Reprofiling my Sebenza

Django606

Django606

Gold Member
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Jul 22, 2005
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1,184
Ok, so I've been a little disappointed lately with the cutting ability of my Sebenza. I've wanted to reprofile it down to 15 degrees per side, but I was waiting to get an EdgePro.

Well, long story short, but I was bored yesterday, and decided it couldn't be that bad to do on the Sharpmaker. Yes, with the gray stones. I worked at it for probably 2 hours yesterday and an hour today, checking every once and a while with a permanent marker.

After a while all of the permanent marker disappears, but the edge does not form a burr. I'm guessing this is due to a slight variation of the angle of each stroke, and after so many strokes the marker disappears?

Should I keep working at it, or buy the diamond stones/an EdgePro?

Edit: Please do not reccommend a benchstone, I am not skilled at free hand sharpening and do not want to scratch up my Sebenza.
 
Django606 said:
Ok, so I've been a little disappointed lately with the cutting ability of my Sebenza. I've wanted to reprofile it down to 15 degrees per side, but I was waiting to get an EdgePro.

Well, long story short, but I was bored yesterday, and decided it couldn't be that bad to do on the Sharpmaker. Yes, with the gray stones. I worked at it for probably 2 hours yesterday and an hour today, checking every once and a while with a permanent marker.

After a while all of the permanent marker disappears, but the edge does not form a burr. I'm guessing this is due to a slight variation of the angle of each stroke, and after so many strokes the marker disappears?

Should I keep working at it, or buy the diamond stones/an EdgePro?

Edit: Please do not reccommend a benchstone, I am not skilled at free hand sharpening and do not want to scratch up my Sebenza.
Click to expand...


While a DMT XX coarse benchstone is best, I will say the Spyderco Diamond Rods work very well for reprofiling to 15 per side. I have used them several times in that capacity, and they are MUCH faster than the medium rods (though MUCH slower than a DMT XX coarse).

Mike
 
Get some coarse sandpaper made for metel and wrap it around the Sharpmaker rods.
 
I had a problem with a S30V Sebenza not burring, the edge was just cracking apart. You can verify this by just filing a *small* flat on the edge and watching to see if it is removed.

-Cliff
 
db said:
Get some coarse sandpaper made for metel and wrap it around the Sharpmaker rods.
Click to expand...

Any suggestions on grit size?

Cliff Stamp said:
I had a problem with a S30V Sebenza not burring, the edge was just cracking apart. You can verify this by just filing a *small* flat on the edge and watching to see if it is removed.
Click to expand...

I did this before I began sharpening at 30 degrees, because I had a feeling the edge was just floppy due to the burr going back and forth too many times. I sharpened it on 40 degrees, and the edge is no longer reflecting light. I have a feeling I just haven't reached the edge yet with 30 degrees.. :confused:
 
Sorry for the double post, but I started out with 220 grit sandpaper on the Sharpmaker rods, worked at it for a while. Now the permanent marker disappears off the edge completely, but I am still not forming a burr.

I thought that maybe 220 was too coarse to form a burr, so I moved onto 320. Still not forming a burr. I flattened a part of the edge and no, it is not sharpening out. Any suggestions?

On the bright side, the edge has a perfect looking scratch pattern, even though it isn't sharp. For some reason, even though both sides of the edge indicate that they are at 30 degrees via the permanent marker trick, the left side goes up towards the spine more than the right (I don't know if this is the right way to explain it).
 
If the flat is still there you are not at the edge yet, you won't form a burr until the bevels meet. Go back to the coarse.

-Cliff
 
I reprofiled mine on my Edgepro, and while that helped some, what made the biggest difference was getting it rehardened to 60.5 HRC. That drastically improved the performance.

I have always had a hard time getting S30V sharp. Others love it, so it's probably something to do with my technique. Good luck!
 
Ok, I went back to 220, and the edge is no longer reflecting light. I still can't detect a burr. To check for burrs I usually use a bright LED flashlight (Surefire L1 or U2) and I can see a small bright line at the edge of whichever side was not just sharpened.

I guess I'll keep working at it. Didn't you say something about having trouble forming a burr though Cliff?
 
Yeah, mine cracked apart, would not sharpen after awhile. I gave it to my brother who uses it as a rough work knife for carpentry. Useless for precision work as it would not shapen, edge just fractured. I checked it under magnification to verify.

-Cliff
 
I checked my edge under 100x magnification, the edge just looks kinda toothy. Actually less toothy then I expected for 220 grit sandpaper.

Edit; Now that I think about it, that makes sense, because apparentally I have hit the edge yet xD
 
I agree that it's a good idea, but I really don't see any reason why I should. I've thinned the edge to the angle I want, it's just a matter of finishing it I guess. I'm already done with the hard part.

Cliff, could the use of sandpaper be preventing the formation of a burr? When I hear people talking about sticking sandpaper to sharpmaker rods, I always assume they sharpen the knife the same way as without the sandpaper (bringing the knife down from the top of the stone from heel to tip). When convexing edges using the mouse pad/sandpaper, you're supposed to drag the edge, as if you're stropping it. Could this possibly be harming the edge or preventing the formation of a burr?

This is pretty much the only thing I can think of, because under magnification it does not show cracking like yours did, and after flattening a part of the edge, it sharpens the flat out.
 
How are you sharpening it? Are you alternating sides after each stroke? If so you will not get a burr. That is a good thing. If you know you are at the edge and both sides meet, move to a finer grit and repete. You don't need to get a bur.
 
Thanks for the response. Sometimes I sharpened it alternating sides each time, others I sharpened it for maybe 20 strokes on one side, 20 on the other side, etc. Even when I sharpen it 20 or more times per side, the other side does not burr. I guess my only choice at this point is to keep progressing through finer grits.

Does anyone know what grit I should stop at before moving to the gray stones?
 
I think I'm going to send it in. Not only am I unable to achieve a burr, but I have always been disappointed with edge retention. I think I may have a poorly heat treated blade. The bevels are also uneven, even though I sharpened both exactly the same at ~30 degrees on the Sharpmaker.

Hopefully I can get a new blade that is properly heat treated and ground correctly.
 
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