What Did You Sharpen Today?

bdaabat said:
Still working on the process. Starting to get there. Of course the other knife that I sharpened at the same time with the same process wasn't able to get a BESS score below 120. But, this is progress.



Bruce
Click to expand...
That is fantastic! Nice work.
Specifically, achieving under 100 is a milestone.IMHO
 
bdaabat said:
Still working on the process. Starting to get there. Of course the other knife that I sharpened at the same time with the same process wasn't able to get a BESS score below 120. But, this is progress.



Bruce
Click to expand...
The other thing you already may have discovered is that some steel has a small dense molecular structure that accepts a sub quarter micron apex, some don’t. As in no matter how hard you try, it ain’t gonna happen. Cheap stainless can develop mutant burrs and are a challenge to remove the burrs from. But, as you stated…. Progress
Al
 
Gottagofishn said:
The other thing you already may have discovered is that some steel has a small dense molecular structure that accepts a sub quarter micron apex, some don’t. As in no matter how hard you try, it ain’t gonna happen. Cheap stainless can develop mutant burrs and are a challenge to remove the burrs from. But, as you stated…. Progress
Al
Click to expand...
Yep. I've encountered several of those situations. Oneida and Farberware are the two brands that jump to mind at the moment. REALLY frustrating!

I do my best to channel my inner Dory and just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

Bruce
 
Khromo said:
Bruce, how many degrees per side did you use on the machetes?
Click to expand...
Thank you for asking!

I asked the customer what he was planning on using the machetes for. He shared that he was going to be camping with some friends in the hills of Virginia. He told me that he had heard that there were evil spirits and demons that are in those hills. He said he wanted to be prepared and did not want to use a gun, so he bought two machetes...one for him and one for his bud that he was going to be camping with. He was also going to be bringing along his Bible.

I didn't know the correct sharpening angle for THAT specific application, so I went with 20 degrees.

Bruce
 
bdaabat said:
Thank you for asking!

I asked the customer what he was planning on using the machetes for. He shared that he was going to be camping with some friends in the hills of Virginia. He told me that he had heard that there were evil spirits and demons that are in those hills. He said he wanted to be prepared and did not want to use a gun, so he bought two machetes...one for him and one for his bud that he was going to be camping with. He was also going to be bringing along his Bible.

I didn't know the correct sharpening angle for THAT specific application, so I went with 20 degrees.

Bruce
Click to expand...
Yeah, not sure of the typical edge angle for demons, so I Googled it. The Googler says "The best edge for demons is 25 to 30 degrees". I kid you not...
 
Found this cheap old CRKT in the drawer and gave it a new edge. Actually cuts now 😂. The burr on this was a bear to remove though. Really soft heat treat if I had to guess.
0kov0Q1.jpeg
 
I didn't sharpen anything , yet , today but I ordered one of those "nano fiber" strops in the Edge Pro format .

= Jende 1x6 Nanocloth Strop (unloaded)-5mm thick Acrylic

I am on kind of a diamond stropping media binge (for the high Vanadium alloys) .
I've been putting this one off ; wasn't sure it was a good idea.

I'll be putting 1 micron diamond on it . Just to refine polished edges coming off diamond Matrix stones , not to debur .

What do y'all say ?
 
I use the full size Nano strops, and I think they are very effective and pretty easy to use. They feel good in use, and the surface is more consistent than leather, maybe more like good balsa. Nanocloth and lapping film seem like the best stropping alternatives, along with Harold-Solingen red and black for less challenging steels.

A 1 mu Nano strop will perform, for sure! It will leave a brilliant shine and a super refined edge. I don't often get as low as 1 mu, though, unless I am chasing a low BESS score just for entertainment. If I had one Nanocloth strop, it would more likely be 3 to 5 mu. One is kind of for show, as opposed to a working edge. Three to five would be more practical, for me.
 
Khromo said:
I use the full size Nano strops, and I think they are very effective and pretty easy to use. They feel good in use, and the surface is more consistent than leather, maybe more like good balsa. Nanocloth and lapping film seem like the best stropping alternatives, along with Harold-Solingen red and black for less challenging steels.

A 1 mu Nano strop will perform, for sure! It will leave a brilliant shine and a super refined edge. I don't often get as low as 1 mu, though, unless I am chasing a low BESS score just for entertainment. If I had one Nanocloth strop, it would more likely be 3 to 5 mu. One is kind of for show, as opposed to a working edge. Three to five would be more practical, for me.
Click to expand...
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your help .
Yes previously I have been super happy with "8,000" stones and that seems to be around 3 microns .
That's a really important perspective .
Maybe I will look into some diamond around 3 to 5 micron .
Thank you again .

PS : hahaha before that I had tinkered pasively with some "50,000" diamond stropping goop and thought I was being more practical by going with "15,000" 1 micron .
Here we go again .
 
I have one of the Jende 1x6 Nanocloth strops w/0.5 micron Jende compound. It works fine but I haven't used it a whole lot as I'm pretty happy with my kangaroo strops.
 
This Naru "Eiko Series" santoku has an R2/SG2 core, at an advertised 63 HRC. At $200 USD, I consider it an entry level Japanese powder steel blade, I don't see this steel at lower prices. The blade is very thin, and I was anticipating sub-100 scores without a lot of fuss or sweat.

I used my Wicked Edge fixture with their bonded diamond stones at 1.5K, 2.2K, and 3K to get a crisp, precise edge at 12 degrees per side. I was getting uninspiring BESS scores in the 125-140 range, and light freehand stropping with home brew 5- and 3 mu-Kirby diamonds-on-leather didn't move the needle much. This formula usually gets well below 100 gram scores with similiar thin blades, and I was beginning to get frustrated. I tried the 1.6- and 0.5 mu ceramic stones, but got no great improvement. I was giving the blade minimal stropping after each stone before testing, and that is where I now think I was missing the bus. I think my edge-trailing strokes were raising a very tough burr.

The stropping was done freehand. I switched to the Jende Nanocloth strops at 4/2/1/0.5 mu, and the scores crept down to where I thought they should be for this blade, but I had to use a lot more strokes than I normally would to get there.

o16II6e.jpg


EuwVIl1.jpg


W94LEvI.jpg


The pix look pretty good until you consider that it took me a couple of hours to get there! I think I did learn something, though.

Super Gold 2 at 63 HRC is hard as heck, and we all know how hard heck is. The stones worked fine, but the stropping process required many more strokes than softer steels.

The edge-trailing strokes I use on the Wicked Edge tool can raise a very formidable burr, and it requires a lot more work to remove on this SG2 than on other steel.

I picked up the practice of BESS-testing after each stage, per GottaGoFishings advice, and without doing that this process might have taken days instead of hours. The excellent Jende stropping products performed much better than waxey Kirby paste on leather. I figured that out using the extensive testing, so thanks to Al for that! Thank you, Al!

The blade is a kitchen laser now, zipping through tomatos and brown onions, bread and paper towels with no drama.

I'm open to suggestions, as I can't remember having this much trouble with a blade in many years!
 
Last edited:
Khromo said:
Super Gold 2 at 63 HRC
Click to expand...
That's a low Vanadium alloy (2%) ; mostly Chromium .
I'm thinking LOOSE THE DIAMONDS and go with Shapton Glass stones , probably even Shapton Pro would geeeterdone .
Up around 4000 Glass or 8,000 Norton Yellow water stone to finish .
Just a taste on a strop if you must .

Wicked Edge . . . yes I have one . . . use the Edge Pro to support that super thin (((flexible))) blade right behind the edge where you are running the stones . ;)

Sure is my kind of knife though ; crazy thin and very acute 😍🤩
 
Wowbagger said:
That's a low Vanadium alloy (2%) ; mostly Chromium .
I'm thinking LOOSE THE DIAMONDS and go with Shapton Glass stones , probably even Shapton Pro would geeeterdone .
Up around 4000 Glass or 8,000 Norton Yellow water stone to finish .
Just a taste on a strop if you must .

Wicked Edge . . . yes I have one . . . use the Edge Pro to support that super thin (((flexible))) blade right behind the edge where you are running the stones . ;)

Sure is my kind of knife though ; crazy thin and very acute 😍🤩
Click to expand...

Wowbagger, can you help me with the part about the diamonds? Are they creating a problem that the Shapton Glass stones would not?

The next time the knife is ready for stones, I'll try the Glass or maybe ceramic water stones like Kuromaku's or Naniwa Choseras, but I'll have to do that freehand, as the only guided system I have is the Wicked Edge, and I've only got the diamond stones for it. Usually, I'll sharpen two to four times freehand (because I like doing it that way) and then use the WE to get the bevels back to flat, crisp surfaces. Then back to freehand, and when the bevels get convex and sloppy enough, run it through the WE again.

Thanks for the help!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top