s30v behaves a little odd when i sharpen it...

G

GarageBoy

Joined
May 23, 2003
Messages
5,952
ok, since my spyderco pmillie and calypso jr finally became dull, i decided to give em a touch up on the fine benchones.

the caly has been used all yr and a 1/2 and finally got dull enough for me to have to give it a touch up. 10-20 strokes- sharp again. (nearly screwed up the tip, but i got very cautious towards it)

then, the paramilitary that spyken had reprofiled on an edgepro and then went up dmt fine and finally stropped on cr2o3 green compound. this was a little odd. i've cut many stuff with it before and the edge held up, but the first swipe on the fine stone and it burred over. tried to go to the other side, burred over again back, not getting any smaller.
ok, went to the medium benchstones, high angle, cut it off.
back to the original bevel, which isn't that low, btw, and finally got rid of a burr.

went to fine and it burrs again :mad: ended up finishing it on fine with a higher than original angle, giving it a microbevel.

any tips for next time? it's gonna be sent back to spyderco to get the tip restored the next time it gets dull
 
When you were sharpening it, were you putting a lot of pressure on it? Be sure to use gentle strokes and let the stone do the work. If you're folding the edge over you maybe pressing to hard.
 
What angle are you using. My ParaM (and just about all my Spydies) are sharpened at the original 30 degrees.
 
i'm trying to match the original bevel on the caly and the angle that spyken ground into it, which is close to the caly's angle. the thing is, i don't know how 30 degrees translates into spine height off the stone.

the strokes were made with minimal pressure.
 
Gday Garrage,
I also have had this issue with my ParaM - strange as I have not had this prob with my Manix nor my Chinook II, also spydies that use S30V. Have a Rat Trap and 2 benchmades also with S30V and have no problems with them.
To my uneducated guess, it feels that the Para is heat treated softer than the others.
The only way I get a sattisfactory edge is to sharpen using the 30's on the sharpmaker, then switching to the edges of the brown rods on the 40's for about 5 strokes either side, then giving it a light strop.
 
It seems to me that the angle that has been reprofiled is too fine and less than 30 degrees. My Paramilitary is at 30 degrees and has just had its first visit to the coarse stones 5 strokes each side - no burring. From what I have seen myself and what I have read is that the ParaM is so close to 30 degrees out of the box that it should be sharpened that way - if you increase your angle of course you are going to get a burr and the first sign of a burr is when you stop. If you follow the view that you should raise a burr when sharpening or creating your secondary edge then by continuing sharpening you are only removing metal not making the blade sharper. Have a look at the FAQ on sharpening on BladeForum re raising the burr etc. My advise to anyone who has a ParaM out of the box at 30 degrees is leave it there that's where it belongs.
 
If you have a look at the reviews I posted on the ParaM at the following 2 sites you might get some more info:

http://66.113.178.251/forums/showthread.php?t=14427

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=341802

Garageboy - if you a looking to define your angles using a benchstone just measure your angles on paper and this should give you an indication of how the blade should address the stone. It's a bit hard comparing the Calypso to the ParaM because of the thickness of the latter. If you want to measure the current angle of the ParaM I cut out little templates showing the various angles on cardboard and it is just a matter of fitting the edge into the template that is closest. Of course if you have an instrument to measure angles or bevels it is easier.
 
thanks. is there a formula? i tried the width of the blade times sin of 15 degrees for the spine height above the stone
 
Nothing as complex as that - cut yourself out a small triangle out of cardboard with the angle you desire and lay it on the stone and rest the blade on it and this will give you the angle that you want the edge to address the stone. You don't have to be exact down to the enth degree as long as the angle you use is basically the same for both sides of the blade. If you want to check on whether or not you are duplicating the previous angles use a dark texta and "paint" the edge. If you remove the whole of the texta you know you are duplicating the angle if only at the edge it is too steep or if only at the top side your angle is too shallow.
 
Had the same issue with a dodo. removing a burr like that from such a curved blade is seriously a pita. para blade or manix both didn't behave like that. dunno what's up with that, but then again i usually remove the burr by stropping, which is easier both with the para and the manix.
 
S30V with a decent hardness should have no problem with a finer edge, I usually run my personal users at ~10 per side or less. That class of steels should produce a very crisp edge without the floppy burr formation you can get on the softer steels like 420 and such.

If you use your blades for a long time without sharpening, it is likely that the very edge is weakened, so they can benefit from removing extra metal. So the first thing to try is sharpen to a full burr, then keep going for a little while working on the other side and then back over to insure all weakened metal is removed.

-Cliff
 
Cliff Stamp said:
S30V with a decent hardness should have no problem with a finer edge, I usually run my personal users at ~10 per side or less.
-Cliff
Click to expand...

I agree. S30V should be able to take a slightly less than 30deg angle. GB, the angle may be just a little less than 30, if I remember correctly. But not by much. I removed all my burrs by stropping. I would suggest the same.

Cliff Stamp said:
If you use your blades for a long time without sharpening, it is likely that the very edge is weakened, so they can benefit from removing extra metal. So the first thing to try is sharpen to a full burr, then keep going for a little while working on the other side and then back over to insure all weakened metal is removed.

-Cliff
Click to expand...

Could try this too...altho' I'm not sure how hard the edge has been used.

Spyderco's S30V doesn't behave the same way as the S30V on my customs, that I know.

Sending it back to the factory works too :D ...
 
I have used a handfull, all crisp and solid. If you can getting it checked out should solve the problem definately, a quick HRC check and an edge resharpening at Spyderco would eliminate most of the potential problems.

-Cliff
 
My experiences touching up the S30V on my Paramilitary have been excellent and follow exactly what JDBLADE has described -- 30 degrees inclusive works wonderfully and hold up well -- although I use the fine and UF for a more polished edge. I've never had a problem with a burr forming when I'm using light strokes for a touch up.

GB, once again I recommend the Sharpmaker 204 to you. Both my Para and Caly are set at 30 degrees, finished with the UF rods, and they cleanly cut single ply toilet paper -- a new sharpness test I picked up from WadeF. ;)
 
Always possible, before I would send it back, the first thing I would do is relax and leave it alone for a day or so. I have had days when my sharpening skills were off, you can get frustrated and just make the problem worse. Leave it alone, try it awhile later with a knife that always responds well and then give the other one a shot. If it continues to be problematic and you have a skilled friend then let them take a crack at it, otherwise it might be time to contact the maker.

-Cliff
 
yea, i left them well enough alone. gonna grab the opinel and work on my stroke technique. keith, the sharpmaker is something i say i'm gonna get one day, but i end up using the 40$ for another knife anyways =/
also, i want to be able to sharpen well freehand one day

the edge hasn't been used that hard. potato chip bags, food packaging, the occasional package and one aluminum foil seal on my nesquik drink.
the heat treat is fine.
i had a gerber lst, my first knife, that i could not and still can't get sharp. that, had a bad heat treat.
 
ok, hit it again lightly. i think the burr is gone. gonna have the mutt check it the next time i see him. thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top