^^ Thats a good point as well. If it is a newish knife or one that hasn't been sharpened at least a few times, it may need some material removed to get to the good steel. Sometimes the sharpening process at the factory can ruin the heat treat right at the edge.
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Not so super steel?
- Thread starter Paul the snobby bandit
- Start date
I agree with those that are saying try a coarser finish. What stone was your 6000 grit? You may want to stop around 1000 and then progress with stropping paste to mirror it up. I have found that I get better performance stopping earlier on the stones and then going right to the strop at or around 1000 grit diamond.
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Yep. With these powder tool and HSS the burrs can be pretty tenacious and even hide due to the strength of the steel. That is why loups/lenses are so highly recommended among knife aficionados. I agree with 600 grit for most purposes also. When set up correctly it's a great performing knife steel.
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It really does, or rather it did to me when I was younger.
But now I understand that the smaller the surface area, the more efficiently it can concentrate and deliver force, and even when the apex dulls somewhat, it can still cut because it is thin. But more obtuse will make it more robust, which will help it resist deformation in harder cuts. So what to do? I have had great results with a 15° per side (or thereabouts) primary edge, and a 20° microbevel. And those are the settings indicated by the Spyderco Sharpmaker, for that matter. Almost like Spyderco knew what they were doing.
And as an aside, the microbevels on my own personal use knives don't even get refined past the "brown" rods usually. As a user, I like toothy edges.
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There has already been some great advice given here.
I'll just add that I stopped doing high polished edges once I realized how quickly they lost their bite. I now won't go past 1200 grit diamond and often use a medium ceramic and 4 micron strop to touch up.
I'll just add that I stopped doing high polished edges once I realized how quickly they lost their bite. I now won't go past 1200 grit diamond and often use a medium ceramic and 4 micron strop to touch up.
You didn't say how old the knife is. I've read that the factory edge is not as durable and you don't get the most durable edge until you have sharpened the blade several times. For me M4 has good edge-holding for my use.
This is good advice too. I have heard it less so with Spyderco but when the factory edge is put on with a belt grinder sometimes the edge can be slightly cooked or overheated.
evilgreg
Why so serious?
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I may be imagining it but it's my perception from experience that the more I polish an edge (e.g. ultra fine grits finishing a mirror polish with the Edge Pro Apex) the quicker it seems to go from screaming sharp to noticeably dull in use. For whatever reason, a rougher but less initially sharp edge done at a lower grit seems to cut longer. Maybe I'm crazy, it doesn't make sense, but the sharpest most insanely polished edges I've done have seemed to go dull surprisingly quickly.
Of course, I do most of my sharpening nowadays on random coffee mug bottoms which are who knows what grit level (fairly coarse).
Of course, I do most of my sharpening nowadays on random coffee mug bottoms which are who knows what grit level (fairly coarse).
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I believe that you mean a, "dry", belt grinder? A wet belt grinder should not overheat the edge too much. IMHO
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I used to do that. I don't do it anymore.