Re-profiling SLEIPNER steel

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njb242

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Oct 29, 2013
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Good evening everyone.
I recently purchased a sharpmaker to sharpen some of my knives. I've found that the bevel on every knife I own just so happens to be greater than 30 degrees (just my luck). I have successfully been able to re-profile my Kershaw Dimension and Kershaw Blur using some 220 grit wet/dry sandpaper. After reprofiling, both were able to take a wicked 30 degree edge from my sharpmaker.
Now, time to confront my next obstacle. I have a DPx knife with sleipner that has a pretty poor factor edge. I was hoping I'd be able to touch it up with the 40 degree setting on the sharpmaker, but the factory bevel is in excess of 40 degrees. I'm quite hesitant to re-profile this knife as I know it is a particularly hard steel, and it cost me a lot of money. Additionally, because the blade is so thick, a lot of metal will have to be removed. On the plus side, my HEST has a very basic blade shape so I feel it will be easier to re-profile than my blur.
I'd rather not spend a lot of money, as I just purchased the sharpmaker. The diamond rods are a bit out of my budget and I heard they wear out quickly (I'd imagine this becomes more true with a hard steel such as SLEIPNER).

Will the same sandpaper that I used for my other knives work as well on this blade?
Should I move to a courser grit sandpaper to combat the hard steel?
Are there any other methods you guys would recommend to aid me in this daunting task?
Do I have any other cheap alternatives when it comes to re-profiling this blade?

As always, your experience and recommendations are appreciated!
 
I reprofiled my dpx hest on the wicked edge, it is a tough steel. Not sure if I would try it on my sharp maker though, I'm sure it could be done with a little patients .
 

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Neither the carbon nor the vanadium are very high in this steel; therefore minimal vanadium carbides. Chromium also isn't so high, so chromium carbides wouldn't be an issue either. So, I'd think the wear-resistance shouldn't be so bad as to preclude it from sharpening with sandpaper (wet/dry silicon carbide, or aluminum oxide). The reputed hardness of 60+ (for edge-holding) is independent of wear-resistance (to abrasive wear), so I personally wouldn't worry too much about sharpening it. I can't see it being any harder to sharpen than D2, at most. In fact, D2's carbon and chromium (think --> chromium carbides) are much higher than seen in this steel, so I'd expect this to be easier than D2, in sharpening up. See the comparisons to D2's and S30V's carbide-forming elements, in the steel composition data below. In that context, it doesn't look bad at all.

Sleipner steel ( http://www.uddeholm.com/files/PB_Uddeholm_sleipner_english.pdf ):

  • Carbon: 0.9% (compare to D2 @ 1.55%, and S30V @ 1.45%)
  • Silicon: 0.9%
  • Manganese: 0.5%
  • Chromium: 7.8% (compare to D2 @ 11.5 - 12%, and S30V @ 14%)
  • Molybdenum: 2.5%
  • Vanadium: 0.5% (compare to D2 @ 0.8%, and S30V @ 4.00%)

Quoted from the DPx site; I added the bold emphasis and underline ( https://www.dpxgear.com/hest-ii-landing ):
"Sleipner steel is a chromium-vanadium-molybdenum alloy (7% Cr, 0.5% V, 2.5% Mo) much like D2 steel and characterized by its edge retention, ease of sharpening, and resistance to wear and chipping. "
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David
 
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I would recommend just getting the diamond rods. Buy once, cry once. They do not "wear out quickly." They are diamonds. Just don't apply too much pressure and "let the diamonds do the work! :thumbup:
 
I actually ended up buying some of the "ruby rods" that fit the sharpmaker (well hopefully they fit). Was thinking about free handing with some sandpaper, but I don't love the way the tips of my kershaws came out. May adjust my hold on the sharpmaker to knock the shoulder down to 24 degrees or so with the ruby stones, give that a quick run with the brown stones at same angle to smooth it out some, then jump to a 30 degree bevel and a 40 degree micro bevel letting the sharpmaker do what it does best. This will be my first time setting a micro bevel. How refined should the 30 degree edge be before I move to 40?
 
njb242 said:
I actually ended up buying some of the "ruby rods" that fit the sharpmaker (well hopefully they fit). Was thinking about free handing with some sandpaper, but I don't love the way the tips of my kershaws came out. May adjust my hold on the sharpmaker to knock the shoulder down to 24 degrees or so with the ruby stones, give that a quick run with the brown stones at same angle to smooth it out some, then jump to a 30 degree bevel and a 40 degree micro bevel letting the sharpmaker do what it does best. This will be my first time setting a micro bevel. How refined should the 30 degree edge be before I move to 40?
Click to expand...

I'd suggest refining it as much as you can. That'll give you a good indication of what the steel's capable of; how sharp it can be and how it can perform with good slicing geometry. This also gives you a basis upon which to judge performance if you do try the microbevel afterward. In fact, if I were trying out the steel for the first time, I'd just leave it at 30, and only add the microbevel if I found the edge isn't durable enough at that angle. The vast majority of decent/good modern steels can hold up just fine at 30°, assuming one isn't really abusing them.


David
 
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Obsessed with Edges said:
I'd suggest refining it as much as you can. That'll give you a good indication of what the steel's capable of; how sharp it can be and how it can perform with good slicing geometry. This also gives you a basis upon which to judge performance if you do try the microbevel afterward. In fact, if I were trying out the steel for the first time, I'd just leave it at 30, and only add the microbevel if I found the edge isn't durable enough at that angle. The vast majority of decent/good modern steels can hold up just fine at 30°, assuming one isn't really abusing them.


David
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Makes good sense; thank you! One last question. When I profile, should I try to take the shoulder down to less than 15 degrees (30 degrees inclusive)? In my head it seems that if I was only to re-profile to 30 degrees that I would only be able to refine the edge once, and minor re-profiling would be needed every time I wanted to touch up my 30 degree edge.
 
njb242 said:
Makes good sense; thank you! One last question. When I profile, should I try to take the shoulder down to less than 15 degrees (30 degrees inclusive)? In my head it seems that if I was only to re-profile to 30 degrees that I would only be able to refine the edge once, and minor re-profiling would be needed every time I wanted to touch up my 30 degree edge.
Click to expand...

That's basically up to you, if you want to thin the primary bevel to < 30°. You could do it that way, then adding the microbevel (essentially) at 30°. It would then be easier down the road to maintain it at that angle, without having to worry about re-grinding the whole primary bevel again. Since you're trying this steel out for the first time (I assume), I'd be somewhat cautious about going too thin with it, too soon, until you know how the steel holds up. I think you'd be OK down to about 25° inclusive, but things can change fast when you get much lower than that, depending on the steel. ESPECIALLY with this particular steel, if it's hardened to 60+ RC as advertised; I'd be concerned about chipping or cracking it, if it gets too thin. I snapped a tip off a ZDP-189 Kershaw Leek that I'd just finished taking very thin (too thin), so that really hammered the point home for me (so to speak).


David
 
From what I have heard, Sleipner is basically D2 modified. If it is anything like D2 it is a pain in the rear to sharpen, but holds that edge well. The lower chromium should make it a little easier to sharpen, but likely not by much. The lower carbon and higher alloying should make it easier to sharpen. I would imagine the difference should be something like the difference between 440C and N690. Not much difference bbuilt you can tell.
 
You might want to check out the Moldmaster stones from Congress Tools for reprofiling on the Sharpmaker.
 
Already ordered ruby stones (I think from congress?), college pockets are plumb out of money. I guess once they come in, I'll try to re-profile at 30 degrees, and see what happens. Hoping this knife holds it's edge well (I have no clue if it will, came from the factory with a 50+ degree bevel and finger-running dull [imagine the current edge could take a helluva beating though and that's why they do it for this "survival tool"]). Wish me luck on this endeavor.
Side note, despite its current lack of sharpness, this blade is getting a lot of pocket time. Fingers crossed that it impresses me (because who wants to waste $200?).
 
Sleipner reigned victorious. I received some ruby stones from congress today in 150 grit. I was hoping they would make quick work of the re-profiling job; unfortunately, I was wrong. They created a lot of dust, and although they scratched the blade, I don't think they took off much material. After about an hour of struggle, I took out some 160 grit sandpaper and tried to re-profile manually. I was making better progress than with the ruby stones in the sharpmaker, but after half a sheet, I was still hitting the shoulder on 30 and 40 degree settings. Getting frustrated, oh well, threw in the towel and heading out tonight. Will give it another shot tomorrow with some more sandpaper, then I will probably have to call it quits and send it to someone who knows what they're doing.
 
For easy reprofiling any steels, buy $10 worth of belt & $5 shipping. Go to trugrit.com buy: 2x72-120 Best Value Ceramic and 2x72-220 SGR984 Ceramic. These ceramic abrasive are less scratchy+durable and cut steel very fast (D2/Sleipner, s30v, s90v, k390, m390, etc..). You can probably reprofile your knife in 10/15 minutes and use probably 2 inches of 120 and 1 inch of 220. You can re-use those used belt sections, just apply more pressure. Recently, I posted a video about this.

For 2x the $, could go the diamond route and sand paper: DMT 6 Dia-Sharp Continuous Diamond Bench Stone Extra-Coarse.
 
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