With the assistance of some of the experts here, I was able to get the edge on a Maxamet blade to an impressive degree of sharpness. I give it 30 degrees, and have been getting good performance out of it.
I don't let my edges get dull, and before I resharpen, I examine them closely to see what they're doing. As for the Maxamet, it behaves as I would expect. Most of my use is nothing special, envelopes, boxes, chopping and stripping medium sized wire, carving hard plastic. The damage I see before sharpening is nothing noteworthy. Wear is less than I would expect on other types of steel, and integrity of the apex is impressive.
Fast forward to earlier this week. I needed a chunk of something about 1/4" thick. I spotted some rubber floor mats in the corner that would be perfect. I whipped out the Maxamet blade and made two 4" slices through the rubber to make myself a square. The knife was hella sharp, and the ease at which the blade sliced through the material almost made me giddy.
When I was done, I wiped off the blade and carefully felt it. I was surprised to feel substantial damage. When I got home, I put it under the microscope and was very surprised at the actual extent of the damage.
Check out the attached pictures. Along the apex there were areas that were broken off. That was interesting, but not shocking, as I've previously observed Maxamet's propensity toward chipping. I was disappointed as it will take a little work to fix.
But what surprised me was areas along the flat part of the bevel, away from the apex, that appear to be spalled. That's really unexpected. And I was only cutting through rubber mat without a whole lot of pressure on the blade. I'm not sure what to make of this.
The rubber mat was soft and spongy, nothing out of the ordinary. I don't relish damaging a blade on purpose just for experimentation's sake, but this is so weird that I'm tempted to go back and grab a piece of the mat to bring home and examine closely.
I don't let my edges get dull, and before I resharpen, I examine them closely to see what they're doing. As for the Maxamet, it behaves as I would expect. Most of my use is nothing special, envelopes, boxes, chopping and stripping medium sized wire, carving hard plastic. The damage I see before sharpening is nothing noteworthy. Wear is less than I would expect on other types of steel, and integrity of the apex is impressive.
Fast forward to earlier this week. I needed a chunk of something about 1/4" thick. I spotted some rubber floor mats in the corner that would be perfect. I whipped out the Maxamet blade and made two 4" slices through the rubber to make myself a square. The knife was hella sharp, and the ease at which the blade sliced through the material almost made me giddy.
When I was done, I wiped off the blade and carefully felt it. I was surprised to feel substantial damage. When I got home, I put it under the microscope and was very surprised at the actual extent of the damage.
Check out the attached pictures. Along the apex there were areas that were broken off. That was interesting, but not shocking, as I've previously observed Maxamet's propensity toward chipping. I was disappointed as it will take a little work to fix.
But what surprised me was areas along the flat part of the bevel, away from the apex, that appear to be spalled. That's really unexpected. And I was only cutting through rubber mat without a whole lot of pressure on the blade. I'm not sure what to make of this.
The rubber mat was soft and spongy, nothing out of the ordinary. I don't relish damaging a blade on purpose just for experimentation's sake, but this is so weird that I'm tempted to go back and grab a piece of the mat to bring home and examine closely.
