CBN wheels for sharpening

[DeadboxHero]

It is not about hardness of blade , it s about DID ceramic on belt cut carbides and + it s generate a lot of heat so you need coolant ? CBN will cut vanadium carbides surely and only 40 % heat goes on steel ???
WHY edge on my HSS knives last much longer when I sharpen them with diamonds ?
I don t know...I still think that they are better/faster/safer then ceramic belts ...google this company knifegrinders

The coated wheel is not as good as a bonded wheel. The CBN is only coated with a single layer that will tear and wear fast. The Bonded wheels are better, they have CBN grains throughout and are a few MM thick and last longer, cut faster and finish better if you keep them well dressed. Just lots of $$$

Also wheels are not a solution for blade grinding, just sharpening.

Either way, I don't use wheels

I sharpen freehand on CBN bonded stones I had made to my specifications and design to sell.
From Resin Bonded

To the more premium vitrified bonded.

The get lots of use and testing. I NEED these for what I do with testing and making knives so it's more then a simple WANT.

Here is Rex 121 at 70-71rc with a HT done by working with Brad at Peter's heat treat.

The stone used to cut the bevels was a 600 grit Vitrified Bonded CBN stone of my design.

The finish on the side of the blade was also done with the stone.

I was able to remove 60 grit ceramic belt scratches with a 600 grit CBN Vitrified bonded stone.

Here is a knife in CPM S60V at 60-61rc. It has 2.15% carbon and 5.50% Vanadium so it can produce a lot of MC type Vanadium carbides that are very hard.

It's a complete pussy cat to sharpen since the matrix is not as hard, I used a SiC abrasive stone bonded in magnesia.


Meanwhile, here is CPM 4V, 1.35% carbon and 3.85% Vanadium, so it has less alloy then CPM S60v but this 4V is at 67hrc.
By comparison, this 4V is a bear to sharpen on ceramic but not with CBN or Diamond abrasive stones.

While there are various degrees of actual MC Type Vanadium carbide at 81-83rc due to choices made with HT times and temps despite the alloy contents, My point is, Hardness DOES matter.

Another example is Spyderco made a very bold move with making production knives in Maxamet Steel Heat treated to 67-68 hrc.
It was met with mixed feelings from end users, especially those that refused to accept that the steel NEEDS harder abrasive then ceramic to fully enjoy and use.

Here is My Maxamet Manix I have been testing and using very hard for the past year now.
15dps on my 1500 grit CBN resin bonded stone.

I then moved to a 1um diamond compound on leather. Then to a 0.05um diamond compound.

The result was a 0.1um edge on the BESS sharpness tester on a steel with a HUGE carbide Volume and high hardness.

If I was using ceramics only I'd be closer to a 300g to 400g edge even with the same abrasive grain size. That's because the softer abrasive grains can't cut the Carbide nor the matrix, just tearing and burnishing.