Sharpening M4 vs S30V

H

hayes31

Joined
Jun 5, 2012
Messages
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I just got a Gayle Bradley and love it, but how difficult is sharpening M4? A few weeks ago I reprofiled an S30V Sage, and I was wondering if anybody has sharpened both steels and could give me a comparison.
 
I hope it's easier. I haaaate sharpening s30v. Took two days with a crap Lansky kit. My current setup should work much better, but I doubt I'd like reprofiling s30v any more now.

The plan with my m4 knife is to not let it get dull!
 
I think I had an easier time with my Gayle Bradley than I have with anything in s30v. I use a Wicked Edge.
 
Strigamort said:
I hope it's easier. I haaaate sharpening s30v. Took two days with a crap Lansky kit. My current setup should work much better, but I doubt I'd like reprofiling s30v any more now.

The plan with my m4 knife is to not let it get dull!
Click to expand...

What Lansky hones do you use?

Fanglekai said:
I think I had an easier time with my Gayle Bradley than I have with anything in s30v. I use a Wicked Edge.
Click to expand...

That's good news! I was hoping to hear that.
 
Strigamort said:
I hope it's easier. I haaaate sharpening s30v. Took two days with a crap Lansky kit. My current setup should work much better, but I doubt I'd like reprofiling s30v any more now.

The plan with my m4 knife is to not let it get dull!
Click to expand...

I think I know why it took 2 days. I just bought the basic Lanksy Diamond kit to take care of my S30V Griptilian. And I noticed that when you take the clamp off to pause for a bit because something came up, then put it back on in what you THINK is the exact same spot, and put it in the exact same hole with the bar set exactly the same way, the bevel doesn't match up, and you have to re-grind the whole thing again. Was this the case for you too?

On that note, I don't have any experience sharpening M4, but I just re-profiled an S30V blade with the Lansky Diamond set, and it wasn't too bad. Most of your time is spent with the coarse stone (if you have extra course it would go faster, but I didn't). As you probably found out, you need to keep the clamp exactly where it is the whole time...otherwise you're screwing yourself.
 
Using the same stones it seems my GB sharpened up easier than an s30v para. No actual data to back it up could just be in my head, this was with DMTs.
 
No, when I use to have to take the clamp off for any reason I always marked the blade so that I knew its exact position.

My problem was the basic kit stones. They were terrible for s30v. Stock removal was super slow and the stones loaded up badly.

I now use one of those generic edge pros. I haven't done s30v (I don't think) but I've done a few others and it's just a better kit. Best $30 I've spent, but I DON'T want to turn this into THAT thread! :)
 
Strigamort said:
No, when I use to have to take the clamp off for any reason I always marked the blade so that I knew its exact position.

My problem was the basic kit stones. They were terrible for s30v. Stock removal was super slow and the stones loaded up badly.

I now use one of those generic edge pros. I haven't done s30v (I don't think) but I've done a few others and it's just a better kit. Best $30 I've spent, but I DON'T want to turn this into THAT thread! :)
Click to expand...

Lmao, yea, I just got out of that thread. That stuff can stay there, heh.

And yea, I could see the basic stone kit taking forEVER with S30V. I went straight for the Diamond. Was 50 bucks, but reprofiled my S30V and put an amazing edge on it. I wrapped the fine stone with newspaper for a makeshift strop, lol. Worked really well though.
 
Oh yeah... I wrapped mine too. Not only that, I've even used the clamp slot as an (eyeballed) makeshift guide for a diamond benchstone. Basically holding the clamp so that the knife edge is straight up, then sighting my diamond stone along the plane that the rod and Lansky stone would travel in the 17° slot if that makes any sense. I ended up doing most of my reprofiling on the Native that way. It actually worked quite well. :)

Btw, the way I mark my blade for the clamp is to put a dot with a sharpie at each of the two corners. That way I can just line the clamp up with the dots and I'm good to go.
 
The following is my experience with sharpening steels from 12C27 to M390 including CPM-M4.

Sharpening any steel comes down understanding angles. The easier you hit the apex/very edge, the faster you will restore your edge.

This is a good read to understand angles:

http://gpvec.unl.edu/files/griffin/B-PIKE(ISU-UNL-GPVEC)Downloads/SharpeningHowTo_DDG_2K7.pdf

Here is a simple process of:
1. Remove damaged metal
2. Shape the edge
3. Refine the edge

This was done on a very old stone with Bohler N690 @ HRC of +-59. I normally use Diamond stones that make the process much faster.

[video=youtube;oLx_VL27fy8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLx_VL27fy8[/video]
 
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