Toothy or polished for a working edge?

[singularity35]

I'm kind of surprised looking at the poll results. Toothy is edging out (pun intended) polished in popularity.

I was actually expecting it to go the other way.

I actually like the look of a mirror bevel so I usually polish my bevels and micro with a lower grit. I used to polish everything but found out that around 600 works well for me as an all rounder.

Here's my S90v para at around 14 dps with a micro of around 18 dps done with a DMT coarse. Looks purty to me and performs well.

 

[ebidis]

That's pretty similar to my sharpening system, but I use a WE. Mainly I use it because I try out a ton of different steels and want sonsistent edge geometry as much as possible, but it's also just a little easier for me and seems to take less time personally. I like the V-ground edges, but I really don't thinks there's a specific reason for that. Convex edges ca perform insanely well though. I love them, but have trouble maintaining one done by someone else. My own convew edges I have no trouble with though. It's probably just the way I orient my hands.

Pretty much the same method though: up to 600, then 1000. If it's M390, I also take a couple of swipes with the 800 grit stones, then use the strop a little bit to just lightly finish the edge after the 1000. Since it has an insanely fine grain structure and carbides, M390 can take a little finer finish than most and still retain the performance of a 600 grit toothy edge. Since I take it that little bit farther, it holds the edge longer, and MAN is it aggressive! Eaily the most aggressive steel I've ever handled. You can't even test it like you do other steels, where you cut a material until you reach a certain force required to cut, because it just acts differently.
Not many steels I stop at 600 for, but there are a couple (hello again S90V).

The stuff (M390) is very fun to play around with, and performs better than just about any stainless I've handled in overall properties. Others outclass it individually in specific traits, but its the most balanced stianless I've found so far (that is atainable).

EDIT: I will say that my edges usually pop hair easily, and if you try it with a polished edge I've done, you can literally shave for the morning with it (I have before), but if you try it with one of my rougher edges in M390 (the one I described above), then you better not let it touch your skin at all. It will bite in even when you're just barely touching the edge to the surface of the skin. It's a little alarming how little it takes to make it dig into material and start biting.

That's good to know about M390. I just got a couple of ZT knives with M390. Haven't done much with it yet, except touch it up on the thousand grit, and I've been carrying them in rotation, but haven't really used them for much yet, so it's good to hear somebody else's experience with the steel, since these are my first knives with this steel.
By the way, I've been browsing through the EDC IV thread today, saw your Shirogorov 95. Very nice!:thumbup: I really want one, it haunts my dreams LOL.

 

[yepimonfire]

Polished. Honestly while toothy edges can slice rope with a draw cut quickly a super fine edge will just push cut right through it. Stays much sharper too.

 

[Jason B.]

I'm a depends on the steel type, for my VG-10 Spydercos I like a polished edge. For my S30V or other high alloy steels I like something around 600-1000.

 

[Charr]

That's good to know about M390. I just got a couple of ZT knives with M390. Haven't done much with it yet, except touch it up on the thousand grit, and I've been carrying them in rotation, but haven't really used them for much yet, so it's good to hear somebody else's experience with the steel, since these are my first knives with this steel.
By the way, I've been browsing through the EDC IV thread today, saw your Shirogorov 95. Very nice!:thumbup: I really want one, it haunts my dreams LOL.

It's one of those things about the steel I just kind of figured out from use. It is a little different from knife to knife depending on how the bevels are set up and how thick the blade is to promote slicing, so it does take a little trial and error to get the feel for the best combination over time, but once you have it dialed in that process does produce a great edge from my experience. Definitely don't try any armhair shaving though like I said, you'll be missing skin

Oh, yes, the Shirogorov! That has been my literal EDC for a long time now. Haven't been carrying it for the last few days because of the arival of my Diskin Flipper last week, but I still rank it as my top EDC! Of course, it sports M390 as well (hard to find in a 95T)! Right now, it has a very toothy edge on it, but that's because I am trying to see the absolute limit of how long M390 can hold an edge on EDC use. Started with the process I mentioned before and then used it all the time, and it will still cut regular paper with ease over a month later (bites the paper as opposed to slicing through it though), and will munch through cardboard and heavier materials with ease still!
Coming close to the time to sharpen it again though. Will prbably go ahead and try a full polished edge next and see how well that holds up in comparison. I've done a lot of tests on M390, but different HTs seem to act just a tiny bit differently, so I do this with just about all of them. Not to mention it also lets me play with different edge geometry and use some great knives

I've also been playing with 4V for a little bit, but the arrival of the Diskin kind of stopped me for a while on that
I'll get back to messing with it in a while though. Very promising so far. Don't like the fact that it is a tool steel, but it resists corrosion better than M4 or 1095, just not as well as 3V. It's a very interesting steel that doesn't get enough press if you ask me though.

 

[Charr]

Polished. Honestly while toothy edges can slice rope with a draw cut quickly a super fine edge will just push cut right through it. Stays much sharper too.

Some steels actually stay sharper longer with a toothy edge. A good example of this is S90V. You still have to make the edge carefully, but it will hold an edge better with a 600 or 800 grit than it usually will polished because of the massive carbides in the steel and how hard they are compared to the media surrounding them. Polished edges on it tend to promote wear on the edge, and it rapidly changes to Toothy, but without the same stability and uniform structure as a toothy edge you put on it purposefully, so it tends to perform at a lower standard that way.
M390 is much closer between polished or toothy (for edge retention) from what I've experienced, which even to me seems odd. I might have too high of a standard for what "needing sharpening" is though, so that is why I'm doing the test of using it as long as physically possible wthout sharpening I've already passed the point where I would normally resharpen the knife, and I've realized that the knife still performs insanely well. No extra effort to cut, and no loss of capability, besides maybe if I for some reason had to chop tissue paper...that was floating in the air...so yeah. T
he polished edge might hold at a little lower point of sharpness for more time than the toothy edge. Not sure yet, and it will take at least another 2 months to really know for sure since this is a long-term test. Oh well. The performance is still light-years ahead of most other steels.

Generally, though, you are right. Most steels like to keep a polished edge longer.