Is this a normal wear?

awestib

awestib

Joined
Dec 29, 2008
Messages
1,647
Hi guys
Looking for some info whether this wear of my knife edges is normal.
I use my knives mainly in the backyard and garage to clean up branches, cut cardboard etc. Besides also cutting and whittling wood, cutting cardboard is in fact one of the main tasks my knives see.

Just to give you a starting point, I sharpen my knives on a DMT diamond stone (well used extra coarse and coarse) and a strop. That's it. Shaving (is it just my hair?) has always been a challenge, however I can easily and clean cut fine phone book paper afterwards, even with a "curvy" cut.

Now, with O1 steel knives from well known knife makers here on the forum, after about 30-50 cardboard cuts (approx. 30 meters) I can clearly tell the edge has lost some bite and they fail the fine paper cut test. They are not dull dull but have lost some edge definitely.

Is this a normal and anticipated wear of O1 steel? Or, is it me who still has some burr remaining on the edge which just wears off during use (which I don't think) or other sharpening problems.

I appreciate your experience. Thanks everybody!
 
I'd say that sounds about right....but you could still go all day without needing to sharpen. IMO
 
Cardboard is tough stuff, some will wear very little on the edge and others will be like cutting sandpaper. Your experience sounds normal.

The coarse diamond and strop should provide a edge sharp enough to easily clean the hair away from a arm or leg. You likely need a lighter touch and more time with your final hone before stropping. A burr is likely but its more like the stone just wasn't done doing its thing.
 
This sounds pretty normal to me. As mentioned, cardboard can sometimes dull an edge quick. It often does, in fact. The branch-trimming might contribute to the wear also, especially if the edge is relatively thin. Any lateral stress on the edge, from twisting or bending in the wood, can chip or roll an edge.

Aside from possible burrs or wires folding over, edge geometry makes a huge difference too. With a given steel at a fixed hardness, you can see vast differences in performance between different edge grinds (thin hollow grind, flat grind with a v-bevel, or flat grind with a convexed edge). Convexed edges, even relatively thin convexes, are very durable in cardboard cutting.
 
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