Ever want to see your edge under a microscope?

V

Visigothan

Joined
Jan 5, 2006
Messages
29
My friend Bucktool_02 sharpened my Benchmade 635 tonight, with his Spyderco Sharpmaker.

I thought I'd show you guys the difference between the original factory edge, and the edge that the Sharpmaker makes.

Unfortunately, the following is the only pic I saved of the original factory edge while playing around with my USB microscope, but you can clearly see the striations on the edge, made by the process Benchmade uses to finish their edges.

635_edge_01-26-2006_01.jpg


The following pics are taken from a Scalar USB-Shot microscope, with a Fenix L1P and an Inova X5 (red) flashlight on opposite sides for contrasting illumination.

The Sharpmaker was used with diamond coarse at 30, medium at 30, medium at 40, fine at 40, then ultra-fine at 40.

Benchmade 635 point, after sharpening:

635_sharpmaker_05.jpg


Just behind the point...

635_sharpmaker_04.jpg


Belly:

635_sharpmaker_03.jpg


Recurve:

635_sharpmaker_02.jpg


Rear of the blade:

635_sharpmaker_01.jpg


Edge on:

635_sharpmaker_edge.jpg


Notice the polishing that has taken place, and the micro-edge visible in some frames.

Enjoy!
 
Huh... that seems like a pretty crappy edge! I've examined my Kabar under a 100x pocket microscope after sharpening to 600 grit and it looks a lot better then that.

Out of curiosity... what zoom for the two microscopes?
 
Actually, it's a pretty nice edge.

I'm able to push cut paper with zero difficulty or deviation from all angles and it's hair-popping sharp too.

The magnification of the scope is around 500x, if I recall correctly.
 
Ahh... that accounts for my idiotic posting LOL. What threw me off, now that I think about it, is discrepancy in field of view. My little pocket microscope has a lot less then yours, and when you posted a photo of the tip I thought it was like a 50x or something. Whats confusing is that it looks alot less "scratchy" and grooved in the first photo.
 
Haha yeah, and that's my fault due to not exactly duplicating the lighting conditions.

Also, there is a fair amount of over-exposure and over-compensation from the microscope's CCD because of the polish on the blade after sharpening.

For reference, in the edge-on pics, the blurry parts you see to the left and right are the actual blade. The well-defined and in focus part you're seeing is the very edge. The back of the blade is so far out of focus that it doesn't even show up as anything other than a faint blur.
 
Scalar USB-Shot microscope, with a Fenix L1P
Click to expand...

What does all that mean? :D

Is a Fenix a camera? What would a set up like that cost?

Thanks for the great pics.
 
I'm a quack fisheries biologist so I spend a bit of time with a microscope in my hand.. ;)
That edge is strong.. If it cuts well you are good to go.
I'll assume, from the piece of blade, your magnification is around 40X.
I had an email with Busse about his "grooves"
He gave me a very educated and experienced answer :thumbup:
Make sure he sees these pics and gives his input.
He's a smart guy...
 
Ah, sorry for not clarifying the terms/

The microscope is a Scalar (brand) USB-Shot (model), and I provided lighting with two different flashlights: A Fenix L1P and an Inova X5 (both are LED, not incandescent).
 
I really don't think that is magnified at 500x. Just no way. That's not what 500x looks like.

Like Blammo said, it's more like 40x if that.
 
how much is a 500x microscope like that? can that microscope be used when determening grainsize?
 
Great pictures. You can really see the stirrations very clearly. Even the straightest shiniest plain edge has those little sharks teeth under high magnification. It's just the nature of steel.
 
Ideally if you're shooting for a polished razors edge, it will look very, very smooth under a 50x or 100x microscope. This would be accomplished by using 6000 grit JIS or approx. 2000 grit American sandpaper, and finishing with 0.5-0.1 micron abrasives such as a strop or 3m paper.
 
I have a true 1:1 macro lens for my digital SLR. I will see if I can get some pictures of some edges tonight. I also have some macro tubes I can add for greater than 1:1 magnification.
 
I have some sample photos of 60x edges I took posted here I took with a Digital Blue USB microscope.
 
Great pics! The EdgePro certainly lives up to its name!

About the finish of the edge on the Benchmade 635; I noticed that it is indeed a very rough finish and has a very toothy edge, straight from the factory, but despite that, it is a fantastic slicer and was extremely sharp when I first got it. My first day of using it resulted in an incident where I went to slice open a shrink-wrapped 6-pack of bottled water, and without realizing it cut straight through the shrink wrap, and straight into one of the bottles causing it to leak.

I'm going to pick up the 200x USB microscope from ThinkGeek and post some more pics in the coming weeks of different grade steels and different sharpening stones and their results. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top