Slipjoint Sharpening (S & M Sowbelly)

cj65

cj65

Joined
Aug 30, 2008
Messages
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So Lo,
How do you put that beautiful polished edge bevel on that there Schatt? I am very envious of your talents.
 
cj65 said:
So Lo,
How do you put that beautiful polished edge bevel on that there Schatt? I am very envious of your talents.
Click to expand...

All freehand on the stones in this pic :)

IMG_2808.jpg


IMG_2809.jpg


A BAD pic, but you can see the new edge about midway up the main blade here :cool:
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I do most of the work on the small, course dia-sharp, then after the bevel is set I move on to the Brown Spyderco "Profile rod," with the last few mins on the brown I tip the spine up off the stone a tad to start setting the micro bevel, then drop it back down for the white "Profile stone," last few mins are again working the micro bevel. This Micro bevel is not much, just a very small amount... but will help ease touch ups to near nothing. Also makes the edge very strong, lots to gain from a micro bevel and zero to lose. IMHO

So after I come off the white Profile stick, I use that big white stone. It's a Spyderco 306 ultra fine (the best stone money can buy and my most used sharpening stone, because it's about the only thing you need for touch ups... And I do that everyday.. It's takes seconds) :D Rant over :D

OK, so remember to work that micro bevel a bit on the ultra fine, by now your whitting hair via holding the hair, so let's go sharper.

Strop, very light... I lay the knife way down, past where I sharpened at, this helps clean up and stray grind marks. Keep doing that for about five mins., then start working the main bevel for a few mins...

Now this next step is VERY important, raise the knife up and strop that micro bevel, VERY VERY light. Do not over do it here, it's very easy to strop too much on this last step and dull your edge. Too much or too much force will roll the strop around your edge and dull it. I use maybe, ten very light strokes on the micro bevel.. Also flip flopping every stoke, up untill now your stropping and sharpening strokes do not have to be even, just look to see where your at and what you need to do. But stropping this mirco bevel NEEDS an even amount of strokes on each side.

Strop on your jeans, just to get the compound off the blade, hold your knife with the edge facing up, lay a hair across the edge, pull on the hair (ie pull the hair down, and with the WEIGHT OF THE HAIR ONLY you should be able to split a hair right up the middle, it will curl like the hair in the pic)


:D

When I get a new computer I am going to make a few videos of what I do, as it works better than any "system" I have ever tried including the EdgePro Apex. And, I might have $130 in stones :)


Sorry for the looooong post :o
 
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In this pic you can see that micro bevel, it may look like a wire edge, but I promise it's the light hitting that polished micro bevel.

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:) Thanks for all the kind words :)
 
Dang!So-Lo,That's a sweet sowbelly:thumbup:

Great pics-Great sharpening tips-you got it all going on!:D

I really look forward to your threads(most of the time:eek:)



BTW,Where do you get your stones/hones from?



Thanks,:)
 
So-Lo, please feel free to expand upon your steps and techniques for the benefit of our members. I know I always find the methods of others interesting and like to incorporate new ideas when they help enhance my skills.
 
Those really are great bevels SoLo. I can get my knives to the same level of sharpness, however I use a 6K stone, so maybe its not AS sharp. I dunno. But man your bevels are perfectly even looking. Mine tend to be flatter and higher up on the left side of the blade, if the tip is pointed away from you and the edge is down. Great work though. I would love to try one of the spyderco Ultra Fine stones. They look like they work great.
 
crbauhs said:
Those really are great bevels SoLo. I can get my knives to the same level of sharpness, however I use a 6K stone, so maybe its not AS sharp. I dunno. But man your bevels are perfectly even looking. Mine tend to be flatter and higher up on the left side of the blade, if the tip is pointed away from you and the edge is down. Great work though. I would love to try one of the spyderco Ultra Fine stones. They look like they work great.
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Thanks for the kind words :D

I think everybody, NEEDS a Spyderco 306 UF stone! Even if you don't think you need one, you do. The Ultra fine rods for the sharp maker are great, but not as good as the benchstone. IMHO

Honestly the best money I have ever spent in my sharpening hobby, traded the edge pro.... Just don't need it. Set the bevel with the DMT course, then polish it up from there. The 306 UF stone is where most of the "magic" happens, and the strop is mostly just for fun.

The tips and bellys can be a little tricky, just look at what it's doing every other stroke or so and them bevels will stay even. Sometimes you have to really lift the knife up when rounding the belly and going to the tip to keep the bevel even.

That's one of the big things the edgepro does wrong!

If you sharpen a Sebenza on a edgepro and do not lift the angle for the belly and tip, you get a real wide and uneven bevel on the belly and tip, because the bevel does not stay the same.

Plus, freehandling is more fun :D

Kind of a random infomation post, not really directed at anyone :o

:)
 
So-Lo said:
When I get a new computer I am going to make a few videos of what I do, as it works better than any "system" I have ever tried including the EdgePro Apex. And, I might have $130 in stones :)
Click to expand...

I would be interesting in seeing videos of your sharpening method. :thumbup:
 
I bow to your mad sharpening skillz- So-Lo! I have that same Schatt Sowbelly, and I finally got around to sharpening it last night. The steel on mine seems to be ridiculously hard- I've never seen 420 act this way. It feels more like HARD D2. I've been on a sharpening kick lately, been sharpening anything and everything I can get my hands on. Sandpaper simply would not touch that edge- I had to go to diamond stones to make any progress. Does your sowbelly have unusually hard steel for a Schatt?
 
Funny you should say that. I have a Queen doctor's knife that is listed as 420HC but it does feel pretty hard and D2-like. I guess Queen/S&M's heat treat on 420HC creates a harder steel than other manufacturer's 420HC??? :confused:
 
stevekt said:
Funny you should say that. I have a Queen doctor's knife that is listed as 420HC but it does feel pretty hard and D2-like. I guess Queen/S&M's heat treat on 420HC creates a harder steel than other manufacturer's 420HC??? :confused:
Click to expand...

I haven't noticed the same level of hardness on any of my other 420 S&Ms- just the sowbelly. I was wondering if it was really D2 for some reason, but I tested it with some vinegar, it's definitely stainless. You would think 420 would be brittle at that high hardness, but it's not. It seems pretty tough. I was thinking it might be ATS-34 for some reason, like the File & Wires, but I don't know why Queen would do that and not crow about it. :confused:

It's a mystery. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. That Sowbelly has held a great edge- I've had it for a while and have only now bothered sharpening it.
 
Hey Dr. Solo,

In my wait and frustration for my ultra fine to come in from my (used to be) favorite knife store, I went on Spyderco web site, and looked up dealers for my zip code. THERE IS A SPYDERCO DEALER 2 BLOCKS FROM MY HOUSE. Whoda thunk? It was a uniform store, LEO uniforms. I am happy, my wife is nervous. Sorry, I got so excited saying it, that I almost wet my pants. They have the profile rod set brown and white for about 44 dollars or so, and then I have to wait for my flat ultra fine. I will pick up the DMT coarse next.
 
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