Donovan,
After much testing this past week with my own Talonite knife I don't believe any regeneration occurrs.
As I have mentioned in many sharpening and Talonite threads, I use a stereo microscope to view the edges of the blades I sharpen. My findings were that a Talonite blade dulled by cardboard looked much like any other material. Just shiny with the sharp edge "polished" away.
My feeling on this and I'm sure other Talonite users will agree, is that when a Talonite blade reaches this point, it will cut with less resistance than steel blades. This may be due to the materials characteristics that you mentioned or just the fact that pure colbalt has a "slippery" feel to it in general, something that I just can't explain
What I find hard about sharpening Talonite is how the wire edge or burr is removed. I sharpen all my blades on a slow moving, wet belt. To make a long explanation short, I make both sides of the edge even then remove the burr with a strop. With Talonite this burr can be very tough to remove and if I keep stropping after it's gone I quickly loose the SHARP part of the ege!! When the blade feels scary sharp to the touch, under the microscope, it shows that I didn't completly remove the burr! My findings show that a Talonite edge that appears to be PERFECTLY sharp under the microscope, does not feel that way to the touch!!
At this point, when sharpening, I can tell when my steel blades are sharp and I just confirm this under the microscope. Sometimes I find small areas along the blade that need to be re-done but that's it. I'm still developing a feel for the Talonite and when I sharpen it now, the blade spends quite a bit of time under the microscope!!
There are so many topics here discussing the best sharpening devices. I feel that magnification devices to look at the edges should be a topic!! A $10 jewellers loupe and a good light are all that is realy needed.
As a maker I have found it important to provide my customers with advice on field sharpening my knives. Sharpening a knife is easy here in the shop
Out of about 100 different hand stones I have, the best one I have found for touching up Talonite is the fine (green) DMT. I use it with water to float away the Talonite particles.
Neil
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Blackwood Knives
Talonite knives in stock!!
http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Meeting/5520/index.html
[This message has been edited by Dr.Lathe (edited 04-02-2000).]
