How long does it take YOU to reprofile to 30 degrees?

Yep, reprofiling my first 4 inch s30v blades took about 8 to 9 hours.. A Benchmade 710 in D2 took about 9 to 10 hours. The recurve slowed me down. The reprofiling on each was from the over 40 degree factory grind with unequal bevels to just below 30 degrees inclusive. I did this without emery paper, using just the Sharpmaker medium and fine stones. It is an exercise in patience and perseverance. Thereafter, I purchased and used a Gatco Delux Diamond hone set for reprofiling. It went much faster but my edge bevel width was not as uniform or as cosmetically pleasing. The next step, in throwing money at the problem, was buying an Edgepro Apex. Once I became familiar with it, the reprofiling time was cut by about 60 percent on the next BM 940 reprofiling. The factory bevels were much closer to 30 degrees on this one, which helped quite a bit. I have found that by holding the Sharpmaker rods together at the top with a heavy duty rubber band, the reprofiling can accurately be done at slightly below 30 degrees. If you are going to reprofile the blade anyway, going a few degrees below 30 will save time and effort in subsequent resharpenings. This slightly lower reprofile angle permits the quick removal of any applied micro-bevel's shoulder with the Sharpmaker at the 30 degree setting. It is much faster bringing down a small shoulder to 30 degrees than the much wider full edge bevel, if it had been applied at the same 30 degree angle. A 40 degree micro-bevel can than be easily reapplied. Total time to remove the shoulder and reapply a mico-bevel is about 20 minutes using the Sharpmaker rods. OldDude1
 
I'm sure there'll come a day when I decide to take the next step, to free-handing on bench stones. I've been thinking about it a lot over the last few months. Pretty much decided that when my finances next permit, I'll invest in some DMT bench stones. I've been encouraged in discovering that my freehand skills are already improved over what they were a couple years ago. I just bought a vintage Schrade Old Timer stockman this last week. It came with a 'typical' factory edge and a significant burr left over on all 3 blades. I decided to use my DMT Dia-fold and Spyderco Doublestuff to touch up the blades on it. Ended up putting an essentially new bevel on 2 of the 3 blades with the DMT, and then polished the edge on all three blades with the DoubleStuff stone, followed by stropping. All 3 blades are tree-topping hairs from my forearm now. I can tell that my 'feel' for maintaining flush contact with the bevel on the stone is much improved, and this has come about as a result of the time & effort I've spent using my Lansky and/or GATCO rigs, as well as from my freehand stropping. I know some folks look at these as a 'crutch' for sharpening, but I really do believe they can teach good technique so long as you pay close attention to 'why' it does it's job so well.
 
nevermind35, i have tried going from a 400 grit all the way up to a 9 micron belt before going to the paper buffing wheel and from test cutting different material from hard wood to kevlar gloves, i found that edge dulled faster. the knife i used was k II with a half convex edge. i now stop at a worn 400 grit finish before going to the slotted wheel and it holds a better edge and cuts longer. a few weeks ago i had a member stop by with is father. i let both of them do some chopping with k II and it still shaved hair and push cut newspaper. here is a profile of the edge i put on k II. the edge is a lot thinner now but i'm not sure how much. a member made up the diagram from a cross section mold i made of the blade.
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Hmmm well that gives me somethings to think about. Last night I flipped my sharpmaker upside down and laid the white stones on the inlays in the back and tried a little horizontal freehand honing. The angle on that particular knife was more obtuse than the larger 40 degree setting, more like 45-50 (damn benchmade...) so I tried it that way. I was actually surprised at how steady I could keep the angle. I guess all the stropping I've been doing has honed my technique quite a bit. So now I'm contemplating selling the Lansky and either going all diamond benchstones or going for an edge pro apex. Decisions decisions...
 
Thanks to all that submitted their opinions and knowledge by the way. It is greatly appreciated.
 
A trick I learned a few years ago, that I haven't used lately, is to get a very coarse belt, 40 to 80 grit, and either staple it tight to a board and use it like a file, or hook it over something SOLID, lean back to stretch it tight, and have at it. I say something solid because I figure I'm putting 30-50 or more pounds of tension on the belt. You could theoretically do this up to as fine a belt as you can find. Maybe a one time treatment of 80, 120, 220, then up the 204. I used 1x30 belts when I tried this trick.
 
Richard, Thats what I've been finding as well . So, now I only take my knives to 300 grit and strop . DM
 
I don't think I would have any reprofiled knives if it took that long. I think you would cut down on your time quite a bit if you used more than the weight of the blade. I don't think using some pressure will hurt anything when using coarse grit. When you are finishing up is when to use light pressure.

I have an edge pro and even with the 180 grit stone it was taking too long at over an hour. I got a coarse diamond stone for it and now can knock an edge down to 30 deg in about 20 minutes. I start out using probably 3 or 4 lbs of pressure and end with not much more than the weight of the stone and I get near perfect mirror edges.

I think some diamonds and a different sharpening device would save you a ton of time. Save the sharpmaker for touch ups.
 
With my edgepro, it depends on the thickness of a blade. On the worst side, probably 1-2 hours for a really thick blade (CS Trailmaster), but for something thin like a Queen D2, 10 minutes or so. Once the profile is established with a coarse stone, then the others go very quickly.
 
nevermind35 said:
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It usually takes me about 8-10 hours of pure sharpening (not in one sitting) to get a nice even 30 degree edge with a nice polish on it and I'm wondering if there is something I can do or buy to make this a faster job. I know a belt sander would make quick work of it but I don't want to go with powered machinery because I really don't have the space for it and I've noticed in my testing of edges that the heat generated by the belt sander can really screw up the edge rettention until I touch up the edge once or twice.
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So my question is how long does it take you to reprofile your knives to 30 degrees and what do you recommend to speed things up? Thanks.
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It depends on what the initial angle is. Some are off by a little. The angle on Bucks is more acute than 15° and they go fast. Queens are usually more obtuse than 15° by a lot and they go slow. The more obtuse the original angle is, the longer it takes me. (Not surprisingly, It takes more time to remove more steel.)

Because I do a lot of steel comparisons, it is important to me to get a precise, reproducible angle. I have tried several methods. The one I use today is a DMT extra coarse stone, which I lay against a Sharpmaker rod in the 30° slot. That gives me 15° per side. To get something as obtuse as a Queen rebeveled to 15° and sharpen it the way I want it for an edge retention test takes me a couple of hours, I think. I don't usually do it all at one go, so part of that is an estimate, but it certainly does not take 10 hours.
 
Hmm I like your technique of using an extra course diamand stone against your sharmaker rod. What size stone do you use for that?
 
A 2X6. They aren't all that pricey and they are easy to hold in place.

I took the plastic foot that comes with the DMT and stuck it to the base of the Sharpmaker so that the stone has a stopper. That way it is easier to keep the stone from sliding away from the rod.

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Depends what the knife is. On a folder, about a minute or 2 on a D8xc, or about 5-10 for a thick edged knife like a Ranger or Busse.
 
Wouldn't it be easier to send your knives to a pro like Richard J to be rebeveled? Then you could just use your sharpening jigs and fine abrasives the next time it gets dull?
There is no need to use a 40 or 80 grit abrasive on any knife, unless you are rough grinding a blade. Never for sharpening. The gouges from the grit would be deeper than the edge is wide.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Wouldn't it be easier to send your knives to a pro like Richard J to be rebeveled? Then you could just use your sharpening jigs and fine abrasives the next time it gets dull?
There is no need to use a 40 or 80 grit abrasive on any knife, unless you are rough grinding a blade. Never for sharpening. The gouges from the grit would be deeper than the edge is wide.
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nope it would be easier to read richards paper wheel topic and learn alot about sharpening.
 
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