Finer grit addition for VC/WC steels

I am far from an expert, but on occasion in my dealings with .25mic I have run into an almost "wire" edge after finishing with it. I now only use it with high carbide steels, applied to sanded basswood. I use a limited number of strokes, as light as I can control.
Chris, you are right, although the Op's questions are a bit scattered, there is some good info in this thread.

Russ
 
Any wire mean 0.25um abrade plenty fast above the apex.

0.25um: strop at dps - 2 or 3 strokes to cleanup. To seriously shape the apex - do a micro - dps + 2/3 degrees with feather brushing strokes.

mycough said:
I am far from an expert, but on occasion in my dealings with .25mic I have run into an almost "wire" edge after finishing with it. I now only use it with high carbide steels, applied to sanded basswood. I use a limited number of strokes, as light as I can control.
Chris, you are right, although the Op's questions are a bit scattered, there is some good info in this thread.

Russ
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Ordered the DiaSharp Extra Extra Fine today. Thank you all for your help. I suppose I'll deal with the odd diamond grit, and do some research on best methods to break the stone in.
 
Kind of off topic but to add to my comment about the Sypderco Ultra fine triangular rod :

I have used my Spyderco UF Triangle Rod on 3V almost elusively and it is starting to peter out and just burnish so probably not the best for the higher VC stuff. Not that I have much experience with those.
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Recently I used it to "strop" / touch up my brand new Endura 4 in ZDP-189 after it was some what dulled. The Ultra fine rod did a very good job of aligning the edge as well as abrading it some what and there was never any bur. I used the corners as well as the flats and it did a great job as if it were made for this steel. So I guess I spoke too soon in counting this sharpening rod as petered out.
 
Wowbagger said:
Kind of off topic but to add to my comment about the Sypderco Ultra fine triangular rod :



Recently I used it to "strop" / touch up my brand new Endura 4 in ZDP-189 after it was some what dulled. The Ultra fine rod did a very good job of aligning the edge as well as abrading it some what and there was never any bur. I used the corners as well as the flats and it did a great job as if it were made for this steel. So I guess I spoke too soon in counting this sharpening rod as petered out.
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In terms of carbide hardness, ZDP-189 is actually much easier to grind and hone than a steel like 3V, because ZDP doesn't have much vanadium carbide to get in the way; virtually none, in fact. Almost all of ZDP's hardest carbides are chromium carbide (Knoop hardness ~1800), which is much less hard than VC (Knoop hardness ~2600), and more importantly, also less hard than the aluminum oxide ('alumina') in the Sharpmaker's ceramic rods (Knoop hardness ~2100). So, the SM's rods shouldn't have trouble with it, unless they're clogged, as with any steel.

ZDP also won't hold much of a burr, because it's typically hardened so high (low-mid 60s HRC). Any burr that might begin to form will almost immediately break away, because the steel is typically so much more brittle. I don't think there'll be much 'aligning' of the edge with ZDP-189, either, for the same reason. Edges won't really roll or fold over with such a steel, but will be more likely to chip/fracture instead. I suspect this is why it's reputed to be difficult for some to sharpen, because too much lateral pressure at the edge, especially on hard hones like ceramics, will likely damage it by chipping/fracturing. When that's happening at a micro-level, the perception (and reality) is that the apex never gets as fine & sharp as it should.


David
 
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The EEF stone arrived yesterday! Woo hoo! Sticker on the bottom says something like "other side of stone has the diamonds". Both the top and the bottom of the stone look and feel very similar! When I run my finger across the top, it feels very smooth, not like I was expecting. Even the EF 1200mesh stone brand new, I could feel the larger diamonds protruding. However, there was a sticker that said "this diamond stone was broken in at the factory".

My plan is to not use any break-in techniques other than simply using the stone with very, very light pressure. Unfortunately I don't own any knives sub-60HRC! Figured it would be nice to use a few softer blades on this thing at first. Take that back...I do have a set of Chicago Cutlery steak knives with steel that feels like glorified tin cans pressed together. They don't hold an edge worth diddly. Sharpen them, and they go dull pronto. I may use them to get a feel for the stone, help break it in more. I'll report back with my initial impressions.

Thanks for your help, guys!
 
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