Riz!
Platinum Member
- Joined
- May 5, 2014
- Messages
- 4,142
Picked this bad boy up on the exchange.
Its got some miles on it and the edge was sharp but overworked on what I would guess was a lanksy or DMT guided sharpener. One side had a huge flat bevel and the other had two bevels, which is common when doing multiple sharpenings with a lansky styled sharpener on a large knife. It would bite hair but not very well.
Here is my harbor freight 1x30 belt sander with the plenem board removed to make a slack belt. I use lee valley tool sharpening belts. 80 grit to reprofile, then 40, 20 and 9 micron belts, followed by a strop belt with green compound. You raise a burr on one side then raise it on the other and then go to the next belt and repeat until you get to the leather belt.
You have to be careful not to over heat the blade or burn an edge. (Ive done it). I have practiced on many beaters before doing this to good knives. I can tell you it takes SIGNIFICANTLY longer to reprofile and polish 3V then it does 1095. You can feel that the belts dont bite on 3V like they do on 1095. I am sure this is because of the vanadium carbides. They are one of the hardest carbides in properly heat treated cutlery steel.
Below is a picture of of a raised burr during the 80 grit convexing stage. This is the stage where you have to use light pressure and be careful. Rushing here will get you a recurved blade or a blunted tip or an uneven bevel. You are basically regrinding the shoulders and adding a new grind to the knife.
After going through the belts, the strop belt and the buffer you have a convex mirror edge that will literally cut holes into a parallel universe!! Or just let you bend images of words.
After cleaning this beast up and hitting the edge with the buffing wheel, you can see that the coating has some wear at the shoulder. This is a combination of wear and tear from use and the buffing wheel. Ive convexed many DLC coated folders and this is what happened to the DLC when you hit the already worn area with the buffer.
This angle and lighting exaggerates the buffed DLC.
After washing the blade thoroughly and looking at it under bright light, I found some some surface corrosion on the spine. The little dots are typical of 3V. I didnt try to scrub them off because it will also remove the DLC. I am not worried about it though because that is about as bad as it will ever get and wont effect the knife at all.
Moving further down we find some wear around the ferro notch. I do not know it this is a homemade ferro notch or factory, because I never choose this option.
I removed the handles and washed them well with dish soap and the green side of a sponge. Before washing I couldnt tell if the were really dirty green canvas or black canvas. After washing, I am confident they are black canvas.
I wiped down the blade and tang with mineral oil and then threw on my spare green canvas scales. All in all this was a great snag and I am actually glad its got some miles on it. It will be getting used for work. There is the potential for some more wear on it in that roll and to have the newness already knocked off is a good thing. Once I get the work set up how I like it, I will add some more pics. Here is the finished product!!!
"The Stealth Fighter"
Its got some miles on it and the edge was sharp but overworked on what I would guess was a lanksy or DMT guided sharpener. One side had a huge flat bevel and the other had two bevels, which is common when doing multiple sharpenings with a lansky styled sharpener on a large knife. It would bite hair but not very well.
Here is my harbor freight 1x30 belt sander with the plenem board removed to make a slack belt. I use lee valley tool sharpening belts. 80 grit to reprofile, then 40, 20 and 9 micron belts, followed by a strop belt with green compound. You raise a burr on one side then raise it on the other and then go to the next belt and repeat until you get to the leather belt.
You have to be careful not to over heat the blade or burn an edge. (Ive done it). I have practiced on many beaters before doing this to good knives. I can tell you it takes SIGNIFICANTLY longer to reprofile and polish 3V then it does 1095. You can feel that the belts dont bite on 3V like they do on 1095. I am sure this is because of the vanadium carbides. They are one of the hardest carbides in properly heat treated cutlery steel.
Below is a picture of of a raised burr during the 80 grit convexing stage. This is the stage where you have to use light pressure and be careful. Rushing here will get you a recurved blade or a blunted tip or an uneven bevel. You are basically regrinding the shoulders and adding a new grind to the knife.
After going through the belts, the strop belt and the buffer you have a convex mirror edge that will literally cut holes into a parallel universe!! Or just let you bend images of words.
After cleaning this beast up and hitting the edge with the buffing wheel, you can see that the coating has some wear at the shoulder. This is a combination of wear and tear from use and the buffing wheel. Ive convexed many DLC coated folders and this is what happened to the DLC when you hit the already worn area with the buffer.
This angle and lighting exaggerates the buffed DLC.
After washing the blade thoroughly and looking at it under bright light, I found some some surface corrosion on the spine. The little dots are typical of 3V. I didnt try to scrub them off because it will also remove the DLC. I am not worried about it though because that is about as bad as it will ever get and wont effect the knife at all.
Moving further down we find some wear around the ferro notch. I do not know it this is a homemade ferro notch or factory, because I never choose this option.
I removed the handles and washed them well with dish soap and the green side of a sponge. Before washing I couldnt tell if the were really dirty green canvas or black canvas. After washing, I am confident they are black canvas.
I wiped down the blade and tang with mineral oil and then threw on my spare green canvas scales. All in all this was a great snag and I am actually glad its got some miles on it. It will be getting used for work. There is the potential for some more wear on it in that roll and to have the newness already knocked off is a good thing. Once I get the work set up how I like it, I will add some more pics. Here is the finished product!!!
"The Stealth Fighter"
