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What kind of steel for ...

Tom, thanks for the really specific info. If the 440V blades don't roll, its no wonder it takes them practically forever to blunt. As for the best type of edge, for what they are doing, it is the type of edge I would want as well. That is all push cutting.

-Cliff
 
Tom, I meant to ask this before, when you say a knife takes a "good edge" what exactly does this mean. What should a knife be able to do before you would call it sharp and stop working on it? Rob Simonich has described what he feels is sharp on his website, it would be interesting to hear how other makers test their edges.

-Cliff
 
I read robs website info...and please dont get me wrong....i am not getting down on him or his methods...IS THAT CLEAR? but the idea that a knife is TOO sharp and the rest of the sentence doesnt sit too well with me...I have a sharpening technique...in part taught to me by glenn hornby, in part learned by trial and error (lots of error) and in part by reading everything on sharpening i could for a long time (havent stopped)...as an aside...I sharpen tools for a living...but mostly carbide...different tools and completely different subject....I sharpen a new unsharpened knife with a nice fresh 220 grit belt.....until i get a nice burr...I mean one that a blind man can see....then i go over the edge with a DULL 600 grit belt until all the 220 grit scratches are gone and most of the burr is gone too...then i hit the edge on my 3600 rpm baldor...first on a hard felt wheel with green chrome rouge, the powdery kind, not the gooey kind, then to a close stitched buff wheel with more green chrome....i go over it here about three times per side.....and then....I feel it...that is my criteria for finish...my finger.....but i tell you it is a well trained finger....I know two very very good machinists who can tell you if something is .005 or .008 by eyeball....but that is a well trained eyeball.....sometimes i touch it to a few hairs on my arm...but actually thats just for effect...I know my technique works...i do it the same every time...when someone brings me a knife to sharpen...depending on how dull it is.. i will start with a used 320 belt and go to the 600...or just use the 600 if it doesnt have any flat spots that i can see with my naked eye.....and i wear reading glasses almost all the time in my shop...i hope i have answered your question....i could talk about this for a long time ...about polished edges and molecule size and rough edges and heat treat hardness...there is really a lot involved.....one thing i will reiterate... mostly i make hunting knives...so thats what im into....thats where my brain heads when i think about sharpening a knife...not many of the people who come over to have their knives sharpened are cutting cardboard...although a lot of them are kitchen knives....vegetables etc....well...i wrote all of this then reread the above post and maybe i didnt even answer the question.. bottom line...I try to get the knife as sharp as POSSIBLE without leaving a edge that can be rolled over or damaged easily... what that means is....and this is partly theory cause i dont have a giant microscope to look at my edges...when i polish my edge with the buff....i microscopically roll the edge....microscopic! it still shaves...it still cuts very thin newspaper...but i dont leave the edge so thin that it rolls over at the first use or is so thin out there that it chips off....that is one reason why i polish my edges like i do...i think that the so called working edge that many guys put on their knives leave micro saw blade edges that will break off very easily and cause the knife to get dull very fast...they may be very aggresive at first but when they hit something tough.....end of story...rememeber, i am not the final authority on this...this is my theory...so please dont attack me for my ideas...sincerely

[This message has been edited by tom mayo (edited 09 June 1999).]

[This message has been edited by tom mayo (edited 09 June 1999).]
 
Thanks for the details Tom. If I may make a suggestion, you should put some information like this up on your website. When I am working with a custom maker the more open they are about the design and their methods the more attractive working with them starts to become to me.

This was one of the reasons I got interested in Rob's work. While I feel as you do about the "too sharp" comment, the fact that he was describing his methods/reasoning gave me the impression that he would be very easy to work with - and he was. Maybe Rob could pop in here and shed some light on that aspect (sharpening).

-Cliff
 
I make a lot of knives out of ATS-34 for customers at their request, but I seem to go back to 5160 diferentilly tempered for my own blades. I have never had them give me any problem with rusting and they are easily sharpened in the field.

------------------
Ron Ruppé
www.ruppe.com/Knives/index.htm
 
thanks for the suggestion....i am not at all opposed to putting all kinds of stuff on my webpage like that.....but to tell you the truth....i think most people just want to look at the pictures....thats why theres blade forum.....??? Right?!?! I have a link to this site on my link page.... http://www.mayoknives.com
 
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