News:

Welcome to the Tormek Community. If you previously registered for the discussion board but had not made any posts, your membership may have been purged. Secure your membership in this community by joining in the conversations.
www.tormek.com

Main Menu

Recent posts

#1
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - Today at 05:15:53 PM
The factory edge of this Spyderco PM2 in S110V steel was barely shaving armhair on skinlevel, and according to my Tormek WM200 the edge angle was near 35 degrees inclusive.
The old apex was removed by cutting several times straight into a silicon carbide stone, and then i used 4 different Paper Wheels coated with diamond compounds (15, 6, 3, and 1 micron) to create & refine the new edge.
Normally i don't take high carbide steel types this far, but in this case i wanted to see how the S110V steel would do.

The new & ever so slightly convex edge measures a hair below 30 degrees inclusive, and can easily whittle a normal chest hair towards the point along the entire edge.
Thinner ones will sever immediately upon touching.
My cheap camera is not really able to show full details, but at least it gives some impression.










A Belgian member of the Dutch forum who's also into sharpening sent me a USB-camera as a gift, and although i still have lots to learn about what it can do i managed to take a couple of pics of the current edge on the PM2 in S110V steel:


#2
Knife Sharpening / Re: Use of KS-123 with adjusta...
Last post by Dutchman - Today at 11:51:33 AM
@CBWX34
Thanks for your contribution
I have updated the link to the US version
Quote from: cbwx34 on Yesterday at 11:10:49 PM...
Why are you resting the stop against the clamp and not the USB (like you do when using the KJ jig?)
Due to the curved cutting edge, the protrusion would then not match the value for the position where the knife is clamped.
#3
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - Today at 11:04:14 AM
A few weeks ago a knife collector asked me if i could sharpen the false edge on a Gerber Applegate Fairbairn folder.
On this knife the blade is completely shrouded by the handle when closed, so there is no risk of injury while carrying it.
The owner also wanted the new bevels to be a bit shiny.

This older YouTube clip by Nutnfancy showcases this mod:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR984DMcQ1o

This was the knife before sharpening:










And the result.
Ground the new bevels with a Rubber Wheel coated with 230 grit diamond powder, then refined all bevels with a Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, and  finally removed the tiny burr remnants with the Tormek leather wheel & some 1 micron diamond compound.
The edges measure 35 degrees inclusive and are treetopping sharp.








#4
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - Today at 11:02:14 AM
This brand new Endura ZDP-189 sadly had a less than optimal factory edge, and since this beautiful steel deserves better i reprofiled & sharpened it myself.

My guess is that these knives are belt sharpened and then have the burr stropped of on a buffer.
On this knife however it seemed like the buffer ran out of cutting compound (or the sharpener just did a sloppy job), as through my loupe i could see remains of a burr almost along the entire edge. (some of it is partly visible in picture 2)
Due to this the sharpness was of course severely lacking.
I also measured the edge angle to be 35 degrees inclusive, which i think is a bit too large for a folding knife in ZDP-189 steel.

Before sharpening:






First i removed the old apex by cutting a few times straight into a silicon carbide stone, then reprofiled the edge to a slightly convex ~ 25 degrees inclusive angle with a Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, and then removed the tiny burr with a second Paper Wheel coated with 0.25 micron diamond compound.
This leaves the scratch pattern created by the 15 micron diamond particles intact as much as possible, creating an edge that with the naked eye almost looks like a mirror, but which has the bite of a coarser edge.
I call this a "bling & bite" finish, and i have found it to work very well in EDC use on harder high carbide steel types.
It's also quite difficult to show correctly in pictures, as the lens of my cheap camera has a tendency to show more of the scratch pattern than can be seen in reality with the naked eye.

With the reduced edge angle & the much finer edge finish the knife will not only cut in a completely different league, it can now also be kept sharp on the 30 degrees slots of a Spyderco Sharpmaker or Lansky Turnbox.

After sharpening:









#5
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - Today at 10:56:19 AM
A while ago i sharpened this Buck Hartsook in S30V steel for a Dutch forum member:





The edge was done on Paper Wheels with diamond compounds exclusively, and the new & slightly convex edge measures ~30 degrees inclusive.
Remarkably useful little knives with well hardened S30V steel.
#6
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - Today at 10:54:01 AM
Some time ago i did this rather large Strider fixed blade in S30V steel for a Dutch forum member.
According to my Tormek angle gauge the factory edge measured 50 to 55 degrees inclusive and it wasn't very sharp either.

Grit progression: reprofiled on a standard Paper Wheel with 220 grit SiC, refined it a little with a second Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, and finally removed the tiny burr with a third Paper Wheel coated with 0,25 micron diamond compound.
The new & slightly convex edge measures around 35/36 degrees inclusive, and can both slice single layer toilet paper and treetop the hairs on the back of my hand.








#7
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by Rossy66 - Today at 02:45:40 AM
Thanks for the reply. The spyderco looks amazing.
#8
Knife Sharpening / Re: Use of KS-123 with adjusta...
Last post by cbwx34 - Yesterday at 11:10:49 PM
From your pdf...

QuoteSVM-jigs is unfortunately not possible without further ado.
The KS-123 is clamped onto the Universal Support Bar (USB) while setting
the sharpening angle. When using the adjustable knife jigs, the adjustable
stop will rest against that clamp and is therefore at a distance Ko from the
USB.

Why are you resting the stop against the clamp and not the USB (like you do when using the KJ jig?)

Also, your reference 2 link doesn't work in the U.S.  (Need to change the nl to us)...

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/basic-programming-language/id1540244170
#9
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - Yesterday at 09:40:34 PM
A Strider SMF with S110V blade from a Dutch forum member.
According to my Tormek angle gauge the old edge measured ~ 40 degrees inclusive from the heel to half an inch before the tip where it changed into 45 degrees inclusive.
The owner uses this knife mostly to cut various kinds of green wood & twigs in horticulture, and had already tried his hand at reprofiling the edge himself with a DMT Diafold.
Together we came to the conclusion that the edge could do with a full reprofiling, as well as with a finer edge finish to better suit his specific purposes.
BTW: the owner also contacted Duane Dwyer by mail, among other things to ask him about the hardness of this S110V blade, and according to Duane it measures 61 HRC.

This was the knife before sharpening:








After reprofiling & sharpening.
The new edge angle came out at ~ 32 degrees inclusive along the entire edge, and it can treetop armhair and slice single ply toilet paper.
Probably due to having the flu at the moment my hands didn't do exactly what i wanted them to do, and as a result i didn't manage to get both bevels completely symmetrical.
Grit progression: a Paper Wheel with 220 grit SiC for reprofiling,  a second Paper Wheel with 15 micron diamond compound for refining, and a third Paper Wheel with 0.25 micron diamond compound for removing the tiny burr.







#10
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - Yesterday at 09:36:21 PM
Another earlier one, this time a user Spyderco Military in S90V steel from a Dutch forum member who requested a little more bling.
First i used a standard Paper Wheel with silicon carbide grit, followed by a second Paper Wheel with 15 micron diamond paste as well as a third Paper Wheel with 6 micron diamond paste, after which the tiny burr was removed on the Tormek leather wheel.
It's not a true mirror edge, as with the magnifying glass in my Victorinox SwissChamp i can still see fine scratching, but with the naked eye it's close.
Sharpness is hairwhittling (both to and from the root) and it can also slice single layer toiletpaper with ease.