Recommendation? Micro bevel on Mirror edge? Necessary or not?

[Kmikaz3]

I have put on both my Kwaiback and 940-1 a stunning mirror edge with 23 dps -/+ .5 degree on KME and Lapping Film Kit. It is extremely razor sharp. My question is, it is necessary to add a micro bevel for the integrity of the edge in the long run or for now it is not needed? Or i can add on with 40 inclusive with UF rod but im afraid that it wont be as razor sharp as it now.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

23 degrees per side should be a very robust edge. Do you mean 23 degrees inclusive?

 

[Kmikaz3]

Do you mean 23 degrees inclusive?

Thanks for the reply, no it's 23 per side for 46 inclusive for both knife. But my kwaiken has a rather large bevel compare to the 940-1 so i dont know if a micro bevel will help or no.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

You only need a microbevel if you are having trouble getting an edge sharp, or if you are trying to reduce microchipping. Neither appears to apply in your case. I would use a more acute edge than that, perhaps 17 to 19 degrees.

 

[Kmikaz3]

You only need a microbevel if you are having trouble getting an edge sharp, or if you are trying to reduce microchipping. Neither appears to apply in your case. I would use a more acute edge than that, perhaps 17 to 19 degrees.

Ahh i see, yes im not having any trouble getting them sharp but as you can see that kwaiback has a really large stock (0.191") and 0.050" behind the edge. With a more acute angle, i think it will create a very large bevel, will that weaken the edge?

 

[Mr.Wizard]

No, the strength of the edge itself isn't affected by what's behind it, and at a given edge angle a wider bevel means a thicker blade behind the edge and a more durable knife over all, e.g. resistance to rippling the blade with poorly controlled chopping. The "Scandi" grind uses a very wide edge bevel and it is a time-tested design.

 

[Kmikaz3]

No, the strength of the edge itself isn't affected by what's behind it, and at a given edge angle a wider bevel means a thicker blade behind the edge and a more durable knife over all, e.g. resistance to rippling the blade with poorly controlled chopping. The "Scandi" grind uses a very wide edge bevel and it is a time-tested design.

Thanks for the advice! i learned something new today but i'm more comfortable with my current angle as i think it's a more all around edge for what i am doing. I hope, i didn't offense you . Also, i did have trouble to get my Kwaiback to remove all scratches due to a wider bevel. Yesterday, i spent 3-4 hours to polish that dang knife because of those pesky micro scratches. If, i did bring it down to 17 dps, i don't think i can polish to a mirror edge without some more specialized tool. I learned yesterday that the wider bevel the more micro scratches appear or maybe it's due to the nature of Nitro V being more softer than s90v.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

It's going to take a lot more than that to offend me. Yes, a wider bevel is harder to polish, especially if you are trying to keep it totally flat. Diamond compound on leather gets into slight imperfections better but it introduces some convexity.

 

[rpttrsn]

I like a polished edge but don't find it the best for a EDC. This S30V Leek has a back bevel about 26-27 degrees inclusive and a micro bevel close to 38-40 degrees. The micro bevel is 600 grit and stropped to 0.25 microns. This way when it needs a touch up I only have to hit the micro bevel. This works the best for me.

 

[Jason B.]

I don't use microlevels much but in my limited use I have found that a coarse back bevel and a polished micro tends to yield the best performance. Anytime I have polished the back bevel the microbevel always ends up performing poorly. I have no reasoning I just know that has been my experience.

 

[rpttrsn]

I don't use microlevels much but in my limited use I have found that a coarse back bevel and a polished micro tends to yield the best performance. Anytime I have polished the back bevel the microbevel always ends up performing poorly. I have no reasoning I just know that has been my experience.

I have always thought that a toothy edge say between 600-1000 would produce a better cutting surface. Most daily cutting would benefit with a little bite on the edge. At this time I don’t want to loose the polish on my back bevel. I will try to notice what you mentioned as I respect your sharpening skills. All my work recently has been by hand on water stones or diamond. My sharpening for others ( kitchen knives ) still is done on my Kalamazoo. So much faster.