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Testing sharpness and sharpening said blade for beginners?

H

HorseloverFat

Joined
Apr 11, 2014
Messages
451
I was given a new Manix 2 S30V (not the XL) at the end of April. I have not cut much with it, but I would like to test the sharpness of the blade. What would be the most effective way of doing so (without injuring myself) ? (This means that I would rather not shave with it. LOL.) How sharp is the edge from the Spyderco factory? What equipment would I need in order to produce a razor sharp edge? (I don't know where to begin.) Good advice is most welcome. Thanks in advance... :)
 
Just cut a sheet of paper. You should be able to shave small curls of paper pretty easy.
 
Get yourself a phone book or yellow pages. They are getting rare these days, at least at my house. Take the outer edge, opposite the spine of the phone book, and fold about 1/4" of the edge of one sheet up vertical. Now try to push your edge straight down into that paper and cut it. Make sure your blade is making a 90 degree cross with the paper and the edge is not angled so as to induce a slice. If it will do that, it is quite sharp for push cutting. I have not tried this with low grit toothy slicing edges.
 
I'm sure many of us try arm hair... If we have any left.

Other than that, receipt paper or phonebook paper works great!
 
You will get a lot of information in the maintenance and tinkering subforum here. Between that subforum, youtube, and a lot of OCD and practice I've become a pretty proficient sharpener. :)
 
I agree with the phone book paper. If you can slice it your knife is very sharp. If you can push cut phone book or receipt paper it's razor sharp. As for sharpening, a good relatively cheap option is the Spyderco Sharpmaker. Good for touch ups and keeping a sharp edge, though if you want to reprofile your blade, I'd recommend either getting the diamond stones or a more advanced sharpener. (I'm sure there are other people who will chime in that know a lot more than me)
 
After coming to the conclusion that I could never get a razor sharp edge with the Smiths adjustable angle sharpener that has carbide, serrated, and a fine stone, I made the decision to start practicing to become proficent in freehand sharpening. Didn't have much money at the time so I just picked up sandpaper from walmart in 400, 600, 1000, and 2000 grit. Then since I can't yet hold a steady angle, I took one of those black paper clip things that you squeeze to open and I clamped it on the back of the cheapest, crappiest, knife I had (was some MTech or something I don't even know where it came from), and starting with the 400 (ever sheet I used I put on top of the mousepad on my desk and applied moderate pressure using less pressure with each finer grit sheet. I used trailing edge strokes only just to see if it would work so I got a burr with the 400 and went from there wiping the knife and testing it on paper between sheets. It took this knife from not being able to begin to slice paper to going through it like a hot knife through butter.

So...

I was so pleased with the results I took out my 1998 Buck 650 Nighthawk (All black handle no green insert :)), and did the same thing only taking more time and using more care. When I was done, I had the first truly sharp knife of my life. Push cut regular paper then I did the shave test like I usually do with my knives expecting it to take off a few hairs...One stroke and my wrist was bare skin.

I'm going to get some stones probably next paycheck but being very, very new to sharpening, to say I was pleased with the sandpaper over a mousepad results is a serious understatement.
 
Regular printer paper.

Slice it at an angle, if it tears or snags, it's dull.
If it goes through but leaves shreds, it's reasonably sharp.
If it goes through cleanly, it is now sharp.
If it slices paper without making much noise or resistance, it's super sharp.

There are many methods of sharpening, most here go with a guided system. I prefer water stones.
 
Here is a great YouTube video, #1 of 4, that explains sharpness and how to use the Spyderco Sharpmaker.

I have used a SharpMaker for almost 40 years and still think it is the best thing for a basic sharpening of knives. It is easy to use, small in size, quick, and does the job.

I use it on all the kitchen knives about once a month.

It isn't hard to sharpen a knife to a real fine edge that cuts like a razor if you are willing to spend the time reducing the edge angles. Whether the knife's sharp edge will stand up over time is the big question. I follow the Sharpmaker recommendations and have good success for an edge that holds up very well and is sharp enough for my knife cutting tasks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7H9Kux4TAE
 
ak585479 said:
After coming to the conclusion that I could never get a razor sharp edge with the Smiths adjustable angle sharpener that has carbide, serrated, and a fine stone, I made the decision to start practicing to become proficent in freehand sharpening.
Click to expand...

I have the same Smith's sharpener and I've been able to get hair shaving edges quite easily, wonder what we're doing differently
 
agduffy6 said:
I have the same Smith's sharpener and I've been able to get hair shaving edges quite easily, wonder what we're doing differently
Click to expand...

It might be the steel. I have the same (?) Smith sharpener, and get my old Moras shaving sharp pretty easily. With my Elmax blade, the diamond stones work OK, but the fine Arkansas stone doesn't do much at all, it feels as though the knife just slides over the surface. The result is a knife with a decent working edge, but nowhere near shaving or push-cutting paper sharp. I haven't even bothered trying my Dragonfly 2 in ZDP-189 on it...
 
Parasight said:
It might be the steel. I have the same (?) Smith sharpener, and get my old Moras shaving sharp pretty easily. With my Elmax blade, the diamond stones work OK, but the fine Arkansas stone doesn't do much at all, it feels as though the knife just slides over the surface. The result is a knife with a decent working edge, but nowhere near shaving or push-cutting paper sharp. I haven't even bothered trying my Dragonfly 2 in ZDP-189 on it...
Click to expand...

I haven't tried to sharpen super hard steels on it, 14C28N a bit, 154CM, but it will touch up my S110V Manix 2 well
 
On my personal knives I try to get an edge that will slice off arm hairs when the blade is passed just slightly above the surface of the skin. In the kitchen, especially other people's kitchens, I tend not to do that, instead I lightly scrape the edge across a thumbnail. If it catches it's pretty sharp. Sharp enough for kitchen duty.
 
singularity35 said:
Wow, a knife nut who's afraid to feel an edge...:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
maybe he's a samurai. those guys are loath to feel the edges of their katanas and wakizashis. i was kinda afraid of my vg-10 delica's edge when it was new. i felt it and it felt sticky, like it was really cutting into my skin with just a light touch.
 
I find that the more knives I get and the more I get into knives, the more I cut myself (which is still not often but a tad more frequent) which it kind of seems like I should be cutting myself less as I increase in knowledge and such but whatever
 
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