Maxamet? Weird results
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Yeah try adding a microbevel and see how it does… That’s super interesting, I don’t have any experience with maxamet that I know of
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Sharpening it was very odd. I thinned the edge a lot (which took FOREVER) but as I was forming the apex the edge seemed to crumble away (for lack of a better term) Initially I thought maybe it was over heated during the factory grind, I’ve seen that before. But the further I took it, it just kept happening. The thing I can’t (okay, can’t EASILY, haha) get through is the pieces that seem to fall out are way larger than the grit in on
I have shared a similar experience, (I wrote about in an earlier thread on this Forum) when sharpening some Japanese Kitchen knives made of SG2 Steel that is categorized as “Powdered High Speed Tool Steel” or “micro-carbide powdered Crucible Steel”. This steel is Cryodur Ice Hardened to Hrc 62 or 63. I now only sharpen these type of knives with wetstones. The smoothest edge I can get still has very tiny microchips down the bevel visible only at high power with the USB mscope. The knives are very sharp and very durable, just a PIA to sharpen. I do sharpen them at 14 dps. ….I looked up Maxamet for the type steel in your knife: Spyderco says it’s hardened to Hrc 67-68.
Marc
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I have shared a similar experience, (I wrote about in an earlier thread on this Forum) when sharpening some Japanese Kitchen knives made of SG2 Steel that is categorized as “Powdered High Speed Tool Steel” or “micro-carbide powdered Crucible Steel”. This steel is Cryodur Ice Hardened to Hrc 62 or 63. I now only sharpen these type of knives with wetstones. The smoothest edge I can get still has very tiny microchips down the bevel visible only at high power with the USB mscope. The knives are very sharp and very durable, just a PIA to sharpen. I do sharpen them at 14 dps. ….I looked up Maxamet for the type steel in your knife: Spyderco says it’s hardened to Hrc 67-68.
I saw your post after I posted and thought ‘gee, that sounds very similar’!
Good advice. I’ll get both wetstones and ceramics a shot and see what happens.
Yeah, Spyderco ran these pretty hard from what I understand. Could be part of the issue along with the carbide volume.
Thanks guys!
Ken
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There’s some who eschew diamond sharpening, claiming that it doesn’t cut as smoothly as waterstones. I wonder if this sort of experience drives that thought.
What you describe here is almost exactly what I saw when I tried to sharpen ceramic knives. No matter what grit I seemed to use, pieces of the edge would break off, leaving a ragged edge completely different from what we normally see with steels. It’s almost as though I was applying too much pressure against a too brittle edge. So I’d question if the steel in your Maxamet is doing the same thing. The hardness claimed by the maker isn’t always accurate. They might be using the correct heat-treating formula for a batch of blades in this steel, but there might be a “fly in the oinment,” such as too much chromium. They may also have erred in the quenching or cryo procedure, leaving the edge way too hard. Fact is, I really don’t know squat about steels beyond what I read here or see at the WEPS, so I’ll tag it as “For what it’s worth.”
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Thank you, guys! Switching media was exactly what was needed. I’d become so enamored of these Atoma plates and the slightly toothy edge they leave that I’d kinda just packed everything else away for the time being.
But (apparently) that won’t work for these very hard, high carbide steels. (At least I can’t do it) Switching over to the micro ceramics left a beautiful clean edge on the Maxamet. Revisiting my K390 Urbans, I actually noticed the same phenomenon. It was much more subtle and I hadn’t spent the time to really look at the edge, but once I did, that same wavey/chippy edge could be seen, just several orders of magnitude less than on the Maxamet. Didn’t take long on the micro ceramics to clean those up too.
So, going forward, on these hard/high carbide steels, I still plan the use the Atomas to thin the edge if needed, but once I get near the apex I’m going to switch out to water stones and/or ceramics to finish it up.
Great analysis and resolution, guys! Well done.
Ken
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A 24 degree inclusive bevel may be to steep to support such a carbide heavy steel. Cutting the apex off and then putting a 30-40 degree bevel micro on may help.
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