How bad is this sharpening job?

I

ibrow

Joined
Jan 21, 2017
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First knife I sharpened on KME, I messed up the ricasso/plunge part, just kept grinding against it with the stone. I struggled to get the entire edge to finally be the same angle, basically reprofiled the entire blade to 20 degrees per side. I got the additional 100 grit stone. All I have is 100, 140, 300, 600 and 1500 grits, a KME strop with metal polish (aluminum oxide) on it, and cut sandpaper of varying grit (400 sandpaper grit doesn't really translate to diamond stone 400 grit, does it?).

How bad is the shaved off material at the base of the blade, aside from aesthetics? It's like that on both sides, there's no recurve on the edge itself, the knife is sharp. The bevel widens at the tip, couldn't do much about that.

https://ibb.co/g43JfTV
 
Yea it cuts and gets used and beat up. Thanks for the feedback, I'll try some other knives.
 
Edge looks good. It's really hard to avoid that smile with a knife like that where the plunge goes all the way to the sharpened part of the blade. What I'll do to avoid it (if I care) is place my left index finger across the handle so it stops the stone from moving past the sharpened heel. Then you can actually ride the side of the stone along the side of the index finger without worrying about the stone hitting the plunge.
 
The question is not how bad the sharpening job is.

The question is if you would do it exactly the same again if you could rewind and go back in time.

i'd try a different path then tbh, maybe with Sharpmaker 204-freehanding or or ah nm
 
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I mean I suppose it depends on you and the knife. Lots of my users look like that simply because I don't have time to spend fussing over the way the edge looks because 20 minutes after it comes off the stones and strop there is a good chance it is getting stuffed into a cardboard box, cutting open a dog food bag, or hitting a ceramic plate top as I cut up food.

If this was a high end knife that I was looking to potentially sell later on than it would be an issue but for something that I am going to use, so long as it cuts and it doesn't give you OCD it should be fine
 
Honestly the rounded tip would bother me more than the grinding on the heel. ;)

Haha - it looks fine really - I also have several knives with the these marks and it’s not a big deal to me.
 
Quick update, I went at it again starting with the 300, moving to 600 and 1500, then sandpaper at 400, 1000 and 2000 grit, and then 1 micron compound on a leather strop. I'm starting to get something resembling a mirror finish, and it cuts really well. Still have scratch marks though. I'm quite satisfied with the KME results for a noob, aside from the unsightly heel on both sides. Should've been more careful there.

Does anyone know how sandpaper grit can be converted to equivalent diamond stone grit? I've noticed 400 grit sandpaper gives a much smoother, more consistent surface than my 1500 grit diamond stone, which leaves the edge looking very uneven.

https://ibb.co/3RqK0vY
 
c7m2p3 said:
I mean I suppose it depends on you and the knife. Lots of my users look like that simply because I don't have time to spend fussing over the way the edge looks because 20 minutes after it comes off the stones and strop there is a good chance it is getting stuffed into a cardboard box, cutting open a dog food bag, or hitting a ceramic plate top as I cut up food.

If this was a high end knife that I was looking to potentially sell later on than it would be an issue but for something that I am going to use, so long as it cuts and it doesn't give you OCD it should be fine
Click to expand...

How much would this would hurt the resale value of a used knife?
 
kreisler said:
The question is not how bad the sharpening job is.

The question is if you would do it exactly the same again if you could rewind and go back in time.

i'd try a different path then tbh, maybe with Sharpmaker 204-freehanding or or ah nm
Click to expand...

Good point. I wouldn't do the same thing, I'd be more careful at the base of the blade, and I would also avoid scratching the blade like I did here, but the finish is very good at concealing them. Also, while this is a user, I should've practiced on cheap knives first.
 
ibrow said:
How much would this would hurt the resale value of a used knife?
Click to expand...
Again, this is kind of one of those "it depends" scenarios which no one likes but is entirely true. You have this issue on a plain jane normal Spyderco Manix 2? A Benchmade Griptilian? Probably not all that much assuming the rest of the knife is okay. But those knives are not necessarily collectors knives, you can pick one up brand new anywhere. If you did this to something nicer you'd almost surely see a dramatic loss in price. Something like a Rockstead, CRK, Hinderer, Shiro, something along those lines. If someone is looking to spend over $400 on a cutting instrument they are probably not going to bite with an edge that has clearly been winged like that.
 
You totally destroyed that knife. I'll pay for the shipping, you need to send it to me right away and I will dispose of it properly and won't charge you a dime. Seriously though, I wish the first blades I sharpened looked that good. If it cuts, it's good, being pretty means nothing to someone who actually uses their knives for what they are made to do. Just my .02, it's worth exactly what you paid for it.
NCH
 
Are you using the emory paper on a flat surface or free hand? I use (for a newish) knife; 400 emory on a paint stirrer (taped emory on); then 600;
then 1000. That is usually enough; if going for a polished edge then 1500 emory).. I only use diamond hones for reprofiling or if the edge has been severely damaged. All freehand; no gadgets/jigs/etc. Been hand sharpening that way for about 60 years +/-. I consider a good edge when it passes the phone book paper test with no drag. Just takes practice, practice and more practice with each knife you do. It will get better with practice. Hardest thing to learn IMHO is to keep an even bevel at all steps. Yours looks good; if it cuts what you need it to cut - then that's good enough. Sometimes you can "over sharpen" ( if that's the proper term). The bevel keeps getting wider and wider the more you sharpen. Also remember it is easier to keep a sharp knife sharp then to sharpen a dull one. I think you will find softer steels easier to sharpen, I love SAKs for that (I EDC a Tinker); but really prefer D2 (usually as a flipper in other pocket) which IMHO can be a b--ch to sharpen. Just my thoughts on the subject.
 
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Honestly I’d prefer to have a few 60 grit scratches running up the side rather than what’s going on at the plunge lines, but it may just be me.
 
Rich S said:
Are you using the emory paper on a flat surface or free hand? I use (for a newish) knife; 400 emory on a paint stirrer (taped emory on); then 600;
then 1000. That is usually enough; if going for a polished edge then 1500 emory).. I only use diamond hones for reprofiling or if the edge has been severely damaged. All freehand; no gadgets/jigs/etc. Been hand sharpening that way for about 60 years +/-. I consider a good edge when it passes the phone book paper test with no drag. Just takes practice, practice and more practice with each knife you do. It will get better with practice. Hardest thing to learn IMHO is to keep an even bevel at all steps. Yours looks good; if it cuts what you need it to cut - then that's good enough. Sometimes you can "over sharpen" ( if that's the proper term). The bevel keeps getting wider and wider the more you sharpen. Also remember it is easier to keep a sharp knife sharp then to sharpen a dull one. I think you will find softer steels easier to sharpen, I love SAKs for that (I EDC a Tinker); but really prefer D2 (usually as a flipper in other pocket) which IMHO can be a b--ch to sharpen. Just my thoughts on the subject.
Click to expand...

I cut the paper to match the size of the diamond stones, then tape it to the stone and put in on the kme.
 
ibrow said:
Quick update, I went at it again starting with the 300, moving to 600 and 1500, then sandpaper at 400, 1000 and 2000 grit, and then 1 micron compound on a leather strop. I'm starting to get something resembling a mirror finish, and it cuts really well. Still have scratch marks though. I'm quite satisfied with the KME results for a noob, aside from the unsightly heel on both sides. Should've been more careful there.

Does anyone know how sandpaper grit can be converted to equivalent diamond stone grit? I've noticed 400 grit sandpaper gives a much smoother, more consistent surface than my 1500 grit diamond stone, which leaves the edge looking very uneven.

https://ibb.co/3RqK0vY
Click to expand...
I've used sandpaper too on a KME plate. I know what you mean about the different finish sandpaper leaves. Your diamonds are bonded to your plate and basically plow through the steel, if you look at pics under high magnification. From what I've read, the grit on sandpaper breaks loose and will roll around in the slurry abrading the steel away. Again I can't say for sure that's what's going on with the sandpaper. It's also not near as hard as diamonds, and not going to be hard enough to cut vanadium carbides that are in a lot of the new super steels. Just something to think about. Depending on what steel you're using it on it can work pretty good though.
 
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