Anyone else notice certain steels burring up worse?

[Steel130]

I waa just curious if anyone else have noticed certain steels having more stubborn burrs? I have had the more trouble with 14c28n and VG-10. Once they get a burr the just seem tough to get rid of. And another weird thing. My burrs I get are always on the left side of the edge. Another observation is that my blades with powdered steels are much easier to avoid burrs or remove them.

 

[GCG199]

14C28N is a powered-process stainless steel. It just doesn't have the huge amount of carbon (or any vanadium) for serious wear resistance.

14C28N & VG-10 are two of my favorite stainless steels. I take them to a highly polished edge — 8,000 grit DMT diamond or Spyderco ultra fine stones — and then strop them on plain leather.

 

[Jason B.]

Sometimes its the steel, sometimes its the stones, and sometimes its you. But yes, some steels such as VG-10 like to hold a burr just a bit longer.

 

[Adventure Wolf]

If those are burring you might need to look at how you're sharpening your knife. You might need to use a finer stone or use a different technique when you're sharpening with the stone. Unless I knew exactly what your technique and equipment are, that's the best advice I can give you.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Yes, some are definitely more prone to it. VG-10, 420HC & ATS-34, in particular, are probably the 'top three' on my own list of tenacious burr-formers, at RC hardness below ~60 or so (and 420HC improves at around RC 58 or better). Not a big deal, if you focus on really learning how to clean the burrs up. All three of these steels are great performers, once the burrs/wire edges are out of the way. Certain sharpening materials, like ceramics on rod-type sharpeners, can create burrs all the more easily, due to the very hard abrasive applying pressure to a very small area of the edge. It's mostly the pressure exerted against the edge, that does most of the damage. The 'proof' of that is in how these very same burrs get cleaned up: using very, very light pressure to abrade them away.

 

[Steel130]

Thanks for the tips and feedback guys. I have had more difficulty with burrs when I stop sharpening at a low grit stone. I guess that is where the ultra light honing on the stone comes in. It's a totally new challenge.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Thanks for the tips and feedback guys. I have had more difficulty with burrs when I stop sharpening at a low grit stone. I guess that is where the ultra light honing on the stone comes in. It's a totally new challenge.

Some very, very light edge-leading strokes on the coarse, at a slightly elevated angle can help clean up those coarse burrs. You could also do the very same thing on a medium or fine hone. The important thing is to keep it very light (as if just brushing dust off the hone, with only the weight of the blade and no more). Elevating the angle a little bit will act to bend & break off at least some of the burr, and the light strokes will do the rest by very gentle abrasion (filing it away, in essence). Finish by stropping on some very firm leather or wood, such as balsa. Most of the burr should be removed with the stones; but when it becomes very fine, the firm leather and maybe some SiC or green compound can help finish it off, with the steels you mentioned. Some 1 micron diamond compound also works well, but go gentle with it, as it works more aggressively. It's easier to 'over-strop' with the diamond, which will take some of the 'bite' out of your toothy edge.

 

[Steel130]

Some very, very light edge-leading strokes on the coarse, at a slightly elevated angle can help clean up those coarse burrs. You could also do the very same thing on a medium or fine hone. The important thing is to keep it very light (as if just brushing dust off the hone, with only the weight of the blade and no more). Elevating the angle a little bit will act to bend & break off at least some of the burr, and the light strokes will do the rest by very gentle abrasion (filing it away, in essence). Finish by stropping on some very firm leather or wood, such as balsa. Most of the burr should be removed with the stones; but when it becomes very fine, the firm leather and maybe some SiC or green compound can help finish it off, with the steels you mentioned. Some 1 micron diamond compound also works well, but go gentle with it, as it works more aggressively. It's easier to 'over-strop' with the diamond, which will take some of the 'bite' out of your toothy edge.

Thanks. I was messing around with sharpening on Spydercos medium grit. I finished with reqlly really light strokes. And then on Kangaroo leather with .25 micron diamond spray. I actually got two knives to hair whittling ability. Which when I first started sharpening I never would have thought possible .