Steel problem or sharpening problem?

[kreole]

I received a new knife today by Great Eastern Cutlery in 1095 steel.

I put a new bevel on it with DMT stones, then used a Sharpmaker to put it at 30*. I noticed the edge appeared chipped down most of its length, so I switched over to 40* and used a lighter touch, though I've never had the problem before. No matter how much I sharpen it, however, the chips do not go away, and I'm sure they should be gone from the amount of time I've spent on it. A couple times I rubbed my finger on the edge (as in, orthogonal to the edge, in the direction of blade to edge) and noticed flakes of metal come off, like might come off as a wire edge but wider than than that.

I tried leaving out the medium grit Sharpmaker stones and just using the fine grit, but it continues to be chipped, though smaller ones.

Is it something I'm doing sharpening, or could a problem with the steel cause this?

Here is a picture of the edge (under a 30x loupe), and I've linked to a larger version below it

http://i.imgur.com/RahD9.jpg


Thanks for the help!

 

[Komitadjie]

Looks rather like a burr to me that's starting to flake apart as your stones wear it away. Have you tried a few strokes on a charged strop to see if it comes off?

 

[kreole]

Looks rather like a burr to me that's starting to flake apart as your stones wear it away. Have you tried a few strokes on a charged strop to see if it comes off?

Yep, I've tried stropping it off with no luck. I even tried 'over stropping', i.e., holding the knife at a very obtuse angle and pressing hard, as to intentionally round the edge, but the edge remains as in the picture. They seem too big to be part of a wire edge.

 

[Komitadjie]

Dang, I wonder if it IS just over-hardened that much... I could see rolling an edge with a fine Sharpmaker stone but not chipping like that unless you were REALLY pressing hard. I'd almost be tempted to go back to the DMTs and start working over again, see if you can grind it back a ways to clear the existing chips with very light pressure, perhaps the Sharmaker is not aggressive enough to remove them? It does tend to take material off very slowly.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

What did the edge look like after the DMT stones? And how coarse were they? I'm wondering if the rough edge is the remnants of the edge produced on the diamond stones, and then gradually breaking away on the Sharpmaker, as Komitadjie suggested. Diamond can leave an edge pretty rough, especially if pressure was very heavy or the grit was very coarse.

Also, in your pic, it almost looks as if the shoulder above the rough portion is what's making contact on the Sharpmaker's rods (looks more refined above the edge). If the work done at 30 degrees on the Sharpmaker is shallower than the bevel established on the DMT hones, that could explain a lot. The rough edge left by the diamond may not be making flush contact. If so, the first thing I'd do is try the 40 degree setting on the Sharpmaker, to see if that will clean up the rough edge. Edit: Never mind, I see you tried the 40 degree setting. I'm still wondering about the angle produced on the DMTs.

 

[kreole]

Dang, I wonder if it IS just over-hardened that much... I could see rolling an edge with a fine Sharpmaker stone but not chipping like that unless you were REALLY pressing hard. I'd almost be tempted to go back to the DMTs and start working over again, see if you can grind it back a ways to clear the existing chips with very light pressure, perhaps the Sharmaker is not aggressive enough to remove them? It does tend to take material off very slowly.

I spent maybe 15 minutes to get the initial bevel on the DMT stones, something around as long to put the 30* edge on, then a few hours hitting with the Sharpmaker to try to smooth the chips out, so I assume they would be gone, but perhaps not. Your idea to try starting again from scratch using the DMT stone is probably a good one, worth trying anyway.

What did the edge look like after the DMT stones? And how coarse were they? I'm wondering if the rough edge is the remnants of the edge produced on the diamond stones, and then gradually breaking away on the Sharpmaker, as Komitadjie suggested. Diamond can leave an edge pretty rough, especially if pressure was very heavy or the grit was very coarse.

Also, in your pic, it almost looks as if the shoulder above the rough portion is what's making contact on the Sharpmaker's rods (looks more refined above the edge). If the work done at 30 degrees on the Sharpmaker is shallower than the bevel established on the DMT hones, that could explain a lot. The rough edge left by the diamond may not be making flush contact. If so, the first thing I'd do is try the 40 degree setting on the Sharpmaker, to see if that will clean up the rough edge. Edit: Never mind, I see you tried the 40 degree setting. I'm still wondering about the angle produced on the DMTs.

I used a red/blue DMT stone. It looked fine after that. I did each side until I could see a wire edge down the length, and along the wire edge on each side there were no chips. It was only after some time on the Sharpmaker that it started to look like that, and I only have medium and finer grits for the Sharpmaker.

edit: I'm not sure the exact angle I did on the DMTs, as I just free hand it by eye, aiming for a bit more acute than 30* so that the Sharpmaker's setting will put a microbevel on it. It had to be close to 30* because the Sharpmaker's stones polished away most of the marks from the DMTs.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I spent maybe 15 minutes to get the initial bevel on the DMT stones, something around as long to put the 30* edge on, then a few hours hitting with the Sharpmaker to try to smooth the chips out, so I assume they would be gone, but perhaps not. Your idea to try starting again from scratch using the DMT stone is probably a good one, worth trying anyway.

I also think going back to the DMTs is a good idea. Whatever's going on at the edge, I don't think the Sharpmaker will fix it (for now, anyway).

I used a red/blue DMT stone. It looked fine after that. I did each side until I could see a wire edge down the length, and along the wire edge on each side there were no chips. It was only after some time on the Sharpmaker that it started to look like that, and I only have medium and finer grits for the Sharpmaker.

edit: I'm not sure the exact angle I did on the DMTs, as I just free hand it by eye, aiming for a bit more acute than 30* so that the Sharpmaker's setting will put a microbevel on it. It had to be close to 30* because the Sharpmaker's stones polished away most of the marks from the DMTs.

OK. I'd still go back to the DMTs and re-do the bevel. When finishing on the red DMT, go VERY, VERY lightly, to ensure the edge is as clean as possible. And before taking it to the Sharpmaker afterwards, I'd test the edge in some fairly rigorous cutting, like very heavy cardboard or even hardwood. Don't be shy with it, you need to really test the edge. If the steel is actually prone to chipping for some reason, it should show up there. If the edge looks like it survived the cardboard/hardwood cutting, then take it very carefully to the Sharpmaker again, with extremely light pressure.

 

[kreole]

Resharpening did the trick! Thanks guys! It must have been user error