Edge Sharpness Tester

1st knife I tested after playing with it. :)

64 grams average, 400 grit, 15 DPS and .015" behind the edge, CPM M4.

Nice tool. :thumbup:
 
Thank you, Ankerson. I was waiting to hear that kind of answer.

You "played with it", I "practiced until I got consistent results", which took an hour longer than a while.

You "averaged 64". If someone else took multiple measurements that were close enough to average I missed it.

I averaged 57 on my first knife on stones, but my kitchen knives are 2k, so I just touched up my petty.

I'll try a Naniwa 400 on Spyderco's M4. Benchmade's M390 averaged 39, but again at 2k.

Outstanding tool indeed.
 
grizzled gizzard said:
Thank you, Ankerson. I was waiting to hear that kind of answer.

You "played with it", I "practiced until I got consistent results", which took an hour longer than a while.

You "averaged 64". If someone else took multiple measurements that were close enough to average I missed it.

I averaged 57 on my first knife on stones, but my kitchen knives are 2k, so I just touched up my petty.

I'll try a Naniwa 400 on Spyderco's M4. Benchmade's M390 averaged 39, but again at 2k.

Outstanding tool indeed.
Click to expand...


Yeah. LOL :D

It was a knife I sharpened a few weeks ago, just sitting there in the sheath on my testing table so I figured just throw that puppy on there you know. :D

Custom knife, CPM M4 at 65.

Takes practice to get used to it, I can defiantly see that.
 
Well put my EDC in there and tested that, Sebenza 25.

Ave 76.5 grams.

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Hey, did you invent that "Dark Side" thing? I can see it. :D

You're already halfway there with this thing. :D
 
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grizzled gizzard said:
Hey, did you invent that "Dark Side" thing? I can see it.
Click to expand...

It's a Star Wars thing and people like me that are into the High V steels are called dark siders. :D

I am just playing around with it now, need to touch up something really good and test that, 400 grit SIC and the EP. :)

I am a 400 grit kinda guy and SIC. :)

Jim
 
Uh-oh, this is looking powerfully addictive.

You people should probably stay the hell away from these things. :D
 
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Well, tuned up this Military in S30V, 400 Grit Silicon Carbide, 15 DPS, right off the EP.

Averaged 43 Grams. :thumbup:

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Round 2

In my first test I had a major flaw with my measuring device. That is now corrected.

Test knife, Spyderco Mule team CPM-M4, edge angle around 30 inclusive with a .020 behind the bevel thickness.

Each edge finish was tested 3 times and averaged.

Coarse DMT
1st-27.4
2nd-28.6
3rd-26.1
Average-27.36

Fine DMT
1st-9.1
2nd-9.1
3rd-10.9
Average-9.7

EFine DMT
1st-5.8
2nd-13.1
3rd-16.0
Average-11.6

EEFine DMT
1st-16.8
2nd-15.9
3rd-17.6
Average-16.7
 
Jason B. said:
Round 2

In my first test I had a major flaw with my measuring device. That is now corrected.

Test knife, Spyderco Mule team CPM-M4, edge angle around 30 inclusive with a .020 behind the bevel thickness.

Each edge finish was tested 3 times and averaged.

Coarse DMT
1st-27.4
2nd-28.6
3rd-26.1
Average-27.36

Fine DMT
1st-9.1
2nd-9.1
3rd-10.9
Average-9.7

EFine DMT
1st-5.8
2nd-13.1
3rd-16.0
Average-11.6

EEFine DMT
1st-16.8
2nd-15.9
3rd-17.6
Average-16.7
Click to expand...

Yeah I was going to say those figures seemed quite anomalous...
 
Testing is tough work and when everything is not perfect it shows :)
 
Darn glad to hear you were able to get that trouble squared away, Jason! I know your edges are good ones, and that was just *so* far out of the other results I've heard that I figured there had to be some kind of oddity going on there.

I just got mine from the post office today, for once the USPS didn't drag it to me *under* the truck! I walked off and left my scale in the other shop, so no actual test data from me today, unfortunately, but I've got 'er all set up for starting tests tomorrow!
First impression is that it is quite a bit smaller physically than I was expecting from the photos, no reason for it to be any larger, but for some reason my mind had it being about 50% larger in all dimensions than it actually is. The hardware itself is quite well-made, nothing about the unit feels "cheesy". What plastic components the machine has are well-made and fully formed, with all non-hardware parts being machined from solid stock rather than molded. The vertical arm is welded to the base by passing through a slot and welding on the bottom, and the sleeve that holds the test piston is attached to the arm by a pair of set-screws clamp-fashion. The vise is machined from steel, and is attached to the magnetic base with a socket-head cap screw that is easily removed if desired. The screws that clamp the blade in place are black plastic, not steel, so no worries about marring the blade. The vise base is (as mentioned) magnetic and can be moved around the base at will to fit your knife as desired. In my photos, I show the knife oriented "into" the unit, but there is nothing preventing you from rotating both the vise and the test head through 90 degrees either left or right, to test blades as long as you would desire.

For tonight, have some photos of the unboxing. :) If anyone is interested in additional photos of the machine from any angle, higher resolution shots, or wants to see something in specific, just ask and I'll be more than happy to shoot 'em. I hope to take some video of testing as well, once I get up and rolling with it.

The box! For once, not looking like the French countryside after the battle of Verdun!
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The testing unit is packed neatly inside, along with all of its acessories, in what appears to be custom-formed foam packaging. The fit was precise, not shown is the piece of foam that covered the face, it's being used to support the box the right angle for my photo.
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All set up and ready to roll, short of loading with the test media. The knife in the vise here was pulled off my belt for the photo, it's a BRKT Northstar EDC, for scale.
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Just another shot of the Northstar EDC in the vise. I note immediately that the bulk of the knives I carry will not really fit into the vise well, due to a greater spine thickness than the vise will accept. I'd call this more an issue of me liking heavy-bladed knives than of any weakness with the tester design. Just might want to bear in mind if you particularly like thick blades. Fortunately, a magnet was also included that should serve very well to hold my thicker blades in place.
IMG_7968_zps6pheqzer.jpg
 
Very nice!

Your right, the test unit is smaller than imagined but big enough to get the job done.

I ran some more test this morning on some machine sharpened blades. 120 Norton blaze belt + deburr and polish gave me an average of 35 between some Global and Wusthof blades.

I also sharpened a Tojiro petty with my Kohetsu stones finishing at 2k and stropping lightly on my palm, that dropped at 20.7.
 
Sharpened a knife for testing this morning, rope cutting, Niolox... 400 Grit, 15 DPS.

61,63,64 = Ave 62.6 Grams (BESS)

Onward to what I do. :thumbup:

We will see what 20 LBS on 5/8" rope scores on the BESS scale on this blade. :)
 
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Komi, good to hear you got yours. You can practice on the razor blades and use a powder scale. Really, you don't even need to weigh the shot to get a feel for the machine.

Ankerson, could you please explain a little about the SIC? Does it come in sheet form like sandpaper?
 
grizzled gizzard said:
Komi, good to hear you got yours. You can practice on the razor blades and use a powder scale. Really, you don't even need to weigh the shot to get a feel for the machine.

Ankerson, could you please explain a little about the SIC? Does it come in sheet form like sandpaper?
Click to expand...

Silicon Carbide (SIC)

Sharpening stones, I use Congress Mold Master stones, VERY HARD silicon carbide stones, very little wear, almost zero coming off the stone when sharpening.

Can also get it in sandpaper.
 
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