So, em...

T

thombrogan

Joined
Nov 16, 2002
Messages
9,948
...my Caly3 was starting to require the slightest amount of effort to break down cardboard boxes tonight. It had a slight microbevel which I wanted to remove, plus it recently measured 0.012" thick at the edge, so it was time to reprofile. It hit the DMT D8XX, DMT D8F, the Shaptons, and the 1 micron and 0.3 microns AO lapping film over glass. The bevel is asymmetrical, but 0.04" back from the edge, it's 0.008" thick. Okay, still too thick, but it now cleanly pushcuts two-ply, quilted paper towels with force and effortlessly slices them.

scuffy01.jpg


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Behind the edge, still on the bevel, you can see left-over grind marks from the D8XX. I have trouble getting near the ricasso with stones finer than 120 grit. The sides of the blade are pretty scuffed, too. No one's making abrasive-free cardboard these days.
 
I have trouble getting near the ricasso with stones finer than 120 grit.
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Every has this problem, myself included.

It's not just the proximity to the ricasso, but also the edge is much thicker there, because the factory sharpeners have the same problem.

Try a very small choil-cut with a Dremel cutoff wheel. The wheel thickness is only about .05", so the choil-cut is very narrow - just enough to allow a uniform edge right up the cut.

Hope this helps!
 
Thanks, gud4u! I can get the actual edge, but couldn't nab the scratched part between the shoulder and the edge (the "blade road" as Chiharu calls it). My blade road has potholes near the ricasso, but the edge itself is shiny and cutty.
 
I use a chainsaw sharpening bit for the dremel and like gud4u create a sharpening choil, or like on the Cyclone, concentrate heavily on that section with a coarse stone, till it is as thin (or rather same angle) as the rest.
 
My bevels always end up slightly convexed so the shoulders and edges often see more abrasives loving than between them (I try not to convex, but it happens and this particular situation happens most often near the ricasso, though not always nor every time).
 
Thom, that blade almost looks like a laminate, I assume that's just the difference in finishes from the different grits ... ? I do like the looks of it, scratches and all, obviously a blade that gets used and appreciated.

I've found the nice square corner of a medium India benchstone about as good as anything if you want to clean up the edge right in front of the ricasso. Works fast enough after you've finished the rest.
 
Thanks, DogofWar!

It is a laminate, but the lamination marks* start well above the bevel.

*Conan, what is best in life?

To see the lamination of the Calys!
 
I have to say I’m impressed by your measuring skills. I just tossed my measuring device and vow never to try it again. :) I'm right at .0?? and .0?
 
thombrogan said:
Thanks, DogofWar!

It is a laminate, but the lamination marks* start well above the bevel.
Click to expand...
Ah ... when you said Caly3 my initial thought was VG-10, but then looking at the pics, plus I couldn't tell if the handles were CF or G-10, I just wasn't sure.

How thick is the ZDP layer? Just wondering what you'd wind up with if you really thinned that one down, had it 'Kreined', even?

*Conan, what is best in life?

To see the lamination of the Calys!
Click to expand...
lol! I remember the first time I heard 'Ahhh-neld' say that line. Thought for a while he talking about a citrus drink, but I believe you're right!
 
Dog of War said:
Ah ... when you said Caly3 my initial thought was VG-10, but then looking at the pics, plus I couldn't tell if the handles were CF or G-10, I just wasn't sure.
Click to expand...

Sorry about that. Just wanted to show the blade. It'll be a while before I grind VG-10 that thin. Watching an edge crack all to heck and roll while cutting a plastic bottle was disheartening.

Dog of War said:
How thick is the ZDP layer? Just wondering what you'd wind up with if you really thinned that one down, had it 'Kreined', even?
Click to expand...

Lamentation... That cool, refreshing drink!

From the spine, the layer looks fairly thin. When I reground my Fallkniven U2, the lami line travelled up quite a bit and when Tom reground Gunmike1's CalyJr in ZDP, the same happened.
 
thombrogan said:
It'll be a while before I grind VG-10 that thin. Watching an edge crack all to heck and roll while cutting a plastic bottle was disheartening.
Click to expand...
Maybe I missed that, or forgot, Thom. Do you have a link/pics? Sounds similar to what Cliff described with an S30V Sebenza.

Lamentation... That cool, refreshing drink!
Click to expand...

Such a Hollywood classic deserves to be incorporated directly into this thread:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V30tyaXv6EI

Even more laughable than I remembered! :D
 
Looking good, damn near as thin as my Kreinage. The sharpness is incredible, too. Any idea what angle you are running?

Mike
 
thombrogan said:
*Conan, what is best in life?

To see the lamination of the Calys!
Click to expand...

Which is sharper? His Wits or his Knives?

I hesitate to even drive by the Brogan spread -- I don't want to be a) re-profiled, and then b) sharpened. [Although it could be argued that I've needed this treatment for years.]
 
0.8? Good grief, you've got enough steel there for batoning through knotty oak or bed frames. Thin in out, for Pete's sake! No wonder you're getting all hung up in cardboard! That's a knife, not a splitting maul!!!!! Sheesh!!!!

Oh. 0.008. Neeeevvveerrrr mind.... *hic*
 
Thanks for the correction, Bill! Rebevelling, not reprofiling - it's still a leaf-shaped blade. I rebevelled with my course hone. :p

OldPhysics,

I won't try to change you. Won't even try to push you out of the way and trample you when INFI is on the line.

Gunmike1,

You know I have no idea! :o Whatever 0.008" x 0.008" x 0.04" might be plus an extra few degrees for slop. Halifax emigres with creepy pony-tails get spooky sharp without measuring angles; the boys from Jasper get scary sharp without measuring angles; and I get tolerably less dull by doing the same.

Sodak,

Yep, 0.8" I welded rebar to the edge and marvelled at its convexity. Jokes aside, it is still too thick. 0.008" is how knives should arrive. Unless they're bedframe-cutting knives of course.
 
Can you really notice a difference between .01 and .008, or even .005? I do think there is a noticeable difference from .02 and .01. I am currently trying to detect or discover at what point edge thickness is trumped by blade thickness, or reverse.
 
The previous rebevelling from 0.0??" to 0.012" was 50% thicker than where it's at now. Using less effort to cut is the only noticeable difference.
 
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