Tuning-Up S90V

S

SF0059

Joined
Apr 10, 2016
Messages
2
Hello All,

Newbie to the forums here and a budding knife addict. I had a question and I dug through all the archives and could not find something that addressed this specifically.

I have a Benchmade 490 Amicus in s90v. The blade appears to be 15 degrees inclusive. I EDC this to the office every day, I keep other knives for harder work around the house on the weekends. So that being said, I don't work the blade very hard.

I don't want to change the blade profile. I have heard that s90v maintains easily if you don't let it get dull or overly damaged. So to maintain the blade, I want to throw a leather belt with some diamond paste on my Work Sharp Ken Onion and just buff it out occasionally. Do you think this would be adequate? Also, I have 1 micron and 0.5 micron... what do you think would be better?

Thanks in advance for the help!

34108362096_a9dd2b9741_k.jpg
 
Buy some balsa wood at the hardware store and apply 1 micron diamond compound to that and strop by hand. I would also recommend a Coarse/Fine DMT stone to maintain the edge. The Fine DMT and the 1 micron strop will make a very nice edge on S90V.
 
I'll 2nd the recommendation for the Coarse/Fine DMT hone, in a bench-sized format of 6" or larger. That's what I've used for both rebevelling/thinning and touching up my Spyderco Manix2 in S90V. Easy and hassle-free sharpening with this combo on S90V. I generally haven't done much stropping beyond that, as I haven't felt the need for it on this steel. But, if you want to refine it further, the recommendation from Jason for the 1µ diamond compound on wood is a good suggestion also.

BTW, I'm betting your Benchmade's edge is probably 30° inclusive (15° per side), and not 15° inclusive. ;)


David
 
You have the correct mindset. By maintaining the edge, you may never need to actually sharpen it. Edge damage aside. Stropping after each use is a fantastic method. I agree with Jason though. Hand stropping will work better. And you want a stiffer strop material. Again, he recommended the balsa. Perfect! I differ only in having a water stone. While the course(and even the fine) DMT are a great idea, I like having a 6K grit ceramic water stone in addition to the diamond. Shapton Glass is always my pick. But there are many high quality stones. Good luck.
 
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Though the Shapton Glass are considered "Ceramic" they are still an aluminum oxide based abrasive. They handle higher alloy steels better but there still comes a point when they are no longer effective.
 
Jason B. said:
Though the Shapton Glass are considered "Ceramic" they are still an aluminum oxide based abrasive. They handle higher alloy steels better but there still comes a point when they are no longer effective.
Click to expand...

Yes, I believe we have covered the whole aluminum oxide/ceramic thing about A THOUSAND times. LOL. I agree. But only in metal removal. This is why I did not recommend the lower Shaptons. It would take too long! The higher grit Shapton stones will still polish most any steel, save for Rex T15. So I agree, there is some steel when using them is longer effective. But S90v is not that steel. Any high quality water stones will work fine on it. Although S90v is not fun to sharpen. With anything!
 
I think, in general, ceramic stones are not the first choice for high vanadium carbide steels because most of these ceramics are softer than vanadium carbides., especially for finer finishes (<10 micron), which would require to fracture vanadium carbides. As stated above, empirical evidence indicates that some ceramic (alumina or zirconia-toughened alumina based) stones work fine on S90V kinds. But it may require superb sharpening skills and good patience. Example:
http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/hardness-and-abrasion-capability.1478806/page-2#post-17017667

I myself don’t think can do it and would follow Jason B.'s suggestion.


Miso
 
Great, thanks for the advice guys. Diamond stones on the way and I'm picking up some balsa tomorrow. I'm looking forward to keeping the 490 tuned up until my 6 month old is of age to carry such a tool.
 
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