Another run through the grits?

[Alcoholiday]

Ok, so I have come a long way since my last post, or at least I think I have. I figured out the reason for some of my earlier troubles with my DMT Magna Guide system: the extra course hone I bought separately is a single sided hone, and the height difference between the SS hone and the other two DS hones was dramatic enough to cause big problems. Fortunately, I fixed that issue with an X-Acto brand steel ruler, which made up for the height difference perfectly. All I had to do was cut and grind it to the right length and width and glue it to the blank side of the SS hone.

The problem I am having now is that I still cannot get a mirror polish on my S30V L.U.D.T. After I fixed the SS hone issue, I ran through the grits again (XC, C, F, XF, XXF), then stropped on leather charged with HA 1 micron boron carbide, followed by Ken's .5 micron CBN on leather. Don't get me wrong, the knife is scary sharp and it is shiny, however when I turn it a certain way in bright light I can see microscopic scratches along the length of the edge. I spent what I thought was more than enough time with the strops, so perhaps I need to go back and spend more time on the stones? Maybe my stubborn S30V needs more strop time?

 

[Jason B.]

S30V is tough to polish and skipping to 1micron Boron will do very little to remove the EEF scratches. 1micron diamond would be better but still too fine to remove the scratches produced by the stone. I typically used the 6 & 3 Micron DMT compounds after the EEF hone before a 1 Micron compound.

Taking S30V that high is not really to your benefit, right around the fine stone is where it tends to show the greatest performance.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Polishing with diamond hones is challenging enough, and S30V takes 'challenging' to a another level entirely.

You might consider some intermediate grits in stropping compounds. Even the EEF DMT hone (3 micron) will leave scratches that will be very difficult to clean up with 1 micron diamond compound on leather. Using 6, 3 and then 1 micron diamond compound, perhaps even on balsa or other firmer backing, should help with the transition. Keep in mind, even the 6 micron compound on softer wood or leather backing still won't likely cut as deeply as the 3 micron, nickel & steel-backed hone, which will cut a lot more aggressively and leave deeper scratches. This is why it's so important to make the gaps in grit as narrow as possible, especially when transitioning to the stropping stages.

I'm just assuming the microscopic scratches you're seeing are from the EEF DMT. If the scratches are coarser than that, obviously you'll need to go back further in grit to clean those up, before anything else.

 

[Alcoholiday]

S30V is tough to polish and skipping to 1micron Boron will do very little to remove the EEF scratches. 1micron diamond would be better but still too fine to remove the scratches produced by the stone. I typically used the 6 & 3 Micron DMT compounds after the EEF hone before a 1 Micron compound.

Taking S30V that high is not really to your benefit, right around the fine stone is where it tends to show the greatest performance.

Thanks! In this case it was more about accomplishment than performance, however I will likely take your advice about stopping with the fine hone. Performance is more of what I am looking for, considering the L.U.D.T. is my security operations duty EDC.

 

[Alcoholiday]

Polishing with diamond hones is challenging enough, and S30V takes 'challenging' to a another level entirely.

You might consider some intermediate grits in stropping compounds. Even the EEF DMT hone (3 micron) will leave scratches that will be very difficult to clean up with 1 micron diamond compound on leather. Using 6, 3 and then 1 micron diamond compound, perhaps even on balsa or other firmer backing, should help with the transition. Keep in mind, even the 6 micron compound on softer wood or leather backing still won't likely cut as deeply as the 3 micron, nickel & steel-backed hone, which will cut a lot more aggressively and leave deeper scratches. This is why it's so important to make the gaps in grit as narrow as possible, especially when transitioning to the stropping stages.

I'm just assuming the microscopic scratches you're seeing are from the EEF DMT. If the scratches are coarser than that, obviously you'll need to go back further in grit to clean those up, before anything else.

Yes, they do appear to be left behind by the EEF DMT, however it looks as though I won't be getting rid of them anytime soon, as I only have the 1 micron BC and .5 micron CBN. I asked a similar question in a previous post in reference to the feasability of jumping from the EEF to the 1 micron BC, however I don't think I made my intention very clear. Thanks for the help!