Cliff Stamp
BANNED
- Joined
- Oct 5, 1998
- Messages
- 17,562
I carry knives like this on a semi-regular basis for a number of reasons. I usually don't carry just them, I am currently EDC'ing a U2 and some Byrds plus always have a Rucksack. The no-name work well for dirty/utility work, loaning to people, plus I find it amusing when people ask to see a knife when they know I "collect" them and I give them one like this :
The edge actually is fairly thin/acute compared to most current knives. It is ground 0.021 (2)" thick. The angle was the major problem because it actually went from about 25 per side at the choil to about 20 at the tip. It looked very nice, everything crisp and clean, but was horrible to sharpen and of course the initial sharpness was low.
The first work with the no-name was not promising. It could be sharpened to a shaving finish but it felt rough under the stone, which isn't that surprising considering the heat treatment is likely far from optimal. It was had persistant deformation burrs, soft stainless is bad, soft and chunky stainless is horrible. If you can sharpen that, then anything seems trivial in comparison.
I used an x-coarse DMT to regrind the edge to an even 21 degrees per side then lightly polished with the 600 DMT with no microbevel. I finished with five passes per side with the 600 DMT at a lightly elevated angle with just 1-2 mm of travel on the stone. This gave an edge which was about half as sharp as the similar "high end" high carbide stainless, on sharpness measured cutting light cord under 45 g of tension. It could push cut newsprint at about 1", and shaved, but not above the skin.
The knife could then cut 20 m of 1/8" riged cardboard against the ridges over 4 cm of edge. It would then start to have trouble slicing newsprint and would catch and slip in a few places but was still cutting the cardboard without tearing. I don't think this is optimal yet though, mainly from noting how it blunts early on it seems like the initial sharpness could be higher. I also need to benchmark the cardboard with another knife.
The main point I wanted to make is that these knives have a lot of potential and the performance is likely a lot higher than common perception. How many people would think that you could take one of these as stock with no extensive geometry modifications and make 100 slices through 1/8" ridged cardboard and still slice newprint. However you need to :
1) Regrind the edge to remove any poor quality steel and even the edge as the angle usually varies along the edge which makes it difficult to remove the burr. Note the primary grind is unlikely to be even so this will make the edge asymmetric in width along the bevel and from side to side.
2) Actually sharpen it well with a suitable grit. Don't settle for a crappy edge just because it is a crappy knife. It can be made to shave and pushed further. This will directly not only radically enhance the initial cutting ability but also the long term edge retention.
The performance will enhance as the angle is lowered (and made more coarse when slicing) as right now it is way too thick/obtuse to cut well, and that is something I want to check as well. I will eventually reduce it to a 5/10 profile and see how it performs there. It might also respond better to other abrasives than the DMT's. The edge is actually fractured in places under magnification during the x-coarse honing.
More work with the same knife :
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=423552
-Cliff
The edge actually is fairly thin/acute compared to most current knives. It is ground 0.021 (2)" thick. The angle was the major problem because it actually went from about 25 per side at the choil to about 20 at the tip. It looked very nice, everything crisp and clean, but was horrible to sharpen and of course the initial sharpness was low.
The first work with the no-name was not promising. It could be sharpened to a shaving finish but it felt rough under the stone, which isn't that surprising considering the heat treatment is likely far from optimal. It was had persistant deformation burrs, soft stainless is bad, soft and chunky stainless is horrible. If you can sharpen that, then anything seems trivial in comparison.
I used an x-coarse DMT to regrind the edge to an even 21 degrees per side then lightly polished with the 600 DMT with no microbevel. I finished with five passes per side with the 600 DMT at a lightly elevated angle with just 1-2 mm of travel on the stone. This gave an edge which was about half as sharp as the similar "high end" high carbide stainless, on sharpness measured cutting light cord under 45 g of tension. It could push cut newsprint at about 1", and shaved, but not above the skin.
The knife could then cut 20 m of 1/8" riged cardboard against the ridges over 4 cm of edge. It would then start to have trouble slicing newsprint and would catch and slip in a few places but was still cutting the cardboard without tearing. I don't think this is optimal yet though, mainly from noting how it blunts early on it seems like the initial sharpness could be higher. I also need to benchmark the cardboard with another knife.
The main point I wanted to make is that these knives have a lot of potential and the performance is likely a lot higher than common perception. How many people would think that you could take one of these as stock with no extensive geometry modifications and make 100 slices through 1/8" ridged cardboard and still slice newprint. However you need to :
1) Regrind the edge to remove any poor quality steel and even the edge as the angle usually varies along the edge which makes it difficult to remove the burr. Note the primary grind is unlikely to be even so this will make the edge asymmetric in width along the bevel and from side to side.
2) Actually sharpen it well with a suitable grit. Don't settle for a crappy edge just because it is a crappy knife. It can be made to shave and pushed further. This will directly not only radically enhance the initial cutting ability but also the long term edge retention.
The performance will enhance as the angle is lowered (and made more coarse when slicing) as right now it is way too thick/obtuse to cut well, and that is something I want to check as well. I will eventually reduce it to a 5/10 profile and see how it performs there. It might also respond better to other abrasives than the DMT's. The edge is actually fractured in places under magnification during the x-coarse honing.
More work with the same knife :
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=423552
-Cliff
