What "working" edges do you use?

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L2bravo

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Jun 14, 2013
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With the "extreme" thread going right now, I was equally curious about what working edges you guys use.

What "working edges do you guys use? I see guys talk about using coarse DMT's only, and a bunch of different combinations. I am really interested to hear more, as well as how they are used, and how they are maintained, and such. Also what is the inclusive degree used?

Let's hear it guys.
 
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As a fan of combo-edges, I am trying to get the edge on my (plain edge) SnG as coarse as I can stand.
Currently I sharpen with a 325grit (coarse) DMT and strop on loaded leather then I finish with a few strops on the DMT coarse again to make it as toothy as I can.
I use it mostly for bananas and saplings/yard-work currently.
I maintain it by stropping on the coarse DMT benchstone occasionally.

As a replacement for serrations, the 325grit edge sucks on green wood. I'm not sure what setup I will try next.
 
Nullity, I have a Sharpmaker, and all of the stones. I also have a Norton 8'' India combo stone. I believe it is a Fine/Coarse. I am not sure what the fine side is, (maybe somebody can tell me), but it's pretty rough still.

I just sharpened my Spyderco H1 on it. It is shaving/push cutting sharp, but has some teeth. I'm interested on how it does on cardboard.

Very interesting method you are using there! I will have to try that out. What steel on the SnG?
 
Around a 1k waterstone in most cases.
 
I throw an ultra-fine DMT to make things slippy, then it gets a medium DMT microbevel to add bite.

Basically, I end up with a very smooth slicer that is easy to maintain. My theory is that the only place that needs bite is the absolute contact point of the cutting edge. Everything behind that is just extra drag, so I polish the bevel up to allow the material being sliced to more easily slide along the edge.

It works in my world :)
 
I touch up with a medium Sharpmaker rod when my knife is dulling. A minute max and it's splitting hair, with bite. I have a mirror back bevel 99 percent of the time.
 
All depends on what I'm doing. A hard working edge might be as low as 60-80 grit with microbevel done on same. When I came up with that I was cutting a lot of clay-coated board stock at work, a polished edge would dull in immediately. These days I go at least to the fine side of a Norton combination stone and strop on paper.

If its a machete, my working edge is 30 micron lapping film, 400 grit sandpaper, whatever I have laying around that can repair the edge, then strop heavily on white compound. I don't car if it looses its bite for draw cutting, its a dedicated chopper at that point.

Kitchen knives - hard to beat the underside of a coffee cup or mixing bowl, stropped on newspaper.
 
My EDC would be either DMT EF + balance strop, or DMT EF + washboard (paper loaded and plain). It serves my daily use, simply because mostly it's mundane/home/office tasks, nothing heavy. And .. I enjoy keeping the edge sharp ;)
 
At work I use a DC4 and Spyderco medium grit pocket stone. I will be upgrading to a Spyderco Double Stuff soon to replace the pocket stone. That way I have 4 step grit progression at work/out and about. At home I use a belt sander and paper wheels slotted wheel to buff off the burr that I create.
 
If the factory edge is decent or if the knife is still fairly sharp I typically just touch up on my Sharpmaker with ultra fine stones - - fast, simple and effective. If I want to reprofile, want a specific angle or am working on a really dull knife I use my Wicked Edge.
 
I cut a lot of carboard, and boxes and such. I love having my mirrored shiny edges as much as the next guy. But they don't seem to last very long at all, when used heavy. Yes they touch up fast, but that isn't my point.

I just sharpened my Grip, on the rough side of my Norton/plain strop. It's very toothy, but will easily shave, and push cut paper. I just have an approximate 30 degree inclusive on it. I am curious to see how this holds up.

Cypress, I like your thinking, and ideas on that!

Has anybody ever sharpened a knife so much, that they "wore" the blade down???
 
Since I have an affinity for extremely abrasion resistant steels, (S90V, M390, K390, 20CV, CPM M-4, etc) I prefer a highly polished, refined edge, to at least 5000 grit or above.

At 15 degrees, these steels will hold an edge quite well indeed. And they are easily and quickly "touched up" by Crock Sticks or the SM between regular sharpening sessions.
Less abrasion resistant steels would get a more obtuse bevel and a lesser polish. Several of my hunting companions prefer inexpensive knifes like Bucks and Gerbers. They have obtained acceptable results with a DMT XF.

This works for me. Experiment, and use whatever works for you.
 
Im a professional sushi chef.

I polish my bevels and sharpen them very wide.

New knife gets 400 grit, 1000 and then finish on 8000.
after initial sharpening, only 8000 is needed once a while.

On my suji, bevel is about 3mm. My yanagi has almost 1" bevel. That one extremely sharp.
 
All of our kitchen knives are sharpened and maintained on a Norton fine India (320 grit) with no stropping to refine it any further. Burr is removed on the stone. My carry knives are done is the same manner only the burr is removed on the coarse DMT. This edge is not really very coarse and is a compromise as it gives me a decent cutting edge on a variety of materials. Should I be processing a beef I'd do the knife like our kitchen knives as the edge comes out a little finer. When mine start to dull I may just strop it on a more coarse slurry not taking it to the stone. DM
 
L2bravo said:
Has anybody ever sharpened a knife so much, that they "wore" the blade down???
Click to expand...

Definitely! I "wore" a Benchmade 3550, and a Nimravus down so much from sharpening that I had the blades replaced. It took about 10 years of hard use, contracting chips in the edge from hitting rocks and metal. What ends up happening is the material behind the edge becomes thick and slicing performance begins to suffer. On a symmetrical edge like my 3550, it just looks weird.
 
Cypress said:
Definitely! I "wore" a Benchmade 3550, and a Nimravus down so much from sharpening that I had the blades replaced. It took about 10 years of hard use, contracting chips in the edge from hitting rocks and metal. What ends up happening is the material behind the edge becomes thick and slicing performance begins to suffer. On a symmetrical edge like my 3550, it just looks weird.
Click to expand...

It just got me to wondering, seeing how there seems to be a lot of guys that sharpen with really coarse stones, and do so several times a week. I myself, hate my knife being dull, so I seem to always be sharpening. Added to the fact, that I enjoy it, like I am sure we all do.
 
Should you not wait until the blade is really dull, the edge can be restored by stropping with slurry. If you cut items like my wife, cutting thru it into the metal pan or into a ceramic plate. Then I normally must return it to the stone. DM
 
David Martin said:
Should you not wait until the blade is really dull, the edge can be restored by stropping with slurry. If you cut items like my wife, cutting thru it into the metal pan or into a ceramic plate. Then I normally must return it to the stone. DM
Click to expand...

Lookup the definition of teach!:p:p
 
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