What do you knifemakers use to sharpen your made knives?

sunshadow said:
The 120 grit is for grinding, the finer grits take you up through your final sharpening

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So I would need all 3 of those items you listed above since I am making all of my edge from just stones alone. Or can I do it with just the two? I know you said that 120grit $79.99 one was for grinding, can I not grind with the other two or.

Fred,
Thank you, I will absolutely keep you in mind if I ever run into any problems or questions.
 
I use diafolds from DMT

I never figured that temperatures would get THAT high, but I see it as a good warning.
Roman Landes knows his stuff.
It surprised me how hot a piece of steel can get just from filing it. (wich makes sence, it is all friction)
 
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blandies said:
So I would need all 3 of those items you listed above since I am making all of my edge from just stones alone. Or can I do it with just the two? I know you said that 120grit $79.99 one was for grinding, can I not grind with the other two or.

Fred,
Thank you, I will absolutely keep you in mind if I ever run into any problems or questions.
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I currently grind with the 220 grit, but the 120 will be faster

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I'm a total n00b, and nothing I do should be taken as authoritative reference data.

I grind the primary bevels to +/-.015 thickness.
The actual edge bevel is put on using a 6" triangle stone set (Buck branded, but made by one of the bigger names) by hand, completely freehand. I figure this produces and edge that I can easily hand-sharpen in the future. I use the coarse and fine perforated diamond surfaces, not the medium arkansas one that wears away. No heat to speak of. It takes awhile, especially if I've erred on the thick side during the initial grind.

Then I finish on a nail buffing pad with the medium and fine surfaces, which puts a wicked convex polish on the extreme edge of the edge.

So far I just touch-up on the nail buffer and don't go back to the stones unless there's severe damage or I want to reduce the edge bevel angle (have done that a couple three times as my skills evolve).

I'd like to speed up the initial edge setting. I'd also like larger "stones"... (and a larger grinder and a heat-treat setup and a... and a...)

-Daizee
 
sunshadow said:
I currently grind with the 220 grit, but the 120 will be faster

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I understand your stance on the issue, and I appreciate the information you provided.

What would you think about grinding the initial bevel with say a 220 belt, dipped in water every light pass, then going to water stones after that, say 220 1000 4000 8000?
 
sunshadow said:
I currently grind with the 220 grit, but the 120 will be faster

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Wrote all of this information down. I thought I would need more than just those 2 $40+ double sides stones for making the edge from scratch, I'm glad I don't! I'm just about out of my hobby money! Wifes going to keel over : ). Thanks for the great bit of info.

Carl_first_timer,
Good question. I was thinking if you were light enough on each pass, dip in water constantly, and pay close attention that you should be fine. But that thin of steel gets hot quick.
 
just like to point out that supergrit has 3m micron belts on film back so you can run them wet :) (up to 9 micron and as coarse as 60 i think)
i run the grinder slow and have a spray bottle of water to wet the belt between passes on the edge if i need it any sharper i hand hone up to as much as 16k grit
 
just for my own curiosity ,I thought you have to attain temps +450 F to change the heat treat? so then using a dry stone to sharpen your knife by hand is exceeding that temp?
 
BITEME said:
just for my own curiosity ,I thought you have to attain temps +450 F to change the heat treat? so then using a dry stone to sharpen your knife by hand is exceeding that temp?
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If you read all the posts, some talk about "on the molecular level getting to as high as 2000C. That is much more than 450F a super sharp edge should technically be a few molecules wide at it's smallest point.

Remember there is no edge, only material behind the edge.
 
For grinding edges from beginning to end on 154cm, cpm 154, & s-30v which grits would I need from the below choices, and are these DMT stones I linked good for this? I did some browsing and calling around, these seem to be really nice choices and last a lifetime. A little expensive but I found some for a cheaper price. I can afford 3 with the prices I found, not sure if this is enough for grinding an edge from start to finish on 154cm, cpm154, and s30v steels, and others.

http://theconsumerlink.com/product_detail.asp?BID=DIAMONDMACHININGTECHNOLOGY&T1=TCL+W6XP&navStart=102&.

http://theconsumerlink.com/DIAMONDMACHININGTECHNOLOGY/detail/TCL+W6CP/102

http://theconsumerlink.com/DIAMONDMACHININGTECHNOLOGY/detail/TCL+W6FP/102

http://theconsumerlink.com/DIAMONDMACHININGTECHNOLOGY/detail/TCL+W6EP/102
 
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I have these:
They are affordable (try ebay) and you can take them with you easely
p55575b.jpg

p85569b.jpg

http://theconsumerlink.com/DIAMONDMACHININGTECHNOLOGY/detail/TCL+FWCX/110
http://theconsumerlink.com/DIAMONDMACHININGTECHNOLOGY/detail/TCL+FWEEE/110
 
I'm getting some diamond stones to make custom knives, not sharpen production knives. I will be creating my edges from beginning to end on them.
Sorry for any confusion.
 
I start at the extra coarse (black) and go all the way to the green (extra fine), I just saw Howard Schacter (The owner of "The Perfect Edge") at the Ashokan seminar this weekend and bought the large 120 grit DMT continuous diamond plate from him, and will be using it today to establish an edge bevel on a new knife I just made

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Carl_First_Timer said:
I understand your stance on the issue, and I appreciate the information you provided.

What would you think about grinding the initial bevel with say a 220 belt, dipped in water every light pass, then going to water stones after that, say 220 1000 4000 8000?
Click to expand...

the water needs to be in contact with the surface being abraded to have any effect for this purpose, for cleanup after heat treat of the bulk of the blade, dip grind dip grind is ok, but as you begin to set your edge bevel you should be working with a wetted abrasive surface

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Just curious- in the aforementioned test involving hypersensitive thermocouples embedded in a steel block indicating micro spot heats of 2000F+ during dry abrasion, was the same test then run with the same block and abrasive wet?

It seems to me that a film of water wouldn't necessarily counteract a process that instantly produces temps this high.

Also, I'd not worry about molecules superheating in my edge- not too many molecules in the steel I use. (Crystalline structure, metallic bonding, etc...)

I sharpen one of two ways normally, either with sharp belts at slow speed on my big contact wheel, then power strop with green chrome (sporting, folding, new kitchen knives) or by hand with King water stones, 1000, 4000, and 8000 grit, then strop on bare horsehide (my razors, my kitchen users.)

I'm not a sharpening geek, I do know I get a very good edge with power methods. I can improve the sharpness of factory razor edges, for instance. I do this for leather cutting.

I would be interested to see results of any objective cutting tests in identical blades, sharpened comparably with these differing methods.
 
I Wicked Edge all my knives. I can reduce a six inch," 0.015" edge to a 15 degree bevel, from handle to tip, that is hair popping sharp in less than ten minutes. Because it is by hand not heat buildup. Because you sharpen both sides of the blade almost simultaneously the bevel is centered and perfectly even from plunge to tip. Looks like, but is WAY better than.

With the Wicked edge there is NO hand work or angle guessing, or trying to hold the angle thru the sharpening.
 
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