Getting a Duo Sharp, what else?

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Any Cal.

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Hi,

I have been sharpening for quite a while with limited equipment, and finally have the chance to get some more. I just ordered the 10x4 f/xf duosharp, and would like to figure out what else for now.

I don't normally reprofile knives, but have a belt sander I have used when I needed to. Mostly, I use the knives, but like to keep them sharp, relatively. Right now I have blue, red, and green dia-folds, a blue crock stick, and a white arkansas stone. Normally they will grab hair on my arm after the blue crock stick, but today, after looking through a 3x loupe, realized that I was still working with basically a serrated edge. After polishing out the serrations with the arkansas stone, it lost the stickyness, though it whispers through paper.

What would be the best equipment, for multiple sized knives, to complement the DuoSharp, and what kind of sharpness could I acheive with that setup? I have somewhere between $60 and $100 to work with at this point. Also, I don't really like spending all that long sharpening a knife...maybe 3 minutes or less is preferred. I spend much longer at times, but that doesn't mean I like it.:D The majority of my steels right now are 1095 and S30V.

Also, if you are spotting other things I am doing wrong by my description, please let me know.

Thanks for any help!
 
My personal feeling is, whatever method you use, finish with a loaded strop. This refines the edge to such a higher degree of sharpness, if done right, that I can't believe I didn't try it sooner. So I would recommend looking into a nice strop and some chromium oxide paste or diamond paste or spray.
 
2 or 3 minutes is not going to get you very far with a steel like S30V or most any other steel for that matter. Taking you time is a important part of getting it right.

What is your planned method of sharpening after you get the duosharp?
 
Kbrasmodeler said:
My personal feeling is, whatever method you use, finish with a loaded strop. This refines the edge to such a higher degree of sharpness, if done right, that I can't believe I didn't try it sooner. So I would recommend looking into a nice strop and some chromium oxide paste or diamond paste or spray.
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+1 :thumbup: And, if you're only wanting to spend 2 or 3 minutes in the maintenance of your blade, this is all the more important.

With S30V, plan on spending a LOT more time on the FIRST sharpening (or reprofiling), until you establish a bevel that's both sharp and easy to maintain. Then, as long as you NEVER let it get too dull, a few minutes of stropping each day, after use, will help keep it sharp.
 
My master plan was to have a large stone that I could do a several passes on, flip it over, do a few more, and then maybe a ceramic, then some crock sticks? Or maybe a loaded strop like was mentioned.

Right now, I keep up on my knives by using the blue crock stick, which lets me get from dullish to where it is sharp enough to grab hair in less than 30 seconds, though the edge isn't very refined, so it doesn't stay sharp that long. That happens every few days. After I do that a few times, I go back to a stone to retouch the edge, and hit it with the crock sticks, which takes maybe 5 minutes or so. That is on 1095, or 12c27 in my daily work knives. It doesn't work that fast on S30V. For the most part, I have a sharp knife that cuts paper and plastic easily, and will almost always be sharp enough to cut whatever needed, without spending too much time on it.

As much as I use my knives, I don't want to spend huge amounts of time to sharpen them, so I would like to get something easy that lets me get an acceptable level of sharpness quickly. Right now, I can usually get things about like a Spyderco comes, but it takes 1/2 hour or so. I would like to be able to do that in much less time, with the ability to get a much finer edge if I put the time into it(which I do on occasion).

I am also hoping that I will be able to keep an edge longer by having it cleaner and finer than I am getting it right now, so hopefully I don't have to sharpen as much. :D
 
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You will probably need something coarse too, Coarse stones are what create, shape and form the edge while the finer stones refine, smooth and polish the imperfections to a sharp point. Next best step would be to get a XC/C DMT that way you have what you need to Form and Finish a edge.

After the stones break in a finished edge from a EF DMT will feel razor like with a bit of toothyness. As for factory sharpness, I usually surpass that by the C DMT.

Once your finished with the EF stone you have a few options, First you could call it good and start cutting things. Second you could use a loaded strop with a 1 micron compound or greater and give the edge a few passes for a bit of refinement and increase in sharpness. last but not least using a spyderco UF sharpmaker rod apply a slight microbevel then finish on a strop.

The last method will yield the sharpest edges, with proper technique having hair splitting sharpness with every edge should be no problem.
 
So I really need the other DuoSharp and some strop compound, and the Sharpmaker would be the icing on the cake?
 
Just a single UF rod, no need for the whole thing.

The DMT stone, SM rod, leather and compound should all be able to be had for your 100 dollar mark.
 
Thanks so much for the help! I am going to try to get this stuff coming. Then every edge will be hair whittling sharp... Crap... Next your probably going to tell me that there is a learning curve to this too. :D
 
I'd get the DMT Duosharp XCourse/Course stone too for big jobs. I have both a becnh strop and a razor strop...both home-made.
 
I will be building some strops while I wait...we'll see what happens. Is it normal to dream about this stuff while sleeping?





:D
 
Any Cal. said:
I will be building some strops while I wait...we'll see what happens. Is it normal to dream about this stuff while sleeping?





:D
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No, it's not.

But then, that's the great thing about dreams. They're not supposed to be normal. Think how insanely bored we'd all be, if we only dreamt about 'normal' things. If you can wake up from a dream and say, 'WOW?! :eek: Where'd THAT come from?', you know you've done it RIGHT! :p
 
Well, there was a small hitch. I called to get the other Duo Sharp coming, only to find out that the shops distributor doesn't carry the XC/C. At this point they are getting me one each of the 6x2 bench stones in XC,C,F,XF. They couldn't get the diamond sprays, so I think I will end up using some of the polishing pastes I have.

I had a bunch of credit I was trying to burn up at a knife shop, so I was working with them rather than trying to order the stuff from different places. It is a bit disappointing not to get the larger ones, but I guess the upshot is that it is a LOT less money for the smaller stones. What is the best knife with the finest edge in an easy to learn steel for an EDC hair whittlling tool?
 
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