What Did You Sharpen Today?

Yesterday... (I never seem to get around to posting the same day I sharpen.)... Anyway, yesterday was a small, 5" or so, kitchen chopper (santoku?) of Mrs. McGee's. As I recall, it was about $5 and boasted high carbon steel. I lowered the angle from 20* to 18*, so we'll see how that goes.
 
marthinus said:
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Used DMT coarse/fine. 5-7 strokes per side. Catches beard hair.

Older blade with new handle fitted. From a framelock to nested liner. Ground quite thin. 10-12dps.
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What’s the steel on that lamb? Beautiful knife, Marthinus
 
huntyukon said:
What’s the steel on that lamb? Beautiful knife, Marthinus
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The blade dates back to 2016, so most likely N690.

I switched over to M390 and Elmax some time ago.

On topic:Below is one I sharpened today for a customer. DMT Coarse/Fine/Extra Fine/EE Fine and Strop with 1 Micron Kemet diamond paste.

Steel is M390 at HRC 62-63.

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Natlek said:
Any tips to get it more sharp ?
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There are a few YouTube videos with methods to sharpen TC. The trick seems to be very fine diamond abrasives for a long time. Sandrin suggests diamond lapping films, which Pete from Cedric & Ada verified by sharpening a Torino with diamond lapping films on a KME. I've also seen lesser success with diamond spray on an aluminum block and Mother's Mag polish on a denim strop, as shown by The Home Slice. Diamond plates tend to chip and microfracture the edge rather than cleanly abrading the material. This is due to the extreme pressures on the edge apex from the small contact area on the diamond particle sticking up form the plate.

I've got a few other ideas for sharpening that I haven't seen yet. I have a Chinese boron carbide stone, which should be hard enough to cut tungsten carbide. The contact surface is much more substantial, which should reduce the pressure on the edge and (in theory) result in a sharp edge. I suspect a vitrified diamond stone will work the same way since the diamonds are embedded in the stone rather than sticking out.

I'd love to get my hands on a good test knife to try my theories on since I'm too much of a wuss to use my Monza as a guinea pig. If you know where I can source a disc like that and how much it costs, please let me know!
 
huntyukon said:
I never heard of kemet paste before. You obviously get great results with it. Gonna check it out.
Any tips before buying some of their paste?
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Their distributor is a few kilometres from me so could talk to them about my needs.

They advised Type L because my main use for these are to mirror polish my grinds, not sharpening. I only experimented with it for sharpening and I am happy.

Type L


  • •
    Oil Soluble Diamond Compound specially developed for use on hard materials such as Tungsten Carbide, hardened Steels and Ceramics
  • •
    High thermal stability of the chemical carrier ensures that Kemet Diamond Compound resists frictional heat, remains stable, and keeps its suspension properties under operating conditions

Here is an example of a swedge I ground up to 3 micron.

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Gunny Juice is a popular diamond spray for sharpening from the US. Might be easier to obtain for you.
 
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marthinus said:
Their distributor is a few kilometres from me so could talk to them about my needs.

They advised Type L because my main use for these are to mirror polish my grinds, not sharpening. I only experimented with it for sharpening and I am happy.
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Do you recall why they recommended oil soluble (type L) over universal soluble (type KD)?
 
I checked them out and boy do they have a lot of products. I think I’d be more interested in something that’s similar to an emulsion, as I have a fair bit of pastes now.

Their liquid diamond slurry sounds pretty cool. They call it FastCut. Have any of you used some of their slurries?

“The latest diamond abrasive slurry from our chemists, FastCut offers a water based solution that, in tests, exceed the performance of oil based products by as much as 25%.”

It’s supposed to be the best for fast stock removal. Is that something one wants when stropping though?

Then there is type O and type K. I think the main difference is that one is water based and the other oil based. Man, so many options lol.
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Mr.Wizard said:
Do you recall why they recommended oil soluble (type L) over universal soluble (type KD)?
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Adhesion factor to the modified belt I use to grind with. There was some trial and error on that granted.

I tried the KD, it works, but it felt like I needed to apply more frequently on the belt than the type L.

I still have a plate with some KD embedded that I use to polish flats with somewhere. Need to go look for it, might be able to use it as a strop.
 
huntyukon said:
I checked them out and boy do they have a lot of products. I think I’d be more interested in something that’s similar to an emulsion, as I have a fair bit of pastes now.

Their liquid diamond slurry sounds pretty cool. They call it FastCut. Have any of you used some of their slurries?
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I have not tried it yet. Hopefully someone else can chime in.
 
new shearing pliers (apparently this product is not a scissors nor a diagonal pliers but shares aspects of both worlds). functions similarly to a pair of scissors. its carton opener was dull, maybe on purpose, maybe i've been using it wrong haha, BEFORE:
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A close-up of the non-apex:
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So i sharpened the bevel with a small cylindrical ruby file, raising a burr, removing the burr. AFTER:
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The bevel is now apexed and as sharp as a like-a-scissor bevel should be but imho that's barely useful for cutting open cartons, cutting cardboard, only for cutting packaging tape. I certainly prefer my EDC knife ( Tirant Razor V3 ) for any such tasks. Apart from the carton opener, the new shearing pliers are great stuff, made in the taiwans.
 
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I sharpened my wife's kitchen knives on an Edge Pro Pro. They were mostly Henckels and I matched the factory edge. I need to do these more often so they don't get dull.
 
Power sharpening today of some shop knives.

Heavily used Sebenza and Endura. I know the Sebenza is 14 years old and the Endura I have no idea, somewhere similar.

Used VSM XK870F at 400 grit, slow speed, Unipol on a leather strop I made from an old undergroun mining belt and done. Can shave hand hair.

The other two are still WIP pieces I need to start hand sanding etc. Been a few months since I worked on them.

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marthinus said:
Used VSM XK870F at 400 grit, slow speed
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Pardon my ignorance, that belt is ceramic abrasive, correct? What type of blade steel were sharpening with it? I’m just curious how well they do on higher carbide steel. I hope it’s alright to ask this question in this thread, since it’s sharpening realstes.
 
Tried laying the edge back to 18dps. Maybe I should have tried free handing on my dimond stones but I could not get a bur raised to save my life. I spent about an hour and it’s worse off that it was before. Going to give it another try later on. The drop point tip on CRKs always gives me trouble though.
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huntyukon said:
Pardon my ignorance, that belt is ceramic abrasive, correct? What type of blade steel were sharpening with it? I’m just curious how well they do on higher carbide steel. I hope it’s alright to ask this question in this thread, since it’s sharpening realstes.
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Correct on the ceramic aspect. I have sharpened from 12c27 up to CPM125V.

Thickness behind the edge is a factor that plays a large role on the high carbide steels and if the belt will cut properly before it gets dull and start building up heat.
 
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