Sharpening P-D1

M

mbkingshane

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Looking for advice from anyone who has used the steel. Is it best to put a Polished smooth edge on, or best to leave a rough toothy edge?
 
Just my personal opinion, and I have sharpened a lot of different steels both HC and stainless.

I never thought of it this way?

The edge I put on my knives is not dictated by the steel, but my preference....
 
I strip with a leather 1x42 belt on my grinder loaded with green chrome polish.
 
Just received a strider db I'm P-D1 and put a mirror edge on it. Doesn't seem as sharp as other steels I've done this with. S-30v S-35vn.
 
I liked pd-1 with a coarse edge . When I polished mine it seemed to go smooth rather quickly .

Play around with it and just see what you like .
 
I sharpened a strider about two weeks ago with this steel, actually thought it was S30V by the way it was acting on the stones until I looked at the blade and saw it was PD1. Took a real nice edge off my 2000 grit Shapton Glass stone, wasn't mine so I can't comment on edge retention but steels with tungsten tend to perform well in the coarse to medium grit range in my experience.
 
Jason B. said:
I sharpened a strider about two weeks ago with this steel, actually thought it was S30V by the way it was acting on the stones until I looked at the blade and saw it was PD1. Took a real nice edge off my 2000 grit Shapton Glass stone, wasn't mine so I can't comment on edge retention but steels with tungsten tend to perform well in the coarse to medium grit range in my experience.
Click to expand...

Yeah I just resharpened it to 600 stone, then used a ceramic rod. Seems much sharper this way?
 
Off topic:
pd1 looks like a very interesting blade steel, wonder who all offers it?
 
JR88FAN said:
Just my personal opinion, and I have sharpened a lot of different steels both HC and stainless.

I never thought of it this way?

The edge I put on my knives is not dictated by the steel, but my preference....
Click to expand...

I have sharpened one or two knives and I feel different steels most definitely perform better when sharpened with different finishing grits. I am sure I am not alone in this feeling.
Russ
 
I personally think it depends on how and what you cut. If you find yourself cutting in a sawing motion then high carbide volume steels at medium to high hardness finished with a low grit will do best. If you find yourself push cutting most things then anything with a strong steel matrix at a high hardness finished with medium to high grit will work well. If you're chopping, then all bets are off and results will be all over the place as long as the various steels can withstand the impacts. But at that point it's less about the edge and more about the geometry, although geometry plays a part in all of those functions.

Specifically for PD1 at 62 RC with a somewhat thin geometry meant for slicing coupled with my own cutting habits I'd finish it as high of a grit as I could get it. With the same steel at the same hardness and geometry I'd recommend a lower grit if I found myself performing sawing cuts.

In the end it's hard to answer that question for anyone else because there are so many variables. Experiment and find what works for you. Start with low grit and carry the knife around and use it. If it works well, then keep using it that way.
 
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Looks like pd1 is very similar to cruwear by composition, and slightly less so to zwear.
I've been getting aquainted with a zwear blade for a couple months. It's about 4", reported at 64rc, is FFG, .09" spine, .012-.014" bte.
Probably miles away from the strider geometry, but I've found it to sharpen and hold up well to ~1200 grit (5 micron?).
I'm sure it would do well even more refined, but as said, refinement depends mainly on useage, for me anyway.
 
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