Tinkering with Shallots and 110V

SPXTrader

SPXTrader

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Dec 26, 2006
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Well, just sitting in front of the tee vee tonight, cruising BFC, and decided to mess with one of my new 110V Shallots. I'm now very glad I did!

First thing was to dig out a 1840CKT donor for the handles. I dunno, but to me the CKT has a much better grip. Feels less slick. So tore both down, and before swapping blades I took the time to clean and lube everything. Interesting to note: both Shallots had SPS. Folded dish towel on the coffee table trick and no problems. I put both back together and set the pivots exactly where I wanted them. Both knives interchanged blades perfectly, and the lock-up is fine on both.

Next came the Sharpie. The 110V from Kershaw was already closer to 30 than 40, so no need to head to the garage. About an hour of working the edge, and wow! Set perfectly at 30, this steel cuts like a razor. I kept fiddling with it, and the more I worked the very fine sharpmaker rods, the better the edge got. Finally satisfied, I very lightly put the edge on some green compound. I'm slicing cellophane now. Stropped it a few times on non-loaded rough leather, and its perfect! Splits hair! Tied a gutted 550 paracord lanyard to it and done! 3 hours to perfection. :thumbup:

With this edge as sharp as it is, I plan on carrying it for a week or two just to see how it holds. If it keeps the edge, it's going thinner. This steel will be a monster at 22 degrees!

If you have a 110V Shallot, use it! If you don't, you'd best get one while you can. :D Thanks to Thomas and Kershaw for bringing this great steel to the market! :thumbup:
 
I took the easy way out and just put tape in a few places to improve the grip. I consider that as something not everybody needs unless you have trouble with arthritis, or nerve damage in your hands. The design is good.

The factory edge on mine was very good, but I took it down and stropped it up ending up with diamond powder.

This really is an excellent steel and I like it better than S90V. I agree that Thomas and Kershaw should be aknowledged for bringing to market the next step foreward in crucible powder stainless tool steels.

So far, only cardboard and light plastic have not even really put the steel to the test yet. I don't have the time or energy to set up semi-scientific testing but I do get to know a steel through use, carrying it long enough to find out it's bad side too, and especiasslly it's quirks in sharpening.

So far no bad habits at all. I do think the steel could be run a couple points higher without any adverse habits coming out, which would affect it in some ways, but it's really not needed with this steel.

It has plenty of wear resistance. That's kind of an understatement. It doesn't burr badly during sharpening, and it strops up really well.

Time for a S110V Blur? Joe
 
Joe, what surprised me most was how quickly I was able to raise a burr. A very small one mind you, and fairly difficult to remove. That's why I kept fooling with the ultra fine rods. It seems to like a polished edge!

I'm with you...no formal testing. The proof will come in a week or two when I drag the edge against a ceramic again.
 
Yep, it acts just as it should, better considering how high the carbide volume is and how wear resistant it really is. Crucible lists the carbide percentage at around 22%, which is considered high.

Typically steels this high are brittle, and often kept at low RC's to try to lower this brittleness. Due to the way this stuff is made, and what it's made of the strength of the steel is high enough they can keep the RC's up ( RC60 or above as compared to RC56 to 58 with S60V , still not bad if you compared it with ingot steels with high fractions)

When the RC's are kept too low, I find burrs will often flop rather than breaking off cleanly.

All in all, I'm saying this really seems to be a remarkable steel, and everything it was supposed to be.

I wouldn't trade mine for a NIB Sebenza right now. Same way I felt when I got my first ZDP knife. Joe
 
BTW, I'm using DMT diamonds with this, and not trying out the ceramic due to my experiences with S90V. The diamond powder I put on the strop really cuts burrs off, and polishes it up.

This steel, if you think about it, would be like something from outer space to us back in the 70's , with our buck 110's and our medium/hard arkansas stones. Things sure have changed. :) Joe
 
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I'm going to have to break down and get some diamond rods. Up until now, if I've needed to remove stock quickly, I've used the belt sander and/or paper wheels. Tonight was the first time I've gone back to the sharpmaker in a while. It was nice...no rush, watch a little tee vee, read some BFC, just relax and still accomplish something!

Thinking where we have come from in just the past 10 years, it makes me wonder what new blade material we'll be talking about 10 years from now!
 
I struggle with "popping the cork" on mine as well. Haven't used either the 1840110 or the 1840ST110 I own. I bought a second ZDP for that very reason. And we saw what a precious little gem that turned out to be :D

I like the diamond rods, I just find myself not using them lightly enough, so I will probably have to buy another set before long.

Couldnt find a couple better fellas to ask about my problem: On ZDP and S60V thru S110V...I have a devil of a time removing the burr the Sharpmaker creates. I took "Liberace" down to about 13 degrees per side (just an estimate) then put on a 15 per side micro-bevel. I worked for about 2 hours on the fine rods to get the burr off. ZDP just wont give up the ghost...

I tried stropping on 800 grit sandpaper with a foam cushion under it...it literally did nothing.
 
J, I've found with the higher Rc steels, the best way to remove the burr is to go keep going finer. Try a 1000 or 2000 grit sandpaper (can be found in auto paint stores), or green or red rouge. That little burr I raised last night took a while to remove using ultra fine rods and green compound. I've also heard slicing into a wine cork will remove it, but I've never tried that trick.
 
SPXTrader said:
J, I've found with the higher Rc steels, the best way to remove the burr is to go keep going finer. Try a 1000 or 2000 grit sandpaper (can be found in auto paint stores), or green or red rouge. That little burr I raised last night took a while to remove using ultra fine rods and green compound. I've also heard slicing into a wine cork will remove it, but I've never tried that trick.
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If 'burr' = wire-edge, traditional woodworker method is to slice into leather or a 'soft' wood (not necessarily softwood) so cork should work as well
 
antonio_luiz said:
If 'burr' = wire-edge, traditional woodworker method is to slice into leather or a 'soft' wood (not necessarily softwood) so cork should work as well
Click to expand...

Good to know! I thought that the wine cork idea was just the voices in my head again. Or my microwave talking to me! :D
 
SPXTrader said:
I've also heard slicing into a wine cork will remove it
Click to expand...

Thats freaky. I looked at a cork the other day, and said, hrm, "if I sliced that a few times I bet it might take the burr off".

I dismissed it due to the amount of McClelland 16 I had imbibed.
 
I've never heard that about the cork. ZDP can be stubborn in many ways. I reccomend the fine diamond powder, with a good leather strop method for ZDP also. I use it for S90V too, which is why I started out using it with the S110. I have a strop custom made with rouge on it that I typically use, but when I get out the supersteels I don't just finish on the rouge strops. I have a traditional old barbers style leather strop I have set up with diamond powder just for steels like ZDP that you can appreciate the really fine edges with.

Others seem to do fine just using one of the DMT diamond hones ( Black, blue, red, green) . Some seem to do better with a slightly coarser finish. It depends on the steel. ZDP can take a real nice polish. SG2, M2, and M4, the same.

D2 I typically leave coarse, though the CPM D2 takes a finer finish likely due to the way the steel's processed.

Each knife is different, and you have to spend time with it, just like a gun, getting to know it's likes and dislikes. Use can drive finish too. I don't care if a steel can take a super fine, hair whittling finish if I'm cutting carpet with it, the best it's going to get is DMT bluer/sharpmaker brown. JMO, Joe
 
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