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Another question for those of you that really know what their doing haha....Say, after sharpening and you get apex you desire on the 40 degree settings with however many passes it requires on whichever stones you used...should you switch to the 30 degree setting and run a few strokes on the microbevel as well?

I ask this because I recently sharpened my Chaparral LW on the 40 degree setting and it was quite sharp, very sticky. The next day at work my friend was checking it out and popped off a few hairs on his arm. He then grabbed a sheet of paper and sliced through it. It was actually catching/snagging a little bit. Wasn't a totally clean/straight line, though it was effortless. I then tried the same, using different angles and had the same results. The blade currently has a pretty nice mirrored microbevel so I figured it would glide through like a warm knife through butter. Would touching up a few strokes on the 30 degree setting help out with that?

Right when I think I'm starting to get it all figured out, another curve ball! I do enjoy the learning curve though. It's great that if you make a minor mistake, it's easy to switch up your method and bring it back to where you'd like it. A lot of things in life aren't that way.

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 29, 2018 1:38 pm

Another question for those of you that really know what their doing haha....Say, after sharpening and you get apex you desire on the 40 degree settings with however many passes it requires on whichever stones you used...should you switch to the 30 degree setting and run a few strokes on the microbevel as well?

I ask this because I recently sharpened my Chaparral LW on the 40 degree setting and it was quite sharp, very sticky. The next day at work my friend was checking it out and popped off a few hairs on his arm. He then grabbed a sheet of paper and sliced through it. It was actually catching/snagging a little bit. Wasn't a totally clean/straight line, though it was effortless. I then tried the same, using different angles and had the same results. The blade currently has a pretty nice mirrored microbevel so I figured it would glide through like a warm knife through butter. Would touching up a few strokes on the 30 degree setting help out with that?

Right when I think I'm starting to get it all figured out, another curve ball! I do enjoy the learning curve though. It's great that if you make a minor mistake, it's easy to switch up your method and bring it back to where you'd like it. A lot of things in life aren't that way.

You can't put a 30deg micro bevel on a 40deg primary bevel. :eek:

I thought I've read that you can switch the settings to touch up the shoulders to smooth them out, not actually reprofiling?

This is exactly why I needed to ask haha!!!!!

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 29, 2018 2:54 pm

I thought I've read that you can switch the settings to touch up the shoulders to smooth them out, not actually reprofiling?

This is exactly why I needed to ask haha!!!!!

If it's truly a micro bevel then passing over it again on the 30 slots would likely remove your micro bevel and take you back to 30 inclusive.

My bad, I had my vocabulary confused...I definitely meant apex and primary bevel! That my apex is nice and sharp, but the primary may be snagging a bit.

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 29, 2018 2:58 pm

My bad, I had my vocabulary confused...I definitely meant apex and primary bevel! That my apex is nice and sharp, but the primary may be snagging a bit.

Attempting to reprofile anything on the standard SM rods is an exercise in patience more than it is practical.

Either buy the diamonds/CBN rods, or for greater efficiency a extra extra course DMT bench stone.

Either way it is best to set the bevel, then hone the apex. Doing it in reverse like you're considering makes it a lot easier to accidentally mess up the edge.

Hapstone v7 to set a main bevel
Sharpmaker to maintain a microbevel
Stropping for fun/therapy. The older I get, the less I strop

Edge Pro or DMT’s for reprofiling
SM to maintain micro bevels

I'm not sure what's going on lately, but I now have 3 knives that I've been sharpening with the Sharpmaker that all have wire edges running the entire length of the blade that refused to come off/go away. I've got a 10X LED lighted loupe that I've been able to observe this with. Neither side of the edge has a burr, just a shiny edge all the way down the apex :o

The sharpie rubs off the apex, yet doesn't get sharpe. I'm totally stumped. I've worked at one knife at this point for over an hour and haven't had any kind of change in results. Checking with the loupe every 8-10 passes. No idea what the **** to do now!

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 11, 2019 7:34 am

I'm not sure what's going on lately, but I now have 3 knives that I've been sharpening with the Sharpmaker that all have wire edges running the entire length of the blade that refused to come off/go away. I've got a 10X LED lighted loupe that I've been able to observe this with. Neither side of the edge has a burr, just a shiny edge all the way down the apex :o

The sharpie rubs off the apex, yet doesn't get sharpe. I'm totally stumped. I've worked at one knife at this point for over an hour and haven't had any kind of change in results. Checking with the loupe every 8-10 passes. No idea what the **** to do now!

Run the edge across the brown stone slowly and lightly and start all over. You've weakened the steel at the very apex, most likely removing all of the harder carbon/vanadium bits so that you only have the softer steel matrix present. Cut it off and begin again.

Do you think that means I used too much pressure, or possibly oversharpened? Didn't inspect the edge when maybe it was sharp and just overdid it?

I feel like I'm getting dumber at sharpening by the day! Odd that ever since I've quit drinking, my sharpening skills have deteriorated. :confused:

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:49 am

I feel like I'm getting dumber at sharpening by the day! Odd that ever since I've quit drinking, my sharpening skills have deteriorated. :confused:

Still, if I were you I wouldn't start drinking again..

Wartstein wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 11, 2019 9:01 am

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:49 am

I feel like I'm getting dumber at sharpening by the day! Odd that ever since I've quit drinking, my sharpening skills have deteriorated. :confused:

Still, if I were you I wouldn't start drinking again..

Nope! I'm quite proud of myself, as is my family and my bank account haha!

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 11, 2019 9:04 am

Wartstein wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 11, 2019 9:01 am

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:49 am

I feel like I'm getting dumber at sharpening by the day! Odd that ever since I've quit drinking, my sharpening skills have deteriorated. :confused:

Still, if I were you I wouldn't start drinking again..

Nope! I'm quite proud of myself, as is my family and my bank account haha!

Mate, you really have every reason to be proud I am sure. Like everyone who succeeds in quitting drinking. I've worked a lot with people who tried to, so I know.
I am glad for you (and your family)! :)

First, don't start drinking again.

Second, yep, you just overdid it. Each pass after you've hit the apex just builds on the burr/wire edge. You end up scraping away the harder bits and leave behind the softer pliable iron/steel that is weak and just folds over. Even if you manage to break off this weak steel, you're left with a softer apex, so you're better off to start over. Since the bevel isn't going to be way off, this second effort should not take nearly as long.

That's what I was afraid of. Maybe had the edge I desired, but just get swiping at those rods and lost it. Good to know though, thank you! I'll get at it again tonight and inspect the edge every 5 or so passes to each side, instead of every 10-15.

Are your stones loaded and need cleaning?

Not extremely, but I plan on cleaning them tonight and getting off to a fresh start.

I did notice a small notch on the corner of one of my brown stones, need to make sure that corner doesn't get used anymore. A bit disappointed in that!

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 11, 2019 2:04 pm

Not extremely, but I plan on cleaning them tonight and getting off to a fresh start.

I did notice a small notch on the corner of one of my brown stones, need to make sure that corner doesn't get used anymore. A bit disappointed in that!

I just replaced a fine stone with two notches in the corners. New stone for the sharpmaker kit, the old one is in my office desk drawer with the broken brown stone. The flats still work great for touching up or for the junk knife at work.

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 11, 2019 7:34 am

I'm not sure what's going on lately, but I now have 3 knives that I've been sharpening with the Sharpmaker that all have wire edges running the entire length of the blade that refused to come off/go away. I've got a 10X LED lighted loupe that I've been able to observe this with. Neither side of the edge has a burr, just a shiny edge all the way down the apex :o

The sharpie rubs off the apex, yet doesn't get sharpe. I'm totally stumped. I've worked at one knife at this point for over an hour and haven't had any kind of change in results. Checking with the loupe every 8-10 passes. No idea what the **** to do now!

I got a dose of your pain yesterday. My M4 para3 was suddenly shockingly dull, so I broke out the sharpmaker, sharpie, and 7x and 10x Hastings triplets. Went about things in my usual way and was making no progress. I was starting to worry I somehow forgot how to do this. Lesse... sharpie marker completely removed, check. Beautiful uniform bevel, check. Held the blade edge up under light and had a look at the apex with the 10x, and WHAT is the bright line running down 2/3 of the edge?!? Then I remembered. We got new bedding and bunk beds for the kids. My son kept trying to put the comforter bag over his head. So to stop that I used the para3 to slice it in half. Whoops, there was a heavy wire reinforcement all the way around the perimeter of the bag.

Two things.. 1. I should have kept the bag, it would have made storing our down comforter easier. 2. That was the culprit for the edge damage on the M4 p3.

So since I wasn’t getting it done fast enough on the brown stones, I used the cbn rods. Wow is that a harsh sound, even going with light pressure. Makes you think you’re wrecking the knife. The brown stones take the deep scratches out pretty quickly though. And now I’m on the way to scary sharp again. I’ll finish it up today. I’ve learned I can’t do lengthy edge repairs/sharpening jobs in one sitting or I get sloppy.