06-03-2021, 06:44 PM
My friends: I was a bit of a knifemaker in the early 1970's, quitting in 1975 - or so it is stamped on my last blade. I could make a pretty knife, but not a sharp one. The whole theory was lost on me.
I moved (this was before the word "transitioned" was invented) to racing motorcycles. My mis-spent youth was consumed with this pointless exercise, but somehow I made it profitable, and now, in retirement, my time can be partly spent back with my old love - knives.
Through the miracle of the internet and the questionable gift of YouTube, many questions have popped up into my feeble brain. While worrying over whether my knives were "sharp enough," I stumbled onto the little - and reasonably priced EDGE on UP PT50A BESS tester that I bought through Sharpeningsupplies.com
I have never made a better knifemaking investment !
It is possible, that the continued proliferation of BESS - testing contests will draw me back into the field - since there is a STANDARD way to inexpensively measure sharpness at EVERY stage of the building, sharpening and competing regimen.
While spending too much on sharpening supplies - and we all know how much fun that it - it teases me to find that I really know NOTHING of the theory of choosing a "steel" and a "grind" with the goal of matching that seductive YouTube poster that showed - pretty convincingly to me - that he had somehow produced a near-perfect edge on his little "PT50A" that measured below 10Gg ! ......................
Help me and others by discussing which knife steel alloy would be
best for a winning blade, and at what thickness near the edge.
Also what included angle I might be looking for on that "Killer Edge."
As the title infers, titanium and it's effect on hardness
( along with it's carbides) draws my attention.
SPYDERCO offers little - but sometimes not cheap - sources
of blades to practice sharpening with. Although $200 per
practice blade make my arm hair stand up,
if METAMAX @ 70HRC is a winner, than
the cost doesn't seem so bad.
Your thoughts ?
I moved (this was before the word "transitioned" was invented) to racing motorcycles. My mis-spent youth was consumed with this pointless exercise, but somehow I made it profitable, and now, in retirement, my time can be partly spent back with my old love - knives.
Through the miracle of the internet and the questionable gift of YouTube, many questions have popped up into my feeble brain. While worrying over whether my knives were "sharp enough," I stumbled onto the little - and reasonably priced EDGE on UP PT50A BESS tester that I bought through Sharpeningsupplies.com
I have never made a better knifemaking investment !
It is possible, that the continued proliferation of BESS - testing contests will draw me back into the field - since there is a STANDARD way to inexpensively measure sharpness at EVERY stage of the building, sharpening and competing regimen.
While spending too much on sharpening supplies - and we all know how much fun that it - it teases me to find that I really know NOTHING of the theory of choosing a "steel" and a "grind" with the goal of matching that seductive YouTube poster that showed - pretty convincingly to me - that he had somehow produced a near-perfect edge on his little "PT50A" that measured below 10Gg ! ......................
Help me and others by discussing which knife steel alloy would be
best for a winning blade, and at what thickness near the edge.
Also what included angle I might be looking for on that "Killer Edge."
As the title infers, titanium and it's effect on hardness
( along with it's carbides) draws my attention.
SPYDERCO offers little - but sometimes not cheap - sources
of blades to practice sharpening with. Although $200 per
practice blade make my arm hair stand up,
if METAMAX @ 70HRC is a winner, than
the cost doesn't seem so bad.
Your thoughts ?