Spyderco PM2 in s110v

DREW78 said:
Would you mind telling me (us) what compounds you are using on your super steels to strop with? Are you just loading those compounds onto a bare strop?

Thanks in advance!
Drew
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Not sure which exact ones he's using, but ChefKnivesToGo (google it, look under "strops") sells various diamond compounds that have worked well for me.
 
DREW78 said:
Would you mind telling me (us) what compounds you are using on your super steels to strop with? Are you just loading those compounds onto a bare strop?

Thanks in advance!
Drew
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5___3.5_Mircon_D_4dca0599d6ce8.jpg

Wicked Edge 5/3.5 Micron Diamond Paste

Bare Strop
3.5 micron one side and 5 micron the other side of double sided strop.The strop will become loaded with compound and very little is needed to reload it.
 
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salmonkiller said:
5___3.5_Mircon_D_4dca0599d6ce8.jpg

Wicked Edge 5/3.5 Micron Diamond Paste

Bare Strop
3.5 micron one side and 5 micron the other side of double sided strop.The strop will become loaded with compound and very little is needed to reload it.
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I'll have to get some more leather and that diamond paste and make a strop to try out. I think the emery I'm using is what's bringing the edge back the most, it's quite abrasive compared to some other black compound I have.


I've been wanting to try the work sharp leather belt they offer for the blade grinder, that and this diamond paste may make for fast touch ups.
 
FriarPhenn said:
Torx T6 should do it.
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I highly recommend the Wiha Butterfly wrenches in the smaller Torx sizes. Or the regular Wiha wrenches if you don't mind something larger. They are called "precision" wrenches for a reason; they are FAR less likely to slip and round out/deform the screw due to their tight machining tolerances. Perfect fit! :thumbup:

(Image not mine; but this is the wrench. Taken from a thread on the same subject over on the Spyderco factory forum.)


kwackster said:
To get the most out of high vanadium carbide steels you need abrasives that are able to cut & shape the carbides themselves, which in commonly available materials leaves only CBN and diamond.
For both maximum sharpness & edge retention you want a row of actually shaped & sharpened carbides in your edge, not just a row of whole carbides (which will do for coarser edge types, but they simply work better when sharp.)

The other materials you mention will most certainly plough through the matrix and push the vanadium carbides out of the way, but due to their lack in hardness they are physically unable to refine those carbides.
Take a look at the bottom of this page for a list of materials and their Knoop hardness:

https://www.tedpella.com/Material-Sciences_html/Abrasive_Grit_Grading_Systems.htm

What works for me when i want a (semi-) coarse edge on S110V steel and the like is to use silicon carbide (220 grit Paper Wheel and/or 1000 grit Tormek Blackstone) to create the bevels, then jump to a fine diamond compound (1 micron on a Paper Wheel) to remove the burr.
This provides me with the edge irregularities (or teeth if you want) for that coveted slicing aggression, and which also have actual sharpened vanadium carbides in the apex.
For a more polished edge on S110V steel and the like i refine the results of the silicon carbide with various diamond compounds (in my case 15, 6, 3, and 1 micron on dedicated Paper Wheels)

For some time now i've also been experimenting with a Rubber Wheel coated with 230 grit diamond as a substitute for the 220 grit silicon carbide grit Paper Wheel, and although i still need to learn more about it, so far i like the results i'm getting with it.
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Confession: I suppose I misunderstood you a bit. :eek: I did not realize you were speaking to the carbides in the steel, but thought you meant the steel itself (matrix). I now see your point, and you might actually be correct. :) It would be cool to get some good micrographs to show if this is true.

I can get some of these higher-end super steels pretty darned sharp (hair poppin'), and they seem to hold that edge for a good amount of time. However, I can't seem to get as good of a mirror-polish on their edge as I can with steels of lower alloy content.

As an example, I finally sharpened my S110V PM2 a couple days ago, and the edge is fantastically sharp, but lacks the mirror polish I am usually used to seeing and also doesn't seem to have as "fine" of an edge apex as I would expect. Definitely feels like a more toothy edge than it should be, even after stropping. Green chrome on the strop essentially did nothing for it. But it sure is SHARP!!! :eek: Sounds like I need to pick up some 3-5 micron diamond paste and another dedicated strop to use it on.

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I also sanded the outer side of my pocket clip with some 240 grit to give it a nice satin finish, and then heat-colored it. It kinda matches the color of the knife scales now, lol. :rolleyes: At least it isn't the mirror-finished chrome screaming "look at me!" like it was. :eek:



I was pretty surprised at how easily the steel heat-colored. So easily, I thought it might be Ti for a minute (but it's magnetic, so definitely steel). I just held the clip with needle-nosed pliers at the end with the screw holes, used a small butane torch, and heated it until the color started changing. I laid the clip sorta parallel with the flame to get an even finish on it, but the end I was holding didn't quite heat the same, and I had to do that area separately (which is why it looks a little different than the rest of the clip). The color starts as a bronze, then moves into the blue/purple, and then gets to almost white again if you get it too hot. The nice thing Is you can see the color changing under the flame, so it is easy to stop where you want to. I think it turned out pretty good. :thumbup: Hard to photograph the colors though, but this is pretty close.
 
kwackster said:
Have a look at posts #1686 and #1688 in this thread for how i use diamonds on S110V steel:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...els-when-your-time-is-important-to-you/page85
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Yeah, that's about how my edges normally look (not quite that polished though). I'll have to give the diamond paste a try on a leather belt. This is the first steel I've come across that would require that.

I just looked, and I already have a spare leather belt (that I don't remember buying, lol), so I just need to get some diamond paste. Which diamond paste might you recommend? I think I'll probably go with 5 micron, but maybe 3 micron.
 
I just got a black clip for mine. I think it looks a LOT better. The shiny clip made it look cheap. The black one sets off the blue handle really well.
 
A buddy of mine brought me his pm2 in s110v to sharpen for him...he'd taken it on a camping trip and beat the hell out of it he said...it still had a fairly sharp edge thou not razor sharp anymore. He did unfortunately make contact with a rock so there was a small chip in the edge which was the reasoning for sharpening.

This being the first time sharpening this steel I was expecting the worse, but was surprised to find it grinds fairly easy, Easier than s30v imo. It took me maybe 15-20 minutes on the wskt-ko blade grinding attachment to get the edge squared away. He didn't want it polished so I ground the bevels at 15dps then put a 20dps micro bevel per his request. The x64 belt worked great and afterwards took a few passes on the x4 belt to remove any remaining bur.


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If you have diamonds it's not hard to get that sharp working edge that most people like on a steel like s110v up to let's say 600 grit. Unless your going for a mirror polish, getting rid of all scratch patterns from previous grits ect... I was able to get a mirror polish on her but it took over an hr, Mabey 2 while watching tv using kme sharpener, diamond stones and 4 micron then 1.5 micron cbn emultion on strop. Can't wait to get the finer cbn.
 
The National site(Not sure if they are a BF contributor) has a couple in stock at the moment.
 
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