Put this in the WE last night
First time I held held a PM2, feels good in the hand
pretty solid mirror at 15 dps
finished
Travis, you might want to run a piece of tape lengthwise down the knife from the ricasso or guard back to the heel covering the knife hinge, locking mechanism, liner and folding space. This will keep any sharpening debris and steel dust out of the inner workings. I think it’s easier to keep it clean then to clean it after sharpening it.
you are correct I had to clean some crap out of it, thanks. I have an old spyderco tenacious and I am going to put a sharpening choil in it as practice before I try it on the PARA 2
I like the idea of using your glasses as a knife holder.
I’ve had a Para2 with S110V for a year or more. Sharpened and touched it up about 10 times trying bevel angles 18-16. It came with a 20 DPS edge. Never have been happy with how the steel sharpened. Best BESS scores were mostly between 120-150 and the edge seemed to chip out at 1000-1500 grit.
I bought a Kershaw 1776 with M390 and was impressed with its ability to take a keen edge without the chipping. It scored in the 90 range on the BESS with a real nice mirror polish. This knife is more of a “gentleman’s” knife and was not really suitable for an EDC in the garage like the Para2.
Thanks to forum member Dale, he told me Bentoboxshop.com had PM2s with M390 for sale. So I picked one up about three weeks ago. I’ve been using it as my EDC since then and was happy with the edge out of the box. This afternoon I decided to give it the WE treatment.
Here are the pics after sharpening 200->1500->DLF.
Man, that is a killer BESS score. It must be like a laser beam on a handle.
Ed did you ever sharpen the S110V model with a Shapton Whetsone progression, edge leading only. I use a mostly perpendicular sharpening angled stroke. I’d love to know if that would help with the chip out issue with the diamond stones. I use only whetstones to sharpen all of my very hard chip prone steels now, with good results, where I had sharpening failures with diamond stones in the past.
Organic,
That is the sharpest (keenest) edge I have ever gotten on a knife. I tested it 3 times in the same general location and got scores in the 60s. It took 2.5 hours and there are still some faint scratches barely visible to the naked eye in the mirror polish. I rarely get a perfect mirror edge so I’m good with how this one turned out.
After I use it as my EDC for a week or two, I will post updated scores. If it holds an edge that is comparable to S110V, as some reviews indicate, I will be very happy.
Ed K.
MarcH,
I have tried both the Chosera and the Shapton stones and the edge still is ragged under the microscope. It is to the point that I’m willing to mail it to you for a second opinion - on my dime - if you want to experiment. I’m not ruling out my technique might be the problem.
Ed K.
I’m up for the opportunity. Thanks…
Please include your clamping/positioning settings and indicate which alignment guide you employed to set it up and the bevel angle you prefer I profile it with.
FYI: I will be using the “no longer produced” Shapton Glass Stones, whetstones. Is that an issue?
MarcH - I will send a pic or two with the knife clamped as I sharpen it as well as an outline of the vise jaws. I won’t sharpen it beforehand, it will arrive in the condition I’ve been using it.
I will also check the bevel angle and current sharpness scores before I mail it. I’ll put this information on the blade as well.
Looking forward to your analysis and if the Shapton Glass stones make a difference.
Ed K.
Keep us posted on this when you’ve done the sharpening and sharpness testing (perhaps in a new thread?). I’m interested to see how it turns out.
I’m interested too!
BTW Ed, I have several folders with M390 blades, it is my favorite steel by far (for now at least). I have a couple of Spyderco knives but as age goes up, ability to finger flick them open goes down (for me at least) so I’m happier with the Hogue made Doug Ritters RSK Mk1 and Hinderer xm-18. My best effort on a Ritter scored 175 but I only spent 30 minutes or so on it.
Ed that Bess score is excellent. I’ve sold all brands of folders I have except Spyderco now and keep around 8-12 at a time buying and selling trying different steels. Keep the odd favourite. They just have so much steel selection (albeit a lot of them are sprint runs that sell out very quickly) and seem to also spend a lot of R&D on nailing the heat treat. Anyway, if you find you like the M390, I’d recommend you try something in Cruwear. Personally I feel I can get it sharper but I don’t have a Bess to quantify that. I don’t find that either M390 or Cruwear hold their edge as long as S110V. S110V looses its “just sharpened” edge quickly but then keeps a good working edge for a long time. I also find that high carbide steels like S110v operate better in real world usage (cardboard, rope, zip ties, etc.) with a toothier edge although that would likely hurt its Bess score.
Others I’d really recommend (although they are more tool steels that will patina in case you prefer stainless) are K390 and Rex45.
I’ve been sharpening my paramilitary 2 (cpm s30v) at right on lower line 6 with tip right in the left lower corner of C with the AAG. This is using the lower holes of the AAG and the wE130. Interested to hear what settings other people are using with this knife. I also have a new m390 Para 2 sitting in the box looking at me. It’s probably asking me to please leave it alone!
I used the settings shown in this video by Clay. Worked great for me. I actually mirrored a Para3 beside the Paramilitary 2 clamped like this to see how it aligned on the AAG and use those settings now on that model. I find I get a nice even bevel in both cases. I sharpen all of my Para models to 15dps and that covers a range of steels currently including S110v, Maxamet, Cruwear, 52100, M4, Rex45, and BD1N.
I used to polish that main bevel right up to 1 micron diamond emulsion and then add a toothier 18dps microbevel with the 800 grit stones. I liked that edge a lot for an EDC folder, however, now I don’t bother usually with a microbevel. I just run the main bevel at 15dps and usually stop with the 1500 stones. Still push cuts newsprint but grabs and cuts fibrous materials with ease. Over the years through practice and patience my sharpening technique has improved that I can now appreciate how versatile an edge is with a very true apex finished with the diamond stones, no ceramics nor stropping compounds. At least on a EDC type pocket / multi-use knife. I think the 1500 stones are about 5 micron.
Sharpening knives can be a cerebral exercise. Deciding settings and angels depends on so many factors as well as personal preference. Steel type, heat treat, blade geometry, style of grind, thickness behind the edge, intended usage, etc, etc, etc … I too am interested in what others are doing with similar knives. I often go the the knife setting database to see if anyone has uploaded settings previously on something new to me to sharpen.