AzShooter1
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Kerye. The kit comes with 4 stones, 400, 1000, 3000 and 8000.
They are wet stones that require water.
Try my hand at free hand sharpening
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They are wet stones that require water.
That's outstanding. Well done!
I have no experience with Kerye stones, but I do have a 400/1000 water stone that I like.
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SteadyD
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Thank you kind sir.
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SteadyD
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Alright this will be my last (unwarranted) bragging session for a bit. I sharpened a Spyderco Lil’ Native S30V after cutting off the edge, and I achieved easy shaving and wavy cuts through paper without a problem. Bevel looks pretty good. I haven’t tackled a truly tough steel yet, such as Maxamet, K390, S90V, S110V, etc, and I probably won’t for a while, perhaps until I get an Extra Course stone at least. However, I do feel that I can now produce acceptable results for myself with freehand sharpening. Thanks for all of the advice and support from everyone.
Btw, I do think that using guided and semi-guided systems was actually beneficial to my freehand progress, as it both set a benchmark, as well as provided a relatively forgiving environment for me to learn about the dynamics of the apex. These dynamics include forming a burr, minimizing/removing a burr, progression of grits, feedback at higher and higher grits, and the importance of stropping along with a whole host of other nuances. I’ve still got a long way to go, but I feel confident now that I can achieve my desired results.
Btw, I do think that using guided and semi-guided systems was actually beneficial to my freehand progress, as it both set a benchmark, as well as provided a relatively forgiving environment for me to learn about the dynamics of the apex. These dynamics include forming a burr, minimizing/removing a burr, progression of grits, feedback at higher and higher grits, and the importance of stropping along with a whole host of other nuances. I’ve still got a long way to go, but I feel confident now that I can achieve my desired results.
Putting the tip back on my BM Sequel went a long way to convincing me that I can freehand sharpen, if I'll just put in the time. And I'm not short on "stick-to-it" when I want to do something.
What's the old saying? It ain't bragging if you can do it.
That bevel does look good.
It seems to me that if you can get good results on a milder steel, you can get good results on a tougher steel. It'll just take you longer.
For me, there's another benefit in addition to that. I worry less about messing up an edge because I know that if I do, I can use the guided system to fix it.
I need to correct this. I seem to do better on the pull stroke, but a close examination of my Native 5's edge shows me that I actually have better control on the push stroke. I took a close look at the edge using low magnification (2.5x reading glasses). The bevel on the side of the blade that's on the stone during the pull stroke (the right edge, looking at the spine of the blade with the knife held tip up) gets a little wider as you look closer to the top. The left side may have a little of that, but it's visibly more on the right.
theotherwaldo
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It's accepted by those that know me that the best way to dull a knife is to let me touch it.
I hope to learn to sharpen knives some day... .
I hope to learn to sharpen knives some day... .
Well, @SteadyD and I have kind of been traveling this road together the past few months. Why don't you join the party?
No shame in that. I've re-dulled a knife on plenty of occasions. For me, it (oddly) always seems to run as follows;
- Sharp off the coarse stone.
- Sharp off the medium stone.
- Dull off the fine stone.
I'll add that I'm freehanding a lot more than using my Hapstone right now, but one of the great things about having it on hand is so that I can quickly set a new bevel and fix whatever I've messed up.
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SteadyD
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I would have to REALLY like a knife to buy another one in Maxamet. Or really up my game.
Maxamet seems to do one thing well, and that is resisting edge deformation. The theory must be that it should never need sharpening, because it gets 1 out of 10 for ease of sharpening. You'll have to scroll way down to find it in the BladeHQ steel guide. https://www.bladehq.com/cat--Best-Knife-Steel-Guide--3368
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SteadyD
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Check out Dr Larrin’s ratings at knifesteelnerds. It seems to be more scientific than those at BladeHQ, despite its shortcomings. https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10/19/knife-steels-rated-by-a-metallurgist-toughness-edge-retention-and-corrosion-resistance/
Larrin tested all blade stock at 400 grit and obviously some steels are going to gain or lose performance at other finishes, but unlike the BladeHQ ratings, the entire procedure is laid out. Also, Larrin’s own personal preference is towards toughness which doesn’t matter as much for pocket knives as it does for fixed blades.
The BladeHQ article rated ease of sharpening. The LT article did not. "I have not provided a rating for ease in sharpening."
You seemed surprised that you encountered difficulty sharpening a steel that was among the highest in edge retention. I do not understand your surprise. Is there some reason you thought it would be easy to sharpen?
You seemed surprised that you encountered difficulty sharpening a steel that was among the highest in edge retention. I do not understand your surprise. Is there some reason you thought it would be easy to sharpen?
This is typically a symptom of one or both of the following.
1. Too much pressure. On the fine stone, you're just polishing, not really sharpening so very little pressure is required. You can cause rolling with very little pressure because the abrasive is not aggressive enough to grind off much material. On the coarser grits, if you use pressure, you just grind off any metal that rolls--at the finer grits it won't grind off the material--it just deforms it.
2. Angle control issues. For the same reasons listed in 1, if you are off by just a little bit on your angle, you can deform the edge and it will feel dull. It's very critical to get the angle right on the fine stone.
One way to deal with this problem is to "microbevel" the blade for the fine grit stage. This means intentionally going to a slightly steeper angle to put a polished microbevel right at the apex. It is important to keep the pressure very light when doing this. You're basically just moving the blade across the stone with almost no pressure applied.
AzShooter1
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Came pretty well sharpened but I took it to my stones for a bit and then stropped it. Now this thing cuts paper real well and I'm glad I bought it.
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SteadyD
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I didn’t think it would be easy, indeed I was expecting it to be a difficult task. It’s my last knife to sharpen for that very reason. However, I had some success recently with K390 and S110V which emboldened me so I gave it a go and was mightily humbled by it. It was FAR more difficult than I had imagined!
A good reminder that every alloy is a compromise. Some, like Magnacut and M390 sacrifice a bit of edge retention for toughness and other useful attributes, but are still highly desirable.
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SteadyD
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I have developed a preference for balanced steels for this very reason. K390 is the only very high edge retention steel I’ve tried that I actually like. Apparently K398 might be one I take for a test run at some point though. I have a Mule in Magnacut and am eagerly awaiting a Native 5 in Magnacut!
A lot of knife applications favor edge retention and make toughness almost irrelevant. For example, if you're cutting a lot of cardboard and are careful to avoid staples and such, then toughness hardly matters. You're not going to break or chip a blade on cardboard, but it is abrasive and will wear the edge. For something like that, a really wear-resistant alloy (hard to sharpen) would be a perfect choice. In general, the smaller the blade, the more likely it is that highly wear-resistant alloys will be a good choice even if toughness suffers a lot.
Goodness gracious, some of this is still so PFM for me! I had a little spare time yesterday, so I thought I'd get a little practice in. My results were all over the board.
Ka-Bar fixed blade, fairly forgiving steel (exact type of steel unknown) -- About 10 minutes on water stones and Arkansas stones had it shaving sharp.
Gerber lockback -- I've had this one reasonably sharp, but I just could not move it past that, despite about 30 minutes on virtually every stone I have. It was still reasonably sharp, but not more than that.
Harley-Davidson slipjoint -- I've dubbed her "Princess Neversharp." I've gotten this one moderately sharp, but it has been uncommon. It just does not want to take an edge. No matter what I tried yesterday, I could not get that one sharp.
Aside from that, though, here's what I learned this past week: Do not mark your stones with a sharpie until you've actually used them. I got a Soft/Hard Arkansas combination stone among Dad's stuff. I felt the stones, figured out which was which, and promptly marked the sides "Coarse" and "Fine" with hot pink sharpie. Too promptly, as it turns out. Now that I've actually used it, I realize that the Soft side is more of a medium stone, not a coarse. So I re-marked it, but that mistake's going to stare at me every time I use it . . . .
Ka-Bar fixed blade, fairly forgiving steel (exact type of steel unknown) -- About 10 minutes on water stones and Arkansas stones had it shaving sharp.
Gerber lockback -- I've had this one reasonably sharp, but I just could not move it past that, despite about 30 minutes on virtually every stone I have. It was still reasonably sharp, but not more than that.
Harley-Davidson slipjoint -- I've dubbed her "Princess Neversharp." I've gotten this one moderately sharp, but it has been uncommon. It just does not want to take an edge. No matter what I tried yesterday, I could not get that one sharp.
Aside from that, though, here's what I learned this past week: Do not mark your stones with a sharpie until you've actually used them. I got a Soft/Hard Arkansas combination stone among Dad's stuff. I felt the stones, figured out which was which, and promptly marked the sides "Coarse" and "Fine" with hot pink sharpie. Too promptly, as it turns out. Now that I've actually used it, I realize that the Soft side is more of a medium stone, not a coarse. So I re-marked it, but that mistake's going to stare at me every time I use it . . . .
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