maintenance with wskts

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NWangler

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Aug 31, 2015
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A while back i ordered some 1800 grit belts from Worksharp. For maintenance after using the knife. I do two passes per side with the 1800 grit belt. And then 20 passes with the 6000 belt. Iv'e tried just using the 6000 belt with ok results. But not as good as the 1800 grit belt. So how much metal am I removing? or is there a better way? Thanks


Jack
 
NWangler said:
A while back i ordered some 1800 grit belts from Worksharp. For maintenance after using the knife. I do two passes per side with the 1800 grit belt. And then 20 passes with the 6000 belt. Iv'e tried just using the 6000 belt with ok results. But not as good as the 1800 grit belt. So how much metal am I removing? or is there a better way? Thanks


Jack
Click to expand...

Well, the wsktsuserguide.pdf says do 10 passes , that is 5 per side


Regarding "better", deburr/microbevel/finish on a stone?

Do I need to worry about heat with a Ken Onion work Sharp?
 
NWangler said:
yes I now the manual says that, but you can get a more polished the more you strop.
Click to expand...

Hi,
What do you get more polished exactly, and how can you tell?
The edge bevel or the edge apex or both? It gets more shiny?

Here is a guesstimate about the amount of material you are removing

Internet says ken onion work sharp belt speed is adjustable from 1200 SFM (surface feet per minute) to 2800 SFM
that is 20 SFS( Surface Feet per Second) to 46 SFS

so if you're doing 10 passes per side, that is
10 * 20 * 12 = 2400 inches per side
or 10 * 46 * 12 = 5520 inches per side


spyderco sharpmaker instructions say
after you raise a burr (or erase reflection) at 15 dps setting
(however long that takes)
microbevel on the 20dps setting,
and do no more than 20 passes per side on the medium/fine stones
and those rods are ~7 inches, so that
20 * 6 = 120 inches on medium and 120 inches on fine for a total of 240 inches
and this is with very very light force, under 100 grams, under 20 if you can managed it

Think about that for a second,
on your final grit the final step you're doing at least 2400 inches,
where as hand-sharpening its under 240 inches
you're removing 10 times as much metal ,
thats 10 sharpenings worth of metal in one sharpening session

but yeah its just a guesstimate :)
 
If you're running the WSKTS at full speed (which is it's only speed as far as I know), you're probably "done" in two passes per side with any belt. Generally speaking, I've seen the scratch pattern change from one belt to another in around 2 passes per side. However, I run the WKSO, which is variable speed, at around half speed. So two full speed passes is probably enough to transition the scratch pattern from any set of belts that are fairly close together.

I guess the real answer is, use Secret #4 of The Seven Secrets Of Sharpening to examine and test the edge to determine if you're done or not. 20 passes seems excessive to me, but you're removing such a teeny tiny bit of metal with the purple belt that it probably doesn't matter much at all. On the other hand, the purple belt is really, really flexible and I'd question whether you'd be rounding the edge off with that belt. I would DEFINITELY do edge tests after a few passes and keep doing edge tests as you progress.

You might find that you don't even like the edge from the purple belt on "real" cutting tasks. A highly polished edge like that isn't going to be good at slicing type tasks. Try to cut a zip tie or a plastic blister pack and see how it performs. Then try the same blade finished at x65 or x22 and see the difference.

Brian.
 
I only use 2 or 3 passes per side using the 4 micron belt for general maintenance...a really dull edge I'll drop to the 22 micron belt and do 5 per side and follow up with 5 per side on the x4.
Once you've initially set the bevel it doesn't take much to bring it back.. Unless of course your chipping and heavily damaging the edge.
 
I don't have the Ken Onion editon just the basic version, so as for maintaining just use the 6000 grit?
 
NWangler said:
I don't have the Ken Onion editon just the basic version, so as for maintaining just use the 6000 grit?
Click to expand...
Can you get higher then 1800 grit? If you can get a 800-1000 and a 3k grit belt that'll cover most of your needs after initial sharpening has been done. 3k for light touch ups and 1k up for some what dull...I've found the 6k belt to actually dull the edge more than sharpen after a 3 micron belt...it's to flimsy and wraps the edge.
 
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