02-03-2020, 02:54 PM
I have a Spyderco Delica, with a full serrated blade. I carried it for several years straight and used it a BUNCH; mostly opening boxes. At the time I was working at a place doing receiving, so I went through a lot of boxes. I also sharpened it a lot on a sharpmaker, which changed it's geometry slightly: rounded off the serrated points and put a tiny secondary angle on the flat side.
A few days ago, I spruced it up on the Kally by using the very fine and super fine scotchbrite belts. On the shiny parts of the blade, the super was the right choice. On the more "ground" looking areas, the very fine restored it's natural look pretty well. I wish I had some before and after pictures, but knife pictures are *hard* to get right! My knife guy at the flea market (who knows knives quite well) said it looked nearly factory in terms of the blade.
I then sharpened it by using a 600 grit belt on the back to raise a burr in the serrations. Then I polished off the burr by using the smooth side of the leather belt. I charged the corner of the belt with green compound and then ran the scallops over that corner so it went in and out of all of the serrations. After a few passes, it was pretty clean. The blade clean slices phonebook paper now, which is pretty good for a serrated blade.
Then I noticed the tip wasn't all that pointy. Looking at it under a 10x loupe, I could see that the beveled part was pretty straight, but the spine side was pretty rounded. I'm not sure if that's the infamous "stronger Delica tip" that people hate, or if mine was blunted more from use. Either way, I fixed it. I sharpened the beveled side on a 600 grit belt, then polished the burr off. Just to make sure that last bit was sharp and straight.
Then I ground down the spine, holding it flat against a 120 grit belt, but rocking it towards the tip. After several rounds of this, I finally reached the tip. Looking at it under the loupe again, (I kept looking as I went along), I could now see a nice triangular tip. The spine side was no longer rounded. ...and boy is it pointy! It's extremely sharp on the tip. Hooks into phonebook paper held out several inches from my fingers. I think it will be a joy to use.
If you watch "regular people" use knives, you'll notice that they really like the tip and the first inch or two. A lot of practical work is done by piercing with a blade, or by using the first inch. I've learned to pay special attention to the tips of blades, trying to get them all needle tipped, and razor sharp all the way to that tip. I find that on a lot of blades I have to do pay a lot more attention to that last inch or so. Since it gets used the most, it gets blunted the most too.
Anyway, I sure am happy with this sander. I'm having a lot of fun working on different blades.
Brian.
A few days ago, I spruced it up on the Kally by using the very fine and super fine scotchbrite belts. On the shiny parts of the blade, the super was the right choice. On the more "ground" looking areas, the very fine restored it's natural look pretty well. I wish I had some before and after pictures, but knife pictures are *hard* to get right! My knife guy at the flea market (who knows knives quite well) said it looked nearly factory in terms of the blade.
I then sharpened it by using a 600 grit belt on the back to raise a burr in the serrations. Then I polished off the burr by using the smooth side of the leather belt. I charged the corner of the belt with green compound and then ran the scallops over that corner so it went in and out of all of the serrations. After a few passes, it was pretty clean. The blade clean slices phonebook paper now, which is pretty good for a serrated blade.
Then I noticed the tip wasn't all that pointy. Looking at it under a 10x loupe, I could see that the beveled part was pretty straight, but the spine side was pretty rounded. I'm not sure if that's the infamous "stronger Delica tip" that people hate, or if mine was blunted more from use. Either way, I fixed it. I sharpened the beveled side on a 600 grit belt, then polished the burr off. Just to make sure that last bit was sharp and straight.
Then I ground down the spine, holding it flat against a 120 grit belt, but rocking it towards the tip. After several rounds of this, I finally reached the tip. Looking at it under the loupe again, (I kept looking as I went along), I could now see a nice triangular tip. The spine side was no longer rounded. ...and boy is it pointy! It's extremely sharp on the tip. Hooks into phonebook paper held out several inches from my fingers. I think it will be a joy to use.
If you watch "regular people" use knives, you'll notice that they really like the tip and the first inch or two. A lot of practical work is done by piercing with a blade, or by using the first inch. I've learned to pay special attention to the tips of blades, trying to get them all needle tipped, and razor sharp all the way to that tip. I find that on a lot of blades I have to do pay a lot more attention to that last inch or so. Since it gets used the most, it gets blunted the most too.
Anyway, I sure am happy with this sander. I'm having a lot of fun working on different blades.
Brian.