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#91
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 21, 2026, 05:34:23 PMThis special version of the Spyderco Paramilitary 2 in CPM-M4 steel & carbon fiber is in use with a Dutch knife forum member.
A small fraction of the tip had broken off and the apex sustained some damage (see pic 3).
This is how the knife looked before sharpening:
First i ground the old apex flat on the Tormek Blackstone until all damage in the apex was gone & there was a new point.
Then i made a new edge with 15 micron diamond compound on a Paper Wheel, which was then refined with 6, 3, and 1 micron diamond compound on dedicated Paper Wheels to a full mirror.
The new edge measures 30 degrees inclusive and is hairwhittling sharp.
After sharpening:
img][/url]
A small fraction of the tip had broken off and the apex sustained some damage (see pic 3).
This is how the knife looked before sharpening:
First i ground the old apex flat on the Tormek Blackstone until all damage in the apex was gone & there was a new point.
Then i made a new edge with 15 micron diamond compound on a Paper Wheel, which was then refined with 6, 3, and 1 micron diamond compound on dedicated Paper Wheels to a full mirror.
The new edge measures 30 degrees inclusive and is hairwhittling sharp.
After sharpening:
img][/url] #92
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 21, 2026, 05:32:07 PMHinderer XM-18 Slicer grind in S35VN steel.
According to my Tormek angle gauge the factory edge angle measured between 45 and 50 degrees inclusive, while the thickness of the steel just behind that edge went from 0.7 mm at the heel to 0.6 mm at the tip.
The knife is going to be used as a hunting folder, and the owner had 2 wishes: if possible no visually wide bevels, plus he wanted to be able to maintain the new edge on a Spyderco Sharpmaker.
Before sharpening:
Edge reprofiled to an almost exact 35 degrees inclusive with a Paper Wheel coated with 220 grit SiC, after which the burr was removed with a second Paper Wheel coated with 0.25 micron diamond compound.
The new edge is what i would call sticky sharp.
After sharpening:
According to my Tormek angle gauge the factory edge angle measured between 45 and 50 degrees inclusive, while the thickness of the steel just behind that edge went from 0.7 mm at the heel to 0.6 mm at the tip.
The knife is going to be used as a hunting folder, and the owner had 2 wishes: if possible no visually wide bevels, plus he wanted to be able to maintain the new edge on a Spyderco Sharpmaker.
Before sharpening:
Edge reprofiled to an almost exact 35 degrees inclusive with a Paper Wheel coated with 220 grit SiC, after which the burr was removed with a second Paper Wheel coated with 0.25 micron diamond compound.
The new edge is what i would call sticky sharp.
After sharpening:
#93
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 21, 2026, 05:30:40 PMDid this user Spyderco PM2 in S30V steel for a customer who had seen pictures online of another PM2 in S110V steel i did earlier, and which are also somewhere in this thread.
The man wanted the exact same full mirror edge he had seen on the other knife, it had to be 30 degrees inclusive, and it also had to have a guaranteed hair whittling sharpness.
Of course i told him that this S30V is not the best steel for a full mirror edge, but it was what he wanted,
The old edge had a few flat spots and a bit of a rounded point from use, but nothing serious.
Total time i spent on this knife was one hour, in a succession of Paper Wheels with 15, 6, 3, and 1 micron diamond compound.
As a comparison: the same full mirror edge on that PM2 in S110V steel the man saw online took me two hours.
Most of this time is going into the many visual checks i do in between with my Victorinox loupe under bright light, not into the actual sharpening.
These are the quick pics i also sent to the customer, and they can be clicked twice for a bit more detail.
The owner was satisfied btw.
The man wanted the exact same full mirror edge he had seen on the other knife, it had to be 30 degrees inclusive, and it also had to have a guaranteed hair whittling sharpness.
Of course i told him that this S30V is not the best steel for a full mirror edge, but it was what he wanted,
The old edge had a few flat spots and a bit of a rounded point from use, but nothing serious.
Total time i spent on this knife was one hour, in a succession of Paper Wheels with 15, 6, 3, and 1 micron diamond compound.
As a comparison: the same full mirror edge on that PM2 in S110V steel the man saw online took me two hours.
Most of this time is going into the many visual checks i do in between with my Victorinox loupe under bright light, not into the actual sharpening.
These are the quick pics i also sent to the customer, and they can be clicked twice for a bit more detail.
The owner was satisfied btw.
#94
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 21, 2026, 05:29:32 PMI own several vintage Gerbers in M2 steel, both outdoor & kitchen models, and this Durendal slicer model from the '60's does duty in our kitchen.
Opening all kinds of paper & plastic food packages, slicing bags with espresso beans, cutting up larger fruits like melons & pineapples, slicing bread loafs and hamburger buns without crumbling, cutting sausages, etc.
Not every day, but at least several times a week.
I bought this Gerber about 2 years ago on E-Bay completely blunt, so i reprofiled & sharpened it with a SiC grit Paper Wheel, then refined the edge with 15 micron diamond compound on a second Paper Wheel, and then again with 6 micron diamond compound on a third Paper Wheel.
The tiny burr was removed with a fourth Paper Wheel coated with 0,25 micron diamond compound.
The idea was to get something of a semi-polish that would protect the exposed M2 edge better against corrosion issues during kitchen use, while still having some degree of bite.
The knife was then used for about 2 years in our kitchen, and when not in use stored on a magnet strip on our kitchen wall.
After those 2 years the edge only had a few very minor dings/flat spots in it (in the tiny belly area), but it could still shave the hair on the back of my hand on skin level quite well with about 90-95 % of the edge.
When cutting tomatoes however the edge tended to slide a bit over the skin before it started to cut.
The main reason for this kind of edgeholding is of course the fact that most of the edge on a slicer like this never touches a cutting board, only the belly area does, but the M2 steel performed quite admirably in my book.
A few weeks ago i resharpened the edge, this time only with 15 micron diamond compound, then deburred with 0,25 micron diamond compound, as i want to try the knife with some more bite.
Will have to find out if there will be corrosion issues or not.
So far i've only used it on food packaging (both paper & plastic, no fruit or other things yet), but here are a few pics how the knife & edge look now.
The edge feels sticky and is still treetopping sharp.
Specs:
Blade steel: hard chromed M2 steel
Hardness: 60-62 HRC
Handle material: cast on aluminum, chromed.
Overall length: 11.61 inch (29,5 cm)
Blade length: 6.5 inch (16,5 cm)
Blade thickness: 1,36 mm in front of the handle tapering to 0,84 mm close to the point
Thickness behind the edge: 0,5 mm
Edge angle: +/- 30 degrees inclusive, slightly convex
Opening all kinds of paper & plastic food packages, slicing bags with espresso beans, cutting up larger fruits like melons & pineapples, slicing bread loafs and hamburger buns without crumbling, cutting sausages, etc.
Not every day, but at least several times a week.
I bought this Gerber about 2 years ago on E-Bay completely blunt, so i reprofiled & sharpened it with a SiC grit Paper Wheel, then refined the edge with 15 micron diamond compound on a second Paper Wheel, and then again with 6 micron diamond compound on a third Paper Wheel.
The tiny burr was removed with a fourth Paper Wheel coated with 0,25 micron diamond compound.
The idea was to get something of a semi-polish that would protect the exposed M2 edge better against corrosion issues during kitchen use, while still having some degree of bite.
The knife was then used for about 2 years in our kitchen, and when not in use stored on a magnet strip on our kitchen wall.
After those 2 years the edge only had a few very minor dings/flat spots in it (in the tiny belly area), but it could still shave the hair on the back of my hand on skin level quite well with about 90-95 % of the edge.
When cutting tomatoes however the edge tended to slide a bit over the skin before it started to cut.
The main reason for this kind of edgeholding is of course the fact that most of the edge on a slicer like this never touches a cutting board, only the belly area does, but the M2 steel performed quite admirably in my book.
A few weeks ago i resharpened the edge, this time only with 15 micron diamond compound, then deburred with 0,25 micron diamond compound, as i want to try the knife with some more bite.
Will have to find out if there will be corrosion issues or not.
So far i've only used it on food packaging (both paper & plastic, no fruit or other things yet), but here are a few pics how the knife & edge look now.
The edge feels sticky and is still treetopping sharp.
Specs:
Blade steel: hard chromed M2 steel
Hardness: 60-62 HRC
Handle material: cast on aluminum, chromed.
Overall length: 11.61 inch (29,5 cm)
Blade length: 6.5 inch (16,5 cm)
Blade thickness: 1,36 mm in front of the handle tapering to 0,84 mm close to the point
Thickness behind the edge: 0,5 mm
Edge angle: +/- 30 degrees inclusive, slightly convex
#95
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 21, 2026, 05:27:35 PMBelow you see 3 different viewing angles of the edge i recently put on a brand new Sebenza 25 (which had a subpar factory edge)
The owner of the knife took the pictures with a very expensive Leica camera to capture the different looks this edge type can have when seen from different angles.
For obvious reasons i named this a bling & bite finish, and it performs very well on especially high (vanadium) carbide steels.
I first reprofiled the factory edge from 35 degrees inclusive to 30 degrees inclusive with a Rubber Wheel coated with 230 grit diamond powder, then refined it with a Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, and lastly removed the tiny burr with a second Paper Wheel coated with 0.25 micron diamond compound.
The new and ever so slightly convex edge could treetop the hair on the back of my hand (even whittle it a bit) and easily slice single ply toilet paper.
And this was after i tested the edge with a few firm cuts into the edge of a piece of laminated desktop.
The owner of the knife took the pictures with a very expensive Leica camera to capture the different looks this edge type can have when seen from different angles.
For obvious reasons i named this a bling & bite finish, and it performs very well on especially high (vanadium) carbide steels.
I first reprofiled the factory edge from 35 degrees inclusive to 30 degrees inclusive with a Rubber Wheel coated with 230 grit diamond powder, then refined it with a Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, and lastly removed the tiny burr with a second Paper Wheel coated with 0.25 micron diamond compound.
The new and ever so slightly convex edge could treetop the hair on the back of my hand (even whittle it a bit) and easily slice single ply toilet paper.
And this was after i tested the edge with a few firm cuts into the edge of a piece of laminated desktop.
#96
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 21, 2026, 05:26:18 PMDid these chisel ground edges a a few years ago with a Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, and then stropped the burr on the other side off on hard leather with some 1 micron diamond compound.
Both knives were quite blunt, one even more than the other.
The knives are owned by two Dutch Special Forces guys who used & sharpened them while on tour in Afghanistan, and they wanted the new edges to have a little bling.
Both knives were quite blunt, one even more than the other.
The knives are owned by two Dutch Special Forces guys who used & sharpened them while on tour in Afghanistan, and they wanted the new edges to have a little bling.
#97
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 21, 2026, 05:25:20 PMHere's one i did a few days ago, a Spyderco Paramilitary 2 in Elmax steel.
The factory edge had some light brown discoloration near the tip on one side, traces of some unknown black stuff that couldn't even be removed with acetone (visible in pic 1 & 3), and it could also barely cut copypaper.
This is how it looked before sharpening:
First i removed the apex of the old edge by cutting a few times in a silicon carbide stone, then resharpened it with a Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, followed by removing the tiny burr with a second Paper Wheel coated with 1 micron diamond compound.
This time i also polished the bevels a bit more with the same Wheel, just to see how the Elmax would do.
According to my Tormek angle gauge the new edge measures 30 degrees inclusive, can slice single ply toilet paper and easily whittle the hairs on the back of my hand from heel to tip.
The factory edge had some light brown discoloration near the tip on one side, traces of some unknown black stuff that couldn't even be removed with acetone (visible in pic 1 & 3), and it could also barely cut copypaper.
This is how it looked before sharpening:
First i removed the apex of the old edge by cutting a few times in a silicon carbide stone, then resharpened it with a Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, followed by removing the tiny burr with a second Paper Wheel coated with 1 micron diamond compound.
This time i also polished the bevels a bit more with the same Wheel, just to see how the Elmax would do.
According to my Tormek angle gauge the new edge measures 30 degrees inclusive, can slice single ply toilet paper and easily whittle the hairs on the back of my hand from heel to tip.
#98
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 20, 2026, 05:15:53 PMThe 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:
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:
#99
Knife Sharpening / Re: Use of KS-123 with adjusta...
Last post by Dutchman - July 20, 2026, 11:51:33 AM@CBWX34
Thanks for your contribution
I have updated the link to the US version
Thanks for your contribution
I have updated the link to the US version
Quote from: cbwx34 on July 19, 2026, 11:10:49 PM...Due to the curved cutting edge, the protrusion would then not match the value for the position where the knife is clamped.
Why are you resting the stop against the clamp and not the USB (like you do when using the KJ jig?)
#100
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 20, 2026, 11:04:14 AMA 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.
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.