Coarse or fine for ATS-34?

[Sword and Shield]

I've been working on my AG Scout lately, and am a little stuck. I've tried fine edges and I've tried coarse, but I can't seem to find the magic combination for this steel. D2 wants to be ultra-fine in my experience (green compound strop after 2000 grit) while 1095 is happy with a 320-grit Norton.

What does ATS-34 want? My general use is cardboard and whittling, which seems to draw from both sides.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Most of the problems with AST-34 tend to be a combination of how it is hardened and the inherent low grindability. Whittling it without question a very fine edge polish activity. Cardboard can be fine or coarse depending if it is cut on a slice or on a push. You can always leave a bit of the edge coarse to start cuts because they are where the cut will fail if the sharpness is too low. The main issue with ATS-34 tends to be burr formation so clean the stones, increase pressure just until you get aggressive honing action, use a proper relief grind and if this fails start to break out the jedi burr removal techniques.

-Cliff

 

[Sword and Shield]

I'm planning on sending a knife to EdgePro for their demo, maybe the Scout will be it.