Best way to sharpen O1?

[Ferahgo]

I have a JK Friction Folder in O1, and saber ground

I have an incredibly difficult time sharpening this blade. Is O1 steel obscenely hard? If so, what is the best way to sharpen it? I have tried several techniques, including a tool sharpener and just plain old Arkansas stones. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bucketstove]

Hello

Is O1 steel obscenely hard?

No, O1 steel is not obscenely hard, so says the internet for example

Low grindability means it is hard to grind, high grindability means it is easy to grind.

So that means O-1 has medium grindability, compared to D2 which has low grindability ... all over the internet you can hear people complain that D2 is a pain to grind O1 is considerably easier than that

I have a JK Friction Folder in O1, and saber ground
...I have an incredibly difficult time sharpening this blade. Is O1 steel obscenely hard? If so, what is the best way to sharpen it? I have tried several techniques, including a tool sharpener and just plain old Arkansas stones. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What is this "tool sharpener" , a motorized machine
or some kind of slot gadget?

Are you new to sharpening, can you be more specific about the technique/method you tried?
what angle ar you using, how is your angle control?

From that picture and the others you have, that knife seems very very very very very very very thick ... the sabre grind could easily be 30dps, which would make the edge bevel is 40dps ...
have you tried measuring the angles?


I also read on the internet that Arkansas stones can slow to raise a burr, but are fine for cutting a burr off ( microbevel )

 

[Ferahgo]

Hello

No, O1 steel is not obscenely hard, so says the internet for example
So that means O-1 has medium grindability, compared to D2 which has low grindability ... all over the internet you can hear people complain that D2 is a pain to grind O1 is considerably easier than that


What is this "tool sharpener" , a motorized machine
or some kind of slot gadget?

Are you new to sharpening, can you be more specific about the technique/method you tried?
what angle ar you using, how is your angle control?

From that picture and the others you have, that knife seems very very very very very very very thick ... the sabre grind could easily be 30dps, which would make the edge bevel is 40dps ...
have you tried measuring the angles?


I also read on the internet that Arkansas stones can slow to raise a burr, but are fine for cutting a burr off ( microbevel )

Interesting steel fact sheet. Thanks for that.
And no, just a little carbide steel bit. Nothing motorized. And I am not new to sharpening by any means. Using the same basic technique, I can achieve a literal hair whittling edge. I do all of this completely free hand, but my control is sufficient. The blade is 5/32". I have no way or need of measuring angles.

 

[bucketstove]

Interesting steel fact sheet. Thanks for that.
And no, just a little carbide steel bit. Nothing motorized. And I am not new to sharpening by any means. Using the same basic technique, I can achieve a literal hair whittling edge. I do all of this completely free hand, but my control is sufficient. The blade is 5/32". I have no way or need of measuring angles.

Wait a minute, hair whittling with carbide steel bit?
ok, wow, thats impressive ....
still impressive even if its off the arkansas stone
... what kind of steel/blade do you get hair whittling sharp?

Can you get paper slicing with this O1?
Do you use reflection method or trying to raise a burr and how far do you get,
is the stone abrading the steel at all?

update: walk into any home depot, for under $7 tax included , norton economy 6in tool and knife sharpener... its abrasive
update: hahaha, they're stocked low to the floor, N Spokane #4719, Spokane, WA 99218 ; 6 In Stock ; Aisle 17, Bay 010

 

[aesmith]

O1, assuming sensible heat treat, should be dead easy to sharpen on any sort of normal bench stone.

 

[Phydeaux]

I make knives using 01. I haven't had any problem sharpening them, using a Norton IB8 stone. With that said, the 01 feels much harder than a lot of other steels when running across the stone.

Ric

 

[fsatsil]

Try using something other then Arkansas stones they tend to be extremely slow especially on harder more wear resistant steel. The Norton Economy stone mentioned above is a good inexpensive option.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Interesting steel fact sheet. Thanks for that.
And no, just a little carbide steel bit. Nothing motorized. And I am not new to sharpening by any means. Using the same basic technique, I can achieve a literal hair whittling edge. I do all of this completely free hand, but my control is sufficient. The blade is 5/32". I have no way or need of measuring angles.

How small is that 'little carbide steel bit'? If it's one of the tiny carbide sharpeners, and you're having difficulty making this knife sharp, it's likely a lot more steel has to to come off the edge to make it so (edge angle too wide, or edge not fully apexed, or very thick behind the edge, or all of these in tandem). A very small sharpening tool such as this might not get it there, if a lot of steel needs to come off to improve the edge geometry; the tiny contact area is the limitation. In terms of removing a lot of metal quickly, the abrasive surface area of the stone/tool makes the biggest difference for doing that, assuming the abrasive itself is adequate to the job (and that shouldn't be an issue with O1 steel).

O1 steel doesn't have a lot of hard carbides that'd otherwise make it difficult with most ordinary stones. Assuming a thickish edge that could use thinning or rebevelling, the suggested Norton Economy SiC stone should do it easily.

Arkansas stones are more prone to glazing, meaning the abrasive grit loses it's sharp cutting edges by wear; that wear & glazing could happen quickly in trying to sharpen high-vanadium carbide steels like S30V on it. That could be an issue too, if it's not working well.


David

 

[Ferahgo]

Wait a minute, hair whittling with carbide steel bit?
ok, wow, thats impressive ....
still impressive even if its off the arkansas stone
... what kind of steel/blade do you get hair whittling sharp?

Can you get paper slicing with this O1?
Do you use reflection method or trying to raise a burr and how far do you get,
is the stone abrading the steel at all?

update: walk into any home depot, for under $7 tax included , norton economy 6in tool and knife sharpener... its abrasive
update: hahaha, they're stocked low to the floor, N Spokane #4719, Spokane, WA 99218 ; 6 In Stock ; Aisle 17, Bay 010

I have gotten a hair whittling edge with both carbide and Arkansas stone. I tend to finish on a steel, black strop and a bare strop. That is what finishes the edge off nicely. I have gotten various steel to this stage. Bucks 440 and 420, S30V, 1095, 5160, and a HC Opinel.
I can get to newspaper slicing, but is is very rough and noisy. I usually attempt to feel the bur before I move on to the other side. And yes, the stone works fine. After I put up this knife, I proceeded to obtain a sharp edge on a kitchen knife.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

The problem is the knife. The blade grind is wrong.

 

[Bobby3326]

I have gotten a hair whittling edge with both carbide and Arkansas stone. I tend to finish on a steel, black strop and a bare strop. That is what finishes the edge off nicely. I have gotten various steel to this stage. Bucks 440 and 420, S30V, 1095, 5160, and a HC Opinel.
I can get to newspaper slicing, but is is very rough and noisy. I usually attempt to feel the bur before I move on to the other side. And yes, the stone works fine. After I put up this knife, I proceeded to obtain a sharp edge on a kitchen knife.

So you reach a hair whittling edge, yet it doesn't cleanly slice newspaper? I reach a cleanly slicing newspaper edge long before it becomes a hair whittling edge.

 

[DeadboxHero]

I have gotten a hair whittling edge with both carbide and Arkansas stone. I tend to finish on a steel, black strop and a bare strop. That is what finishes the edge off nicely. I have gotten various steel to this stage. Bucks 440 and 420, S30V, 1095, 5160, and a HC Opinel.
I can get to newspaper slicing, but is is very rough and noisy. I usually attempt to feel the bur before I move on to the other side. And yes, the stone works fine. After I put up this knife, I proceeded to obtain a sharp edge on a kitchen knife.

Let's get a picture for proof

 

[Bobby3326]

Let's get a picture for proof

S30v is p.i.n.t.a. to getting a working edge on anything but diamond sharpeners, much less hair whittling.

 

[CSSA]

I moved from using just Arkansas bench stones to using diamond bench 'stones' and finishing on a Black Hard Arkansas. Using the diamond stones saves an amazing amount of time and does a good enough job that I'm beginning to wonder if I should even bother finishing on the Black Hard Stone. S30V, S90V, and D2 all sharpen easily on diamond stones.

 

[fsatsil]

S30v is p.i.n.t.a. to getting a working edge on anything but diamond sharpeners, much less hair whittling.

Diamond isn't the only option for sharpening S30V but I agree that putting a hair whittling edge on S30V using an Arkansas stone is a bit hard to believe unless it's only being used as a finishing stone.

 

[Bobby3326]

Diamond isn't the only option for sharpening S30V but I agree that putting a hair whittling edge on S30V using an Arkansas stone is a bit hard to believe unless it's only being used as a finishing stone.

Yea I know it's not the only option, probably just the easiest and fastest I've experienced...sand paper will also work, just a lil slower, but will produce a shaving sharp edge. I prefer s30v slightly toothy, so I've never taken it to a hair whittling polished edge before. Like you said you a hair whittling using a carbide or Arkansas stone doesn't sound believable.

 

[fsatsil]

I also prefer S30V A bit toothy so I generally don't go any finer then 1k if using waterstones and 600grit for diamond or SiC. I've found that you really don't need to put a highly polished edge on S30V to get it extremely sharp. I sharpened my PM2 using silicon carbide stones in 240 and 400grit and it easily whittles hair while still retaining a good bit of tooth/bite. Sorry for the poor quality pic

 

[Bobby3326]

I also prefer S30V A bit toothy so I generally don't go any finer then 1k if using waterstones and 600grit for diamond or SiC. I've found that you really don't need to put a highly polished edge on S30V to get it extremely sharp. I sharpened my PM2 using silicon carbide stones in 240 and 400grit and it easily whittles hair while still retaining a good bit of tooth/bite. Sorry for the poor quality pic

I've only taken my s30v ridiculously sharp once...while s30v holds a sharp edge for a very long time it loses that wicked sharp edge pretty quickly. So I don't even bother anymore, I take it to either shaving sharp or hair popping and that's it, for my use itll hold that edge forever before needing stropped back.

 

[DeadboxHero]

I talked in person with Derrick from knivesshipfree. He has the opportunity to be surround by the sharpest and most expensive knives in the world. I had to know which steel could hold the hair whittling, treetoping and hair splitting edge the longest. The answer "none" "they all lose that amount of sharpness the same." So S30v is no different in that regard.

 

[fsatsil]

Ill agree that most steels don't hold a very high degree of sharpness(hair whittling, tree topping..etc) for very long but what I was trying to show is that you don't need to spend a lot of time putting a highly polished edge on S30V or any other steel for that matter to get it extremely sharp.

Anyways back to the OPs problem getting O1 sharp, it's likely a combination of technique and the stone being used. IMO Arkansas stone are better suited to finishing and are extremely slow for setting the initial edge angle. This slow cutting results in fatigue which leads to not holding a consistent angle which leads to a a not so sharp edge. Its just a matter of using the right tool for the job and I think an inexpensive Norton India or Crystalon stone would probably solve the problem