by dry sharpening damages the a tiny fraction of a millimeter of the blade as it thins into the apex. They contend that dry sharpening by hand does the damage. So it they are correct, imagine the damage done with a belt grinder (which is how production knives will be sharpened.)

I do know considerable heat is generated with the belt grinder, and lots of anecdotal evidence out there suggests that resharpened edges last longer than the factory edges. I'm inclined to believe there might be something to it. This isn't a phenomenon related to just Busse's.

Here's a thread I started a few years ago as I started to look into it. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...temper-when-sharpening-Has-anyone-tested-this
 
Gravelface said:
Me thinks you need a tougher table top Dennis.
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haha, this one is for you Jason:

875dacbd-1d0a-4c9c-8d06-e8f3a3e96f46.jpg


:D
 
In the little testing I've done between INFI and SR101, SR101 definitely held its edge better in terms of wear resistance. I haven't had a chance to adequately test INFI's toughness, but I know SR101 really amazed me with its toughness. INFI must be pretty tough.

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ALLHSS said:
In the little testing I've done between INFI and SR101, SR101 definitely held its edge better in terms of wear resistance. I haven't had a chance to adequately test INFI's toughness, but I know SR101 really amazed me with its toughness. INFI must be pretty tough.

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yeah, it is pretty much on a whole other level. I have seen divits taken out of SR101, and I have never seen a Busse do that. I am sure there may be one or two, but I have severely abuse it and never had one do that.
 
leozinho said:
some folks really into testing knives say they have evidence that the heat generated by dry sharpening damages the a tiny fraction of a millimeter of the blade as it thins into the apex. They contend that dry sharpening by hand does the damage.
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Hand sharpening heats the blade up enough to do damage? I thought that wasn't possible; how fast would you have to be going?
 
BlackKnight86 said:
Hand sharpening heats the blade up enough to do damage? I thought that wasn't possible; how fast would you have to be going?
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I didn't think it was possible either, but remember we are talking about the last few microns at the apex. When you think of it that way, it sounds plausible.

I can say that you will feel the heat generated sharpening a scandi grind on a dry coarse stone. (Lay a Mora flat on the scandi grind and keep your fingers on the blade near the edge as you would as if you are using the "Japanese" method of sharpening a kitchen knife. If you can feel the heat where your fingers are, imagine the heat at the apex.) Presumably, sharpening on a wet waterstone would alleviate this.

I'm just passing on what I have read. But the phenomenon of home sharpened edges lasting longer than factory edges is documented, at least anecdotally.
 
There is no way you can overheat an edge with hand sharpenning unless you are moving fast like if you were sanding wood. There are hand sharpenning systems thay I can see being able to hand sharpen fast but for the most part if you are methodical about it. There is no way in my opinion. But maybe there is a way.
 
Power applied edges perform poorer than hand-applied edges. Randalls often do better because the final bevel is said to be done by hand.

The main effect I noted is the edge will do a slight wire edge when chopping, then break a small segment of that wire edge, sometimes taking a bit more than that along for the ride...

I think the cleanness of the original billets also counts for a lot.

Gaston
 
I agree. But I would love to see how a hand applied edge can overheat the steel.
 
Here is another issue that comes up with power sharpening. With steels, the higher the alloy content the lower the thermal conductivity. So for example, a stainless steel conducts heat at a lower rate than a plain carbon steel. This is good and bad. Higher alloy content does resist heat damage better. But because it is a lesser conductor of heat you may not notice the localized heating of the edge because of it. Of course blade design, thickness, width all come into play as well.

The rule has always been that if the blade is warm, you probably damaged the edge. If at no point the edge is warm you are probably fine. If you use power tools. I have never had a warm edge by hand sharpening.
 
Keep in mind, you need to get north of 400 degrees before you really start to impact the temper on most steel. Even then it's a sliding scale, the higher you get the more points RC hardness you knock off. Even then the damage is only as severe to the depth it soaks in.

ETA: infi is supposed to be very heat resistant IIRC, that would imply a temper temperature even higher than 400.

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cpirtle said:
Keep in mind, you need to get north of 400 degrees before you really start to impact the temper on most steel. Even then it's a sliding scale, the higher you get the more points RC hardness you knock off. Even then the damage is only as severe to the depth it soaks in.

ETA: info is supposed to be very heat resistant IIRC, that would imply a temper temperature even higher than 400.

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I remember reading that INFI isn't affected until near 900 degrees. But that can be pretty easy to reach at the edge.
 
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