Recommendation? Edge maintenance options

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ktataragasi

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Hello everyone. I currently use a KME system to reprofile my knife edges and then usually use a Spyderco Double Stuff (medium and fine ceramic) to touch up my edges. I also have the KME strops with CBN emulsions but for some reason I never really like how my edge performs even if I just use the 4 micron strop for maintenance.

The ceramic gets me to a very fine edge with a good bit of bite but I feel like as soon as I strop on the 4 micron it's gone.

Should I be going to the 1 micron or just not worry about it? I think of stropping just because it removes less material. Steels I have are S35vn, S30v, Maxemet, 1095, CV.

Thank you for the help!
 
Try getting some basswood at a local hobby store and add some of the emulsion to that, guessing that would work better for you. I'm thinking your problem is to much pressure on a substrate that has give that is loaded with 4 mic abrasive.
 
NORTHWEST_KNIFE_GUY said:
Try getting some basswood at a local hobby store and add some of the emulsion to that, guessing that would work better for you. I'm thinking your problem is to much pressure on a substrate that has give that is loaded with 4 mic abrasive.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. I guess I've always been confused about the pressure requirement for stropping. Is it just the weight of the knife or a little more? Also is 4 micron a good grit for maintaining an edge or should I go higher or lower for a strop?
 
ktataragasi said:
Thanks for the reply. I guess I've always been confused about the pressure requirement for stropping. Is it just the weight of the knife or a little more? Also is 4 micron a good grit for maintaining an edge or should I go higher or lower for a strop?
Click to expand...

IMO kinda depends on what you're stropping and also how much give the substrate has, can be kinda tricky. Normally I have good luck with 1 mic on something like basswood or balsa, normally does a good job of maintaining an edge however once an edge reaches a certain point you'll need to sharpen it on stone(s).
 
ktataragasi said:
Hello everyone. I currently use a KME system to reprofile my knife edges and then usually use a Spyderco Double Stuff (medium and fine ceramic) to touch up my edges. I also have the KME strops with CBN emulsions but for some reason I never really like how my edge performs even if I just use the 4 micron strop for maintenance.

The ceramic gets me to a very fine edge with a good bit of bite but I feel like as soon as I strop on the 4 micron it's gone.

Should I be going to the 1 micron or just not worry about it? I think of stropping just because it removes less material. Steels I have are S35vn, S30v, Maxemet, 1095, CV.

Thank you for the help!
Click to expand...
Two scenarios that I think might be happening:
Sometimes polishing an edge can be overdone, making the edge lose its toothy bite and apparent sharpness. It's still sharp, but doesn't feel as sharp because the tooth has been polished away. I prefer slightly toothy edges, for this reason.
Secondly, over-aggressive stropping ( too obtuse an angle and/or too much pressure,) can round over your carefully crafted edge.
After your Spyderco ceramic, try stropping with a lighter touch, at a more acute angle so as to not round over your edge, if you even need to strop at all.
Hope this helps..!
Mark
 
NORTHWEST_KNIFE_GUY said:
IMO kinda depends on what you're stropping and also how much give the substrate has, can be kinda tricky. Normally I have good luck with 1 mic on something like basswood or balsa, normally does a good job of maintaining an edge however once an edge reaches a certain point you'll need to sharpen it on stone(s).
Click to expand...

Thanks I'll give the basswood a try and maybe go from the ceramic to the 1 micron and see if that keeps the bite a bit longer.

Working Edge said:
Two scenarios that I think might be happening:
Sometimes polishing an edge can be overdone, making the edge lose its toothy bite and apparent sharpness. It's still sharp, but doesn't feel as sharp because the tooth has been polished away. I prefer slightly toothy edges, for this reason.
Secondly, over-aggressive stropping ( too obtuse an angle and/or too much pressure,) can round over your carefully crafted edge.
After your Spyderco ceramic, try stropping with a lighter touch, at a more acute angle so as to not round over your edge, if you even need to strop at all.
Hope this helps..!
Mark
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice. I am certain I'm not going to step of an angle and quite honestly I love the edge I get off of the fine ceramic. I just don't want to wear my blade down for no reason if I can strop it a few times between using the ceramic.
 
If you like the edge coming off the fine ceramic, I'd not worry too much about stropping with any compound after that. Keep stropping very simple, on something like hard-backed plain paper (such as paper placed over your DoubleStuff hone) or bare leather - no compound at all. The goal is to just clean up the edge of burr remnants, at the finish you like, without further altering it by overpolishing with compound.

And I'd not worry either, about wearing down the blade by maintaining it only on the fine ceramic. A fine ceramic isn't going to remove a lot of steel anyway. And used with the proper light touch and minimal passes, it's even possible it'll remove less steel than some stropping methods would with aggressive polishing compounds of diamond/cbn, etc. The nice thing about ceramics is that once the edge is set to the geometry and finish you like, it normally doesn't need more than a handful of passes per side (like 10 or less) at a very, very delicate touch, to keep the edge in good shape. This assumes you don't let the edge get too far-gone and dull in the first place, after which there's no choice but to remove significantly more steel to get it cutting well again.
 
I don't even strop. After the medium spyderco I usually just check the edge for burrs and remove them on the stone. If I want to go further I have a spyderco fine stone, and ultra fine sharpmaker rods if I want to go that far. Usually medium is where I stop though. Plenty of refinement but still has that toothy feel when checking with the pads of my fingers.
I've found that too refined an edge doesn't grab materials as well as I would like. The medium is a good compromise.
 
If your KME strops match the angle of your edge, try using them with very light pressure. As NW Knife Guy said, if you put too much pressure on the strop, especially a leather strop, you can round the apex.

It doesn't take much. Stropping should give your edge a noticeable extra pop.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
If you like the edge coming off the fine ceramic, I'd not worry too much about stropping with any compound after that. Keep stropping very simple, on something like hard-backed plain paper (such as paper placed over your DoubleStuff hone) or bare leather - no compound at all. The goal is to just clean up the edge of burr remnants, at the finish you like, without further altering it by overpolishing with compound.

And I'd not worry either, about wearing down the blade by maintaining it only on the fine ceramic. A fine ceramic isn't going to remove a lot of steel anyway. And used with the proper light touch and minimal passes, it's even possible it'll remove less steel than some stropping methods would with aggressive polishing compounds of diamond/cbn, etc. The nice thing about ceramics is that once the edge is set to the geometry and finish you like, it normally doesn't need more than a handful of passes per side (like 10 or less) at a very, very delicate touch, to keep the edge in good shape. This assumes you don't let the edge get too far-gone and dull in the first place, after which there's no choice but to remove significantly more steel to get it cutting well again.
Click to expand...
Thank you I was sort of hoping to hear that. I never let them get too bad and can usually restore them with about 5 passes per side. I will have to try the paper trick to see how that works.

soc_monki said:
I don't even strop. After the medium spyderco I usually just check the edge for burrs and remove them on the stone. If I want to go further I have a spyderco fine stone, and ultra fine sharpmaker rods if I want to go that far. Usually medium is where I stop though. Plenty of refinement but still has that toothy feel when checking with the pads of my fingers.
I've found that too refined an edge doesn't grab materials as well as I would like. The medium is a good compromise.
Click to expand...
I do enjoy the bite and on some steels stop at the medium. I did mess around and after the medium went to the 1.5 micron strop and it gave me an edge I liked. I think the 4 micron was too aggressive maybe?

Twindog said:
If your KME strops match the angle of your edge, try using them with very light pressure. As NW Knife Guy said, if you put too much pressure on the strop, especially a leather strop, you can round the apex.

It doesn't take much. Stropping should give your edge a noticeable extra pop.
Click to expand...
I actually just strop by hand, especially when touching up a blade. Usually once I reprofile a knife I just touch up by hand.
 
My new Edge On Up PT50A has proven to me that stropping works. Even a toothy edge can be stropped and it will score much lower with the PT50A. And it still cuts my 2" HD Poly strap easily.
 
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