Spyderco CBN rods.

[Hashishiin]

Just got my first set of CBN rods, and yesterday managed to make my first knife shaving sharp, not just pulling a few hairs, but truly shaving. That made me happy. It was an MAM Navalja, a sheepsfoot, made of Inox. I also could see the progression of the look of the edge as I went through the progression of stones. This morning, I have made my Leatherman and SAK shave too, but only on the medium and fine stones. I was noticing that, probably because of the rougher grit, the CBN felt rougher, it was not nearly as smooth as the medium/fine stones. Is that just the way CBN is, and I should refine the edge further? Or do they need to break in, or do I need to oil them? I assume one would NOT rub the stones together like you would to break in the medium rods, right? That would mess with the CBN in the matrix.

Also, when your stones are gunked with steel, for example the white fines, is it visible steel all over, or should you start cleaning it when it gets marked up some?
Thanks for info!

 

[scottc3]

Is that just the way CBN is, and I should refine the edge further?

Nice to here the Spyderco triangle CBN worked so well. From memory, CBN rods are 400 mesh ~40 micron, and the medium rod is 14-ish micron. Use the CBN with a light touch and clean with water n dish soap drying thoroughly. Without knowing specifically, I can infer that Spyderco meant for users to progress from CBN to Medium rods. Though some might play with edges straight off CBN's...

note- sticking a less expensive 6 inch EdgePro form factor diamond plate to used up Spyderco rod or Congress moldmaker SIC rod would save some bucks if $60.00 seems hard to afford.

 

[Hashishiin]

Nice to here the Spyderco triangle CBN worked so well. From memory, CBN rods are 400 mesh ~40 micron, and the medium rod is 14-ish micron. Use the CBN with a light touch and clean with water n dish soap drying thoroughly. Without knowing specifically, I can infer that Spyderco meant for users to progress from CBN to Medium rods. Though some might play with edges straight off CBN's...

Yeah, that is the thing, I am trying to figure out what an edge from CBN is "supposed" to be like, on average, say, on this Inox MAM.

 

[3D Anvil]

I haven't used the CBN stones, but I'm sure they will become less aggressive as they break in -- just like diamond plates.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

If the CBN rods are more or less like plated diamond hones, and I'm guessing they are, the 400-grit rating should leave an edge pretty toothy and aggressive. Much more so than either of the Spyderco ceramic rods.

One approach I've liked, using a similarly rated diamond hone (DMT Coarse/325) is to set the bevels with the coarse & toothy diamond at 30° inclusive or lower, then apply a very, very minimal microbevel using the 40° inclusive setting on the SM, using either the medium or fine Spyderco ceramic rods in just a featherlight pass or two per side. The microbevel applied with the ceramic rods will narrow the apex width, while still leaving behind the aggressive-slicing bite left by the diamond hone. That makes for a very vicious slicer, which really sails through paper-cutting tests with the edge. Works really well with simpler stainless steels like 420HC - I've applied this type of edge to a Buck 110 blade recently, and it's an impressive slicer - my favorite edge on that knife so far.