What grit to start sharpening at?

[Dr Maclean]

I'm about to wet sand my Techno up to about 2000 grit with sandpaper from the factory edge, and I'm wondering what grit I should start at. Also, just because I'm curious; what grit are Spyderco's edges ground to from the factory?

 

[Dr Maclean]

I went ahead and started at 1000 grit anyways. If I were advising someone else I'd say it would be best to start at around 800, but I had just run out so I started at 1000, so I've got a little haze of deeper scratches that I didn't get out.. If I were to guess, I'd say that Spyderco must grind the edges to around 600 grit give or take.

 

[somber]

It depends on how much you want steel you want to remove. The more aggressive the grit, the more material you're removing. Your second progression will matter more. For example, you don't want to go from #400 to #6000 because you'll simply be polishing the ridges of the scratches from your #400 medium. I start at #1000, but there are people that only finish at that, and there are people who stop at .25 micron, so... it's just a matter of preference.

 

[arty]

I would just use a strop on the factory edge, 1200 grit followed by I micron or finer.
The knife should come sharp - mine have.

 

[Jason B.]

Spyderco uses 120 grit Belts so something in the 300-600 grit range would be good to start.