Whittling a hair with new 1/4in 3V nessmuk

Md 25v

Md 25v

Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
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I have noticed some questions come up recently and in the past about how hard it is to sharpen 3V and about what kind of edge it can take. I changes the edge geometry on the 1/4in 3V nessie that I received yesterday and while I was at it I made a video showing just what kind of an edge this steel can take. I whittle a single strand of hair! It took me about ten minutes to get it that way but that time includes changing the bevel angle.

Here is the vid



[youtube]X3H7I3s2MlU[/youtube]
 
I do it freehand with the stones to start and finish with an angle guide wedge. I just knock off the shoulders of the secondary bevel as fast as I can without worrying to much about how even the bevel is. I know there is always some tiny level of convex because of sharpening by hand but sharp is sharp so I don't worry about it. I use the fast circle technique to knock off the shoulders so that takes most of the work away quickly. Murray Carter has some good vids on fast sharpening with waterstones and I just use the same technique with my diastones. It also may have taken a little more than ten minutes. I wasn't sitting there with a stopwatch or anything but it didn't take all that long.

If I were using my ceramic stones or my Japanese waterstones then it would have taken an hour or more because I have not had good luck using them to sharpen 3V. When I use the diamond hones I don't notice any difference between 3V and other steels like O1 or 10xx series steels.
 
I guess I know what you mean about "XXX steel is hard to sharpen" claims. If you know how to sharpen, no steel presents much more problem than many others.

However, some steels are more resistant than others, and people define "sharp" differently...heck, people even define "hair whittling" differently. I think the issue for some is the time required to bring one steel to a level of sharpness vs/ the time required for another. There is a delicate balance for everyone...some (perhaps many) simply do not want to deal with steels with a very high resistance to grinding.
 
I have a Koster Bushmaster in 3V. Great knife, excellent steel. Koster knows what he is doing with his grinds and geometry.

I've really never heard 3V described as difficult to sharpen. It's pretty easy in fact. With my Bushmaster I didn't have to reset any bevels either so there's really not much to it.

I have a couple of Convex edged 3V blades as well. That's about as easy as it gets. Mostly it just needs stropping unless you are trying to get chips out. That's not something I've had happen yet and can't say I expect to either. I have axes and other tools for where appropriate.
 
Md 25v said:
I do it freehand with the stones to start and finish with an angle guide wedge. I just knock off the shoulders of the secondary bevel as fast as I can without worrying to much about how even the bevel is. I know there is always some tiny level of convex because of sharpening by hand but sharp is sharp so I don't worry about it. I use the fast circle technique to knock off the shoulders so that takes most of the work away quickly. Murray Carter has some good vids on fast sharpening with waterstones and I just use the same technique with my diastones. It also may have taken a little more than ten minutes. I wasn't sitting there with a stopwatch or anything but it didn't take all that long.

If I were using my ceramic stones or my Japanese waterstones then it would have taken an hour or more because I have not had good luck using them to sharpen 3V. When I use the diamond hones I don't notice any difference between 3V and other steels like O1 or 10xx series steels.
Click to expand...

Impresses me, 3V or otherwise.

The only place I've really heard that 3V is hard to sharpen is from Bark River, but that was talking about the finishing process. If I remember correctly, he left the finish at a lower grit because of the "abrasive resistance" of the 3V. However, I think from a production stand-point, maybe they would just wear the belts out too fast and not really commenting on how long it takes to finish it?
 
Thanks for sharing, I'd love to get my hands on some 3V.

unit said:
heck, people even define "hair whittling" differently.
Click to expand...

I don't know if I'd consider that hair whittling, as the end was anchored and the hair stretched taught. Hair whittling to me is where the hair is free hanging and dragged over the edge. But it's only semantics, I'm sure that's a sharp blade :thumbup:
 
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