didnt bring my edge small enough befor heat treating

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dustbust_1

Joined
Jun 5, 2012
Messages
57
This is my first knife made from O-1 stock removal with all hand equipment. I followed I believe Stacy's sticky. I don't think I brought my edge down far enough. After HT (sent out to Lee Oats HC 59) I re-sanded everything down nice and smooth and Id say I still have about a 1 mm edge on the thing. Ive been blasting through sandpaper like its nothing and it seems like my edge hasent moved. I have about 5 hours of sanding just on the bevel trying to bring the edge sharp.

Am I doing this right? Are there other "hand" options that will speed up the process? Can I take a file back to it or will that just tear up my files?

Thanks Guys

specs:
0-1
1/8" width
3.5" tip to ricaso
7.5" overall
supposed to be a scandi grind but its about 1/2 the blade high if that makes sense.

Ill post a pic after work.
 
I would do it on the belt sander if you have the control. Light passes and cool in the water bucket after every pass. Be careful to keep the edge in the center. Don't use gloves. If it is too hot to hold with bare hands you are going to ruin the temper. Otherwise, stay with the sandpaper. Eventually you will get there.
 
What brand of paper are you using? Good paper removes steel quickly. I use 3m paper from the automotive section of the hardware store. I find the regular sandpaper just doesn't work.
 
not sure on paper, its from menards. The grey/blue stuff that can be used for wood or metal. Ive only went down to 220 would you go down to say 80 grit? Seems like the blade just wears the "sand" off the paper.

i4Marc - cant use a power tool on my first knife : )
 
Try the 3m,Norton or other high quality paper. I haven't needed to go courser than 220 since using good paper.
 
With 1mm of hardened steel to manual grind, I would put a 60 grit AlO or SiC sand paper on a hard surface and rub hard switch side every 50 sharpening strokes or so - to make sure the apex is at or near center. Keep grinding until light almost stop reflecting on the edge. Progress to 80 > 120 > 220 > 400 > ...
 
Sandpaper will work if you get good paper. Rhynowet from Supergrit is the bomb. The 3m stuff isn't too bad either. The Harbor Freight stuff is junk.

You might make a little progress on a RC 59 knife with a file, but don't expect your file to last long.
 
Ive used my larger sharpening stones for this purpose. They can get pricey but you can achieve best results without creating a mountain of used sandpaper. Check out some you tube tutorials on using high quality sharpening stones. The lower grit stones can really move some metal.
 
Just to be clear, are you trying to thin the edge, or just sharpen it? What type of knife is it?

- Chris
 
I had the same problem just the other day. I left the edge just a bit too thick prior to heat treat. 50 grit sandpaper, a hard sanding block, a bit of elbow grease, and you'll have that edge down to nothing in no time. The problem with this, however, is you're going to have to go through your grit progression again, to get the 50 grit scratches out. good luck!
 
WOW! thanks for all the responses. Sounds like the plan of attack is to get "good" sandpaper and start very rough and work back up to a fine grit. I do sharpen all of my knives with sandpaper on glass and have been very happy with the results so I don't think im up to investing in a diamond stone.

Thanks guys
 
Something I do while the steel is still annealed is I go ahead and put a proper edge on it. Once the first rough polish is done (about 100 - 150 grit before heat tretament), I use a bar of steel (sometimes wood) with a strip of sandpaper taped tightly around it to dull the edge back to about the thickness of card stock paper. Once it's heat treated and tempered, I take it to the belt sander and very lightly restore the edge, then start with a cheap scrap belt around 80 grit and wrap it as tightly as I can around a block of wood or 3/8" thick aluminum and pinch it in the vise - works kinda like a makeshift waterstone. When it's all cleaned of pre-treatment sanding scratches and scale, I go back to my little handheld polishing bar with sandpaper strips.
 
Yeah, a 1 mm edge is too thick for anything but a chopper, and maybe too thick for that....
Get some -good- sandpaper, don't waste your time with the cheap stuff. Clamp the blade down, wrap 1/3 of a sheet of sandpaper around a stiff flat surface (I used to use a dull file, now I use a 1" wide x 9" long piece of barstock with rounded edges), I'd suggest 80-120 grit to start (get er done!). First thing I'd do to save unnecessary wear and tear on the sandpaper is to round the edge, those sharp angles will strip the abrasive off of the sandpaper long before it ever has a chance to clog up and dull. Then, proceed to work the edge thinner. Once you have the thickness of the edge right (I cannot help much here as I never measure if I can help it, and the type of knife will have some bearing on how thick you want the edge to be, but I'd say you want to go at least half the thickness it is now), switch to 180-220 grit and remove the scratches from the previous grit... then switch to 320 grit and take out the 220 grit scratches, then 600 grit, etc... until the finish is as finished as you want it. Once the knife and sheath are entirely finished, give her a proper sharpened edge.

There are many ways to skin a cat, but that is how I would handle it without access to/skill with a belt grinder.
 
While 1mm is a bit thick, it should sand down with good metal sanding paper. Some tricks when sanding post HT are to lubricate the paper with soapy water, or something like WD-40. 3M wet-or-Dry, Rhynowet, oe several other brands are the proffered papers. Go down to 100 grit if you have a lot to remove. Also, make sure you are sanding more on the edge than the spine. Blacken the blade with a marker, or Dychem, and take a stroke with your paper..... it should be hitting the edge first, not the spine first. Adjust your angle or grip to accommodate this. DMT plates/stones can make thinning a blade faster, be careful not to scratch it deeply, as deep scratches are hard to sand out of hardened blades. Once you get the edge to around .010", start going up the grits to the desired final grit. The result should be a final edge around .010" or less. I shoot for an edge that is just shy of sharp. You have to look at it across a strong light to see the tiny flat surface left.
 
OOOOKKK, jumped through my last hoop and got imageshack setup so I can upload my knife. I got some 80 grit wet/dry and 4 hours later I believe I finally have an edge. Pretty rough now but Ill work my way up to prob 2500. I was told O-1 was a good metal but holy smokes. There is no doubt that this will make a nice little knife.

well here is the shot, The handle is black palm, That part was easy since im much more familiar with woodworking. Black palm chips pretty easy and it was one of the tougher woods ive worked with but in the end they always submit. I used 2 coats of teak oil and finished with a bees wax/orange oil topcoat (which will need to be polished up again when im done) I like a more real wood look/feel than A high gloss plastic wood look/feel.



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I would hate to do stock removal on hardened steel with sand paper, by hand.

But ya have to do what ya have to do.
 
Is the black palm stabilized?

Unstabilized black palm is a nightmare. I also find that black palm cut along the grain, like yours, will pull out the fibers when worked. I cut mine at about 30 degrees to the end grain, and have it stabilized. this makes a fish scale look, and is easier to grind/sand.

Normally, the blade is finished before the handle is mounted. Final sharpening is done after the handle is finished.
 
Its not. and yes its tougher. I got lucky on the outside of the knife as there was no grain pullout. The inside is a different story. every pass with the hand plane tore grain out. It does this because the light grain is much softer. That didnt bother me as it only benefits the glue. As long there is no chip at the edge.

Yes I got over excited on finishing. I thought I could put the handle on and take 1 hour to bring the edge keen....WOOPS! This was a huge learning experience for me. you can read all you want but have no idea until you get your hands dirty.
 
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