S110v ukpk won't get scary sharp

H

Halfbaked94

Joined
Dec 25, 2019
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83
Hi guys

Looks for some advice here I have a spyderco UK pk tin s110v that I've gotten sharp (shaves hair but not effortlessly and not tiny thin hairs) first sharpened it 15 dps on worksharp and was unsatisfied so spent 2 hours with the kme putting a mirror on it with the sharpie trick making sure it removed all sharpie, I got a solid burr on both sides but it just won't get sharp like my other knives. Just did the exact same process with my manix in maxamet and that thing just looks at hairs and they jump off, have the ukpk in s30v and that again is scary sharp, this is my only s110v knife and I know they can be a pain but surely if I can sharpen maxamet I can sharpen anything?

Sorry for the waffle

Ryan
 
You may still have a burr as they can be hard to remove.

IME, S110V likes a rougher edge because of the high carbide content. There may be some carbide tearout situation from trying to get too fine a grit. I've only successfully sharpened S110V with diamonds and I try not to get a burr because it can be a pain to get back off.

S110V is harder to sharpen than maxamet because it's nearly as hard and stainless in general is a little more challenging than relatively equivalent hardness tools steels. Completely subjective statement, but I feel like tool steels sharpen "cleaner" in regard to their feel and how much burr and such cleans up. But, I've read maxamet can be a butt to get a burr off of as well, but never owned it.

IMO, I think you may be expecting more from S110V than it can give you. It's known for staying sharp forever but not getting a super fine edge, or at least not easily. No one will be using it for razorblades.
 
I sharpen my S110V manix on 200 & 600 grit diamond, I might do 10 alternating strokes from side to side on a fine ceramic rod and I've never had an issue getting mine sharp.

Granted I have no problem sharpening knives for 2 or 3 hours by hand and I took the guard off my work sharp thing electric sharpener thing so I basically have a little baby grinder to speed things up or repair damaged edges.

I've never had serious edge damage on the s110v and about an hour on a 300-600 grit diamond is all it takes to hair shaving sharp.
 
I'd just like to add, for others considering S110v... this happens a lot. Folks go on and on about how they wish they had better edge holding than s35vn, s30v, vg10, etc.
Your run of the mill high end steel, if you will.
Then they get a quality piece of s110v
Zdp-189, and other similar steels heat treated to a hardness well above 60 and then they go on and on about how hard it is to sharpen.

There's a reason companies like CRK and EKI use the steels they do and the heat treating that they do. Most of your average users don't have the equipment, patience, or skill to sharpen these high end tool steels run super hard for edge holding.
 
Thanks for the responses everyone, maybe I am just expecting to much from s110v, but it's the inky steel I haven't managed to get that scary level of sharpness, maybe it is carbide tearout I went a bit crazy with the worksharp when I first got it like a year ago so maybe it's a bit to fat from over sharpening. I would just think unless I'm not apexing apexing completely and I think I am at 15dps it would be crazy sharp
 
Alberta Ed said:
I hone my Military in S110V on an ultra coarse/220 grit DMT, then finish with a few very light strokes on a DMT ultra fine. This steel seems to respond best to a coarse edge. But it is a b*tch to sharpen.
Click to expand...
Thanks mate will try and give this a go with the kme, feels silly to resharpen a mirror back to course but would rather it was truly sharp!
 
Korean Hog said:
There's a reason companies like CRK and EKI use the steels they do and the heat treating that they do. Most of your average users don't have the equipment, patience, or skill to sharpen these high end tool steels run super hard for edge holding.
Click to expand...

You are right, I am one of these blokes.

I know how to do it. I've got all the stuff... I simply don't have the patience, and don't enjoy the sharpening process like some folks do.

So I buy steels that take a great edge, hold it reasonably long, and don't require more than a few moments of my time getting them back.

Big fan of VG-10, AUS-8, CPM-154 and even good ol' 1095. It doesn't hurt that these are super affordable too.
 
Not to pile on, because I think the science and tech behind the high carbide alloys is pretty cool and I have examples of several of them (including that UKPK, great scale color,) but count me in the "don't have the patience club." Gradually found my way back to more basic steels that I can get screaming sharp in minutes rather than hours.

There are probably folks out there who can sharpen s110v as quick as I can put an edge back on BD1, but I doubt I'll ever be one of them lol.
 
inkynate said:
Not to pile on, because I think the science and tech behind the high carbide alloys is pretty cool and I have examples of several of them (including that UKPK, great scale color,) but count me in the "don't have the patience club." Gradually found my way back to more basic steels that I can get screaming sharp in minutes rather than hours.

There are probably folks out there who can sharpen s110v as quick as I can put an edge back on BD1, but I doubt I'll ever be one of them lol.
Click to expand...
I am determined to be I have invested to much into silly steels I have no need for and can't sit around with expensive but dull knives haha
 
If a I have a blade that is damaged or simply pissing me off taking too long to get sharp I use this:
f7b821f892ed0e3e7a3f3ace16637893de56264c.jpg

Like this:
e80d4dcc76155a053449367fe37fc4140bd14364.jpg

I accept no responsibility if you screw yourself up using this piece of equipment outside of recommended use/ factory settings but it works for me.
Wear safety glasses or keep your face out of it. Don't wear gloves using things like this or drill presses or band-saws, If the glove gets caught, and it will, you're screwed.
Now, like I said, I normally prefer to sharpen my knives for a couple hours by hand at night when the give and take of a relationship causes romantic comedies to pop up on the t.v. screen, but
if need be, I have no problem breaking out my little baby grinder.

If you choose to use a grinder, practice sharpening metal you don't care about and learn to find your angle and keep 'em cool.
I personally get a little anxious if the blade even feels warm to the touch, never mind hot.
If you burn the edge or roll the point it's all over. At best you'll have to remove a lot of metal to get the point back with an even edge or you'll have a compromised heat treat and there's no real fixing that.

When using a grinder... sharpen quick, light, and steady and you gotta kinda roll and pull that joker to a point...don't just set it down and move straight right and left. Hours upon hours of hand sharpening on a stone will show you how to find the right angle, it'll be the same on a grinder but mistakes will happen 100 times faster.

Good luck and please don't give up on S110V. Simply learn to sharpen it.
 
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If the burr is raising fine but then it isn’t sharp it is probably burr removal issues rather than the challenge in grinding away material. That happens sometimes with heat treatments that result in high retained austenite.
 
Larrin said:
If the burr is raising fine but then it isn’t sharp it is probably burr removal issues rather than the challenge in grinding away material. That happens sometimes with heat treatments that result in high retained austenite.
Click to expand...
Very true, it's always worth a few strokes on a ceramic rod or a leather strop before you call it dull and needing a regrind.
 
Korean Hog said:
Very true, it's always worth a few strokes on a ceramic rod or a leather strop before you call it dull and needing a regrind.
Click to expand...
Have been going from 50 grit to 4 - 0.5 micron leather strop then lapping films to 0.1 this gets everything else scary sharp just not this one knife its driving me crazy haha
 
Halfbaked94 said:
Have been going from 50 grit to 4 - 0.5 micron leather strop then lapping films to 0.1 this gets everything else scary sharp just not this one knife its driving me crazy haha
Click to expand...
Then you've either got the wrong angle throughout the process or you're expecting too much. Experiment with the angle or stop sharpening at whatever grit it starts shaving hair at.
50 grit and then.5 micron is way coarser and way finer than I hardly ever sharpen at. My edges aren't normally that dull and I don't need them that slick. All I want my knives to do is cut throughout the work day
without too much trouble. If you want a better edge than what'll work for a day's worth of work then I'm not much help.
 
Korean Hog said:
If a I have a blade that is damaged or simply pissing me off taking too long to get sharp I use this:
f7b821f892ed0e3e7a3f3ace16637893de56264c.jpg

Like this:
e80d4dcc76155a053449367fe37fc4140bd14364.jpg

I accept no responsibility if you screw yourself up using this piece of equipment outside of recommended use/ factory settings but it works for me.
Wear safety glasses or keep your face out of it. Don't wear gloves using things like this or drill presses or band-saws, If the glove gets caught, and it will, you're screwed.
Now, like I said, I normally prefer to sharpen my knives for a couple hours by hand at night when the give and take of a relationship causes romantic comedies to pop up on the t.v. screen, but
if need be, I have no problem breaking out my little baby grinder.

If you choose to use a grinder, practice sharpening metal you don't care about and learn to find your angle and keep 'em cool.
I personally get a little anxious if the blade even feels warm to the touch, never mind hot.
If you burn the edge or roll the point it's all over. At best you'll have to remove a lot of metal to get the point back with an even edge or you'll have a compromised heat treat and there's no real fixing that.

When using a grinder... sharpen quick, light, and steady and you gotta kinda roll and pull that joker to a point...don't just set it down and move straight right and left. Hours upon hours of hand sharpening on a stone will show you how to find the right angle, it'll be the same on a grinder but mistakes will happen 100 times faster.

Good luck and please don't give up on S110V. Simply learn to sharpen it.
Click to expand...
Thanks I have the men onion worksharp maybe I melted the edge when I was less practiced with it a year or so ago not sure gonna try just sharpening on kme today a a course edge then a lil stripping to see how I get on thanks for your advice though brother!
 
Hopefully the edge isn't damaged past repair from powered sharpening and the wrong abrasive.
Pay careful attention to what's being said in this video.

 
Halfbaked94 said:
Have been going from 50 grit to 4 - 0.5 micron leather strop then lapping films to 0.1 this gets everything else scary sharp just not this one knife its driving me crazy haha
Click to expand...

What is your 50 grit abrasive? I find it hard to make a clean edge with abrasives under ~120 grit. A 60 grit belt, for example, will produce a really giant burr, and normally leave me with an uneven grind line due to the giant particles of abrasive hitting the edge. But that's a powered sharpener. I've never used a manual abrasive on a knife that was below around 100 grit.

My gut feeling is that you are starting with much too coarse of an abrasive. ...and this is from the guy that advocates using really coarse abrasives! I would be inclined to step that blade up to 120 to 180 grit, and then do your deburring process.

Brian.
 
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