stones for powdered steels with high wear resistance

[ex1580]

More is often not better when it comes to sharpening. I find this especially true for pocket knives. Try out a 400/500/600 grit edge and strop that and see what you think. I suppose it depends on what you use it for but IMO less work is better.

[taz575]

Yeah, when Larrin does Catra testing to see the edge retention, he uses a 400 grit edge I beleve. A toothy edge lasts longer than a polished one typically and cuts more aggresively.

[Lloyd Harner]

i dont go over 1200 grit on pocket knives. i only go that high cause my diafold is a combo 600/1200

[gladius]

i dont go over 1200 grit on pocket knives. i only go that high cause my diafold is a combo 600/1200

--
+1.

I have a Benchmade S30V folder I take to Chosera 800 grit and it's plenty sharp.

[caerolle]

Thx ex1580! I will try that. I was thinking stopping at 1000 (or 1200 if I get a combo diamond plate), but I can stop after the 320 water stone I have and strop and see how things look.

[caerolle]

Thx taz!

[caerolle]

Thx Lloyd, gladius!

[Lloyd Harner]

the biggest thing is 'clean edge " no wire edge so as you sharpen make sure to finish one pass per side. some steels are really bad about giving up that "flappy bit" depending on how they were heat treated. i like my steels on the harder side even with my folders. hell my camp knife is RC63 and a beast that i can beat on but thats what PD1 was made for

[caerolle]

Thx Lloyd! Yes, esp on the first stone of whatever progression I am using I start with several strokes per side (same for each side) and reduce the number towards the end, finishing with single strokes. I finish each stone with stropping on that stone. Also, I am constantly feeling the edge for burr and looking at the edge. Unfortunately, I am not one of those great sharpeners who can sense by feel when the apex is close, though.

[taz575]

So I had to sharpen a s90v blade at 61 hrc and a 62 hrc magnacut blade today that I just finished. Cut the bevel with the 120 belt and then used just the 400, 1000 diamond stones and my 1000/5000 diamond compound strop. It worked pretty quick and I got some wickedly sharp edges! I had bad experiences with diamond stones in the past, but these worked really well on the high wear resistant blades!

Top is the Magnacut and bottom is the s90v: