The best gear to sharp 3V steel.

ishiyumisan

ishiyumisan

Joined
Apr 17, 2005
Messages
465
Recently I bought a Bravo1 made in 3V steel, I never see anything like it... Hard like hell.
What I should use, to be able to put on a workable edge on it?

Any advice will be appreciated..
Thanks
 
Convex stropping is the best method I've found for my Bark Rivers. I typically use a belt grinder with a leather belt and compound, but a hand-held leather strop loaded with a suitable compound is still entirely suitable. 3V just takes a fair bit longer to sharpen than the usual A2 they use, but the same methods are effective.
 
I can't get any sufficient result even with the diamond stone. I think maybe the best way is to reprofile the whole think?
Gee, I'm regretting this knife.
 
If I need to deal with 3v (never had before), I would use diamonds or CBN to grind away Vanadium carbides (some Cr carbides) in strong/tough matrix. For a polish blade/edge use DMT xxc-xc-c-f-ef-eef, mono or polydiamonds or CBN progressing from 2.0-1.0-0.5-01 micron strops. High density V carbides will wear out your regular alumina stones and even mess up CrO strop.
 
Are you sure you're using the correct technique for sharpening the convex edge? Using a diamond plate to sharpen a convex edge is not easy for most people nor is it the most effective way. Have you tried the mousepad-sandpaper method? The SiC abrasive on wet&dry sandpaper should be more than adequate for removing chips and such if you have edge damage, otherwise black compound on a strop followed by a finer compound (green, white, blue whatever you like) should be sufficient.
 
That 3V Bravo 1 will be a tremendous workhorse once you get the hang of it! Take your time, the stuff is AMAZINGLY abrasion resistant. Diamonds are NOT necessary, conventional stropping media will be effective, just much slower than it would be on a lesser steel.

The benefit is that it takes equally long to LOSE that tremendous edge. If you've been working it with a diamond stone, chances are that the convex nature of the blade has been altered quite a bit, which will likely take more time in the stropping to correct. I sharpen my 3V CS using 3m Trizact belts, and leather belts loaded with CrO and Boron Carbide, so from first-hand experience I can tell you that they ARE effective. Just takes some time.

If you're up in Central Washington, I'd be more than happy to put an edge to it for you, and show you how to keep it up with a hand strop. It's not hard, it just takes patience and a light touch.
 
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