I thought I'd ruined my ZT 0561

freewheeling

freewheeling

Joined
Dec 30, 2012
Messages
975
I sharpened it on that stupid Sharpmaker thing, slipped a few times, went back and started over and kept at it until the edge was just one big burr... But then I honed it and like magic, it became one little burr! Not a very sharp burr though. It can still cut paper but I'll prolly have to get a 99 cent disposable razor to shave any hair off my arm.

There must be a way to computerize this sharpening thing. Robots are cheap, aren't they?
 
You don't need to form a monster burr ;). I would suggest going back to the Sharpmaker, tilting the blade just a few degrees more into the stone, so if the blade is on the left stone, tilt the spine to the right just a bit. This thickens up the angle, and will remove the burr. Then resume your normal angle again and do back and forth passes about 10-20 strokes each side. If you have a strop that would help too. Have you went through all the stones as well? It is important to remove the burr, or your knife will dull in just a few cuts.
 
Steel130 said:
You don't need to form a monster burr ;). I would suggest going back to the Sharpmaker, tilting the blade just a few degrees more into the stone, so if the blade is on the left stone, tilt the spine to the right just a bit. This thickens up the angle, and will remove the burr. Then resume your normal angle again and do back and forth passes about 10-20 strokes each side. If you have a strop that would help too. Have you went through all the stones as well? It is important to remove the burr, or your knife will dull in just a few cuts.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Will try that as soon as I get over the trauma. I gave up on the Sharpmaker after awhile and just sat down with the ultra fine stone and carefully did a lot of back and forth stropping. I did OK with the thinner blades but the thickness of the ZT just threw me. And I may look around for my magnifying glass. It's in a shoebox somewhere.
 
I think it's OK now. I was trying to reshape the edge to 30 degrees so that I could put a compound edge on it and didn't notice the burr. I also accidentally hit the edge on the top of the stone with damaged it a bit so I started over reshaping the edge. Anyway after carefully removing the burr I switched to the 40 degree angle and just used the fine and ultra-fine sticks to set and edge, being careful to remove any burr as I went along. Seems to be very sharp now and no sign of the ding, although there are a few cosmetic scratches on the stonewash.
 
Can't blame the sharpmaker for this, just work on the bur side until you wear it down and start alternating strokes. The sharpmaker is great for touch ups but it is very time consuming to reprifile on it.
 
I wonder if the reason the burr develops is because of the thickness of the blade and the fact that it's a "high-flat grind?" The thinner blades seemed much easier to sharpen.
 
The ZT 561 seems to come with an wide angle nearly 23-27 degrees per side. The sharpmaker simply wont hit the edge when using the 20 degree set.
You will need to reprofile (remove material until you hit the preferred angle), or twist your wrist to match the angle.

Reprofiling with the basic spyderco set will not work and will take a very very long time.

If you need to reprofile it, spend like $50 on a DMT aligner and use that set to reprofile and the spyderco to maintain the edge.
I do not recommend the spyderco diamond rods, one slip and you can easily mess up the edge or grind off the tip completely.
 
freewheeling said:
I wonder if the reason the burr develops is because of the thickness of the blade and the fact that it's a "high-flat grind?" The thinner blades seemed much easier to sharpen.
Click to expand...
A burr develops when you have sharpened the bevel all the way to the apex. If you don't get a burr it means you have not sharpened the bevel all the way to the apex. Thus you wont be making it totally sharp because you are not at the very edge. A burr is a good thing to get, but a bad thing to keep.
 
Thanks for these tips. I suspected that the 0561 was sharpened at a flatter angle when I couldn't seem to get it sharp, so that's when I switched to 30 degrees. I also put brown marker on the edge to see if I was really reshaping. After I removed all the brown I went back to the 40 degree but didn't know what to do about the burr. Also the tip on the 0561 is tricky because you do have to rotate your wrist a bit to get at it because the blade sort of flares out at the point. Anyway, the Elmax wasn't too bad to reprofile, but the S30V probably would be.
 
freewheeling said:
I sharpened it on that stupid Sharpmaker thing, slipped a few times, went back and started over and kept at it until the edge was just one big burr... But then I honed it and like magic, it became one little burr! Not a very sharp burr though. It can still cut paper but I'll prolly have to get a 99 cent disposable razor to shave any hair off my arm.

There must be a way to computerize this sharpening thing. Robots are cheap, aren't they?
Click to expand...
A poor craftsman always blames his tools. It is not the tools which make us skilled, rather the manner in which we employ them.

There is an entire section on sharpening here, endless videos available online, and other resources available.
 
RevDevil said:
A poor craftsman always blames his tools. It is not the tools which make us skilled, rather the manner in which we employ them.

There is an entire section on sharpening here, endless videos available online, and other resources available.
Click to expand...

I watched lots of videos. Lots of conflicting information. What I need is practice.

And I still think a robot would be a great idea.
 
freewheeling said:
I watched lots of videos. Lots of conflicting information. What I need is practice.

And I still think a robot would be a great idea.
Click to expand...

Agreed, there is a bit too much "conflicting" info here, or anywhere on the internet for that matter. The most important aspect is finding something which works for your skill level, and lots of practice. I can do a lot of things, sharpening is not one of them. I can touch up an edge okay but would not attempt to reprofile a 561. Maybe a beater knife but not this beauty.
 
Don't feel too bad it takes us all some practice with new sharpening methods. Wait until you really get into it, it is more of an art than a science. I strongly recommend practicing on some cheaper knives with softer steels, like many kershaws. 14c28n is a great learning steel.
 
I got a couple of minor scratches on the blade, and wondered if there's a way to take them out. Can't even see them except in a certain light so it's not a big deal. Just thought I'd ask. I should have put painter's tape over the blade but didn't think I'd wobble enough for it to matter. (I know, stupid.)
 
freewheeling said:
I watched lots of videos. Lots of conflicting information. What I need is practice.

And I still think a robot would be a great idea.
Click to expand...

With robot you would have to learn programming as well as sharpening skills.
Those things are pretty stupid, they only do what they're told.
 
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