Diamond (stones) for GEC 1095?

Gaspumps

Gaspumps

Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
302
I am taking the plunge and will be receiving my first GEC. I have a few knives from other makers with 1095 and don't use my diamond stones to sharpen them. I get much better results from traditional stones.
I realize GEC's RC is 57-59 (factory info), but am wondering if diamonds are to aggressive for these blades? Should I stick with traditional stones like I do other 1095 blades?
Thanks
 
I would say you answered your own question in your first sentence. You could use your diamonds, but it would take less effort, and you would want to use very light pressure. May be easier to mess up with the diamonds if you are use to using the traditional stones. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Blessings

Omar
 
I'd re-phrase it as "diamonds CAN be too aggressive for 1095". But, for some tasks, that can be used to advantage.

Reason I bring this up, I just recently used a Fine DMT 'credit card' hone to very quickly thin & re-bevel a Case CV blade (very similar to 1095, in terms of how it sharpens up). It occurred to me, while doing this, that the Fine diamond handles this particular job very well. Very rarely is anything coarser than a Fine diamond hone needed, for this sort of task on a folder-sized 1095 blade. Coarse or Xtra-coarse diamond would almost always be overkill, unless doing a very thick/large/heavy blade.

Diamond isn't necessarily best for the refinement of a very fine 1095 edge, again because of it's aggressiveness. With very soft 1095 (lower RC) in particular, it's very easy to create and then fully erase a new burr in one pass. This sometimes makes it difficult to detect the burr, if one isn't watching very carefully and inspecting the edge on each and every stroke. If the burr formation is overlooked, one just keeps grinding away while still 'looking' for the burr to reveal itself (been there, done that). For refinement of 1095 and similar steels, I really like the medium/finer grits in SiC sandpaper, followed by stropping with green compound on leather. As one becomes more comfortable with using a Fine/EF diamond hone on 1095, it's even possible to go straight to stropping w/green compound and/or bare leather, after it's verified the burr has been formed on the diamond hone.

But, for hogging off steel very quickly, to thin the grind and/or knock down the shoulders of a thick edge grind, diamond is especially good when a smaller hone is used (a larger bench hone in AlOx or SiC could also do it quickly). This can be especially useful if a 1095 blade needs extensive repair in the field; just whip out a pocket diamond hone and get it done (quick).


David
 
David, thanks for expanding on what I was thinking when I answered Gaspumps posting. I have no experience personally with diamond stones other than one time using a friends "honeycomb" diamond stone. I was answering based on my limited knowledge gained from postings here and some research I have done about them in the past.
All (well most anyway) of my knives are 1095 or CV and I do know from my experiences that they respond very nicely to traditional stones. If a lot of repair is needed, then a little more time is required on them. I do intend to purchase a good diamond bench stone or stones in the future for experimental use on other types of (stainless) steels.

Blessings,

Omar
 
OHALLUM said:
David, thanks for expanding on what I was thinking when I answered Gaspumps posting. I have no experience personally with diamond stones other than one time using a friends "honeycomb" diamond stone. I was answering based on my limited knowledge gained from postings here and some research I have done about them in the past.
All (well most anyway) of my knives are 1095 or CV and I do know from my experiences that they respond very nicely to traditional stones. If a lot of repair is needed, then a little more time is required on them. I do intend to purchase a good diamond bench stone or stones in the future for experimental use on other types of (stainless) steels.

Blessings,

Omar
Click to expand...

Until recently, I was sort of ambivalent about using diamond on simple carbon steels (I'd previously tended to steer people away from it, in many of my posts). BUT, something 'clicked' just a few days ago for me, when I was looking at a new Case Peanut (CV), and spur-of-the-moment just picked up my Fine DMT 'credit card' and started filing away on the pen blade (thinning it, and also filing down the spine and otherwise making the tip much more pointy). Worked out real well, and made me re-think how it may be (sometimes) useful on blades like these. I especially like using Fine/EF for this, because it still works very fast, but without the 'blunt force' damage that'd otherwise be done if using a coarser grit on a delicate blade. That's where diamond really 'shines' for this sort of thing.


David
 
and the steels that don't require that much sharpening:
zdp 189 - not
s90v - not
m4 - not

it's GEC 1095 and case cv for the tie. really, i find they keep a nice working edge even without even a treated strop. the combination of a very thin blade stock and a 15 deg edge allow them to whittle hard wood and slice anything softer with little or no problem. been using my case peanut and toothpick for more than a year now and i haven't sharpened either one. the GEC pioneer is a new addition and doesn't look like it needs any sharpening soon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top