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Messages - kwakster

#1
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
August 04, 2026, 03:16:10 PM
This thread about a Forever SC-16WB ceramic knife can be also be included here:

https://forum.tormek.com/index.php/topic,5672.msg41579.html#msg41579
#2
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
August 04, 2026, 03:08:54 PM
This thread about two Kohetsu santoku's in HAP40 steel belongs here as well:

https://forum.tormek.com/index.php/topic,5669.msg41557.html#msg41557
#3
Probably more AI nonsense,
#4
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
July 28, 2026, 03:42:34 PM
Currently busy with the same mod of another Gerber Applegate-Fairbairn folder like i showed earlier a few pages back.
This is how the knife looked when i received it from the owner, still with a single edge & an edge angle between 40 and 45 degrees inclusive.





And this is how the knife looks after grinding the new edge on the back of the blade & trying to match it with the reprofiled edge on the other side.
The scratch pattern complete with burr remains still present on the apex comes from a Rubber Wheel coated with ~ 170 grit diamond powder & wax.






The idea was to make the 2 edges / 4 bevels as visually similar in width & curvature as i could, with a specific edge angle of ~ 35 degrees inclusive, without damaging the names on the blade, and to create a new point that would be centered as much as possible.
Trying to achieve all these things at the same time freehand, together with many visual checks with a Victorinox loupe in between passes isn't easy, so i took my time.

Below you can see the end result after refining the initial edges with a Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound & deburring with a second Paper Wheel coated with 0.25 diamond compound.
Both edges are treetopping sharp.










This is how Applegate intended the knife to be, a true folding dagger.
It can still be carried in your pocket, but the top edge is only about 2-3 millimeters inside the handle, so when deliberately trying i can just feel the apex with my index finger.

Now the thumb lugs stop on the grooved linerlock tab, so it would be easy to use a file or a Dremel on it's surface to lower the blade a tiny bit deeper inside the handle for added safety, as there is some room for it.















#5
You could very well be right about that.
The air rifle had been previously lubricated with another type of oil (Tri-Flow), but it was already rather dry again when i applied the Ballistol.

#6
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
July 23, 2026, 06:50:36 PM
Spyderco Southard with CTS-204P blade, which has been in use for a few years now with a Dutch scout leader.
It has already been sharpened several times by him on stones, plus two times by me on Paper Wheels (once up to 6 micron diamond compound, and once up to 15 micron diamond, the latter performing noticeably longer for the owner)

This time the knife was reprofiled from about 30 degrees inclusive to 25 degrees inclusive with a standard Paper Wheel with 220 grit SiC, then deburred with a second Paper Wheel with 0.25 micron diamond compound.

This produces a polished semi-coarse edge with an aggressive bite, as the knife is going to be used to cut a lot of 10 mm polyprop rope in the coming weeks.





The owner just informed me how the edge on his Southard is doing so far.
He had used the tip of the knife to cut open about 50 dusty/dirty cardboard boxes filled with porcelain mugs, and this resulted in blunting that tip to a point that it could only barely cut copy paper.
But according to the owner this was most likely due to the fact that the tip hit the mugs every now & then.

After all 50 boxes were opened & emptied the Southard was used to cut down each box, which he measured to be a total of about 80 meters or 262 feet of cardboard.
Afterwards the edge was still able to easily shave the hair from his legs (except about 15 mm of the tip), and the owner feels that the knife isn't due for a touch-up yet.
He also noticed that the CTS-204P steel holds this edge noticeably longer than the S30V steel in his Spyderco Sage, which he had sharpened himself and used earlier for the same job
#7
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
July 21, 2026, 06:22:02 PM
Recovered some pictures from an old harddisk.
Several years ago i got sent these two user Emerson folders from neighboring country Belgium; a Commander model with a Krein regrind and a CQC7 model.
The owner was unable to get them sharp again with only his Sharpmaker, and the request was also to give the new edges a bit of bling.

As they came in:






After sharpening/polishing.









On the CQC7 i made the asymmetric bevel a bit wider to remove all different scratch patterns, and just touched up the existing mini-bevel on the other side.







Both knives could now be easily touched up on the Sharpmaker again and the owner was happy, :-)
#8
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
July 21, 2026, 06:18:40 PM
Vintage Al Mar Denali mid-backlock folding knife with hollow ground blade from the 1980's and made in Japan. (probably by Moki)
The cocobolo handle is inlayed with a gold shield picturing a fighter plane and the text "United States Navy Fighter Weapons School".
The 1986 movie "Top Gun" with Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis was partly filmed on the grounds of this elite school for US Navy pilots.
Bernard Levine thinks this version with the gold shield was a special edition, not standard production.

The original edge measured about 35 degrees inclusive and wasn't really sharp, so i changed the angle to 30 degrees inclusive with a treetopping sharp bling & bite finish.










Specs:

Length open: 17,3 cm
Length closed: 10,0 cm
Blade length: 7,5 cm
Blade thickness: 3,0 mm
Steel: Masahiro RS30 stainless steel
Hardness: 57-58 HRC (?)
Handle material: Cocobolo wood & satin stainless bolsters on brass liners
Handle thickness: 11,0 mm
Lock type: Mid-backlock
Weight: 100 grams
#9
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
July 21, 2026, 06:17:43 PM
Wootz/Vadim testing heat build-up in the edge when using Paper Wheels with diamond compound:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvMISROgs_c

He never told me this in our e-mail conversations, but i recently found that he mentions me by name in the on-screen text,  8)
#10
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
July 21, 2026, 06:16:05 PM
The owner of this Sebenza 25 bought the knife brand new through an official dealer in the Netherlands, but although he was and is still very pleased with the knife itself, he soon found that the factory edge didn't cut too well.
He tried to improve things with the help of a Spyderco Sharpmaker and a leather strop loaded with some green compound, but to no avail.
So he sent the knife to me, and the first thing i did was to measure the edge angle.
According to my Tormek Angle Gauge it measured 50 degrees inclusive on the straight part of the edge, going up to 55 degrees inclusive from the belly to the point.(!)
This is how the knife looked before sharpening:








First i removed the apex of the old edge by cutting a few times lightly into an old silicon carbide stone, after which i reprofiled it freehand on my Tormek SB-250 Blackstone to an even 30 degrees inclusive.
This was followed by a Paper Wheel with 220 grit SiC to smoothen the grindlines made by the Tormek, then refined with a second Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, and finally removed the burr with a third Paper Wheel coated with 0.25 diamond compound. (this leaves the 15 micron scratch pattern intact as much as possible to preserve bite)
The resulting edge treetops the hair on the back of my hand, can slice single-ply toilet paper, and survives a few cuts into my laminated testblock without any visible damage (checked under bright light with the loupe in my Victorinox SwissChamp)
This is how the knife looks after sharpening:










#11
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
July 21, 2026, 06:12:51 PM
A niece of mine is an avid amateur Chef (but not yet a knife afi), and this black ceramic knife (a rebranded Kyocera) is one of her favorites in the kitchen, as due to the tougher blade material the edges can be made thinner and thus the knife cuts better than a white ceramic version.
Longtime use however (not always on a suitable cutting board) plus storing it unprotected in a drawer between a bunch of steel bladed knives had blunted the edge to a point next to unusable, complete with quite a lot of (micro) chips and a broken tip.

This is the knife as it was when i received it.
(when you click the pictures 2 x you can see the chips clearly)









This is the knife after sharpening.
I reprofiled the rather bad factory edge to an ever so slight convex edge of ~ 25 degrees inclusive, and the sharpness is just hairwhittling (only towards the root, not to the point)
It easily slices single layer toiletpaper (torn apart 3-layered version) and a tomato of course.
Removing the chips and setting the new bevel was done with a Tormek T7, refining & convexing with a Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, and semi-polishing with a second Paper Wheel coated with 6 micron diamond compound.










Specs:

Overall length: 11.0 inch (28,0 cm)
Blade length: 5.8 inch (14,8 cm)
Blade thickness: 1,84 mm
Blade type: black ceramic / saber-hollow
Thickness behind the edge: 0,4 mm

The first clip shows the slicing of a piece of standard 3-layered toilet paper, for the second clip i peel off 1 layer and slice the remaining 2 layers, and the third clip shows the slicing of just the remaining single layer of toilet paper:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubg_drYHoKE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUkKfwGFogY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSkxPA9BK8E

Slicing a tomato:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3-A0SMcIbw
#12
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
July 21, 2026, 06:11:46 PM
A small black ceramic backlock folder without any markings (Böker ?) i did in 2013.
This well made knife had practically no edge and no point to speak of when i received it, and even opening mail with it was difficult.
I used the Tormek Blackstone graded to around 1000 grit for freehand reprofiling, followed by 3 Paper Wheels coated with 15, 6.0 and 3.0 micron diamond compounds for refining & polishing.
The new edge fits in the 30 degrees inclusive slot on my Tormek angle gauge, is slightly convex, and can shave the hair on my leg in both directions.









Specs:

Length open: 4.72 inches (12,0 cm)
Length closed: 2.76 inches (7,5 cm)
Blade material: black zirconium oxide
Blade length: 1.57 inches (4,5 cm)
Blade thickness: 2,0 mm
Handle material: Ivory Micarta & Nickel Silver bolsters
Weight: 61 grams
#13
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
July 21, 2026, 06:09:20 PM
User LH Sebenza Micarta with it's blade made from Devin Thomas stainless basketweave damascus (AEB-L and 304)
Reprofiled & sharpened the old slightly convex edge with it's apex @ ~40 degrees inclusive into a new slightly convex edge with an apex @ ~30 degrees inclusive on a Paper Wheel with 15 micron diamond compound, then removed the extremely fine burr on a piece of copypaper with a dab of 0.25 micron diamond paste.
The new apex is reverse chest hair whittling sharp and the new point is also quite close to being centered again.
To my functioning eye the bevels look near-mirror like, but the camera sees a bit blotchy scratch pattern due to the different layers in the damascus steel.

Before:










After:











#14
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
July 21, 2026, 06:07:18 PM
The first owner of this small Sebenza apparently thought it a good idea to use the knife for sharpening practice in his new Wicked Edge.
The outcome made him sell the knife for a measly 150 Euro's to owner number two, who sent it to me with the request to tidy things up a bit and give it a bit of a shiny edge.

Below is what the knife looked like when i received it, still with it's very rough and partly unapexed "edge", and with an edge angle of ~40 degrees inclusive at the straight part of the edge, changing into ~45 degrees inclusive from belly to point.














After reprofiling & sharpening on a Paper Wheel with 15 micron diamond compound, then deburring and polishing it a bit with a second Paper Wheel coated with 1.0 micron diamond compound.
The new edge is a bit convex, and measures ~30 degrees inclusive on the straight part of the edge, changing into ~35 degrees inclusive from belly to point.
This to avoid widening the bevels there too much, as this blade is relatively thick behind the edge in that area.
The last picture shows a small facet at the heel which has an entirely different angle, so i could not remove it without making things worse.
Visually it's not perfect yet treetopping sharp, and the owner was happy.







photo link code
#15
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
July 21, 2026, 05:41:37 PM
Italian made A.G.A Campolin Maltese stiletto from a collector.
The knife was recently bought brand new from a foreign shop, but it came with quite a lot of blade play, a very rough ~55 degrees inclusive "edge" with a big burr still attached to it, and no point at all.
Also both sides of the blade aren't mirror images of each other, with a center ridge that is off a bit on one side.
Anyway, especially the lack of a point bothered the owner, the bad edge came in second, and fixing the blade play will probably be a job for another day.
This is how the knife looked before resharpening:










And how the knife looks now.
While keeping the edge angle about the same so the bevels would not widen too much per owner's request, i resharpened the main edge completely and the bayonet grind only superficially to come to a sharp point with a 15 micron diamond compound Paper Wheel, then cleaned up the bevels a bit and removed the tiny burr with a 1.0 micron diamond compound Paper Wheel.
The edge angle again measures ~55 degrees inclusive, yet the new apex is just sharp enough to shave the hair on the back of my hand a bit on skin level.