pgandy
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Post by pgandy on May 17, 2018 18:13:46 GMT
Tramontina machetes have a good reputation and I would like one but I am machete heavy.
The angle as well as type of edge varies with the individual and what the intended purpose will be. If you want something to hang on the wall and admire and impress your friends when they visit by slicing a piece of paper and maybe A milk jug, or A juice carton then hang back up on the wall 15° will do excellently. If you want your sword to behave more like a sword I’d suggest at least 20°. As for me, I’d go 25° with a convex edge, as to me that is the best compromise of durability and performance where I don’t worry about edge damage the least. Others no doubt would prefer to sharpen more often, cut easier, with a smaller envelope regarding damage and choose a lesser angle. The type of metal would play some part in the decision and certainly the hardness. Too hard and chipping becomes something to contend with especially with those low angles giving softer targets more importance. Also there is the thickness and width of the blade to consider. It all depends on the individual as there is no best angle or grind as such. I certainly wouldn’t try cutting bamboo using 15°. Remember once you sharpen the blade you are not locked into that angle for life, you are always free to change, assuming no damage.
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Post by Wes Cameron on May 18, 2018 1:39:37 GMT
Tramontina machetes have a good reputation and I would like one but I am machete heavy. The angle as well as type of edge varies with the individual and what the intended purpose will be. If you want something to hang on the wall and admire and impress your friends when they visit by slicing a piece of paper and maybe A milk jug, or A juice carton then hang back up on the wall 15° will do excellently. If you want your sword to behave more like a sword I’d suggest at least 20°. As for me, I’d go 25° with a convex edge, as to me that is the best compromise of durability and performance where I don’t worry about edge damage the least. Others no doubt would prefer to sharpen more often, cut easier, with a smaller envelope regarding damage and choose a lesser angle. The type of metal would play some part in the decision and certainly the hardness. Too hard and chipping becomes something to contend with especially with those low angles giving softer targets more importance. Also there is the thickness and width of the blade to consider. It all depends on the individual as there is no best angle or grind as such. I certainly wouldn’t try cutting bamboo using 15°. Remember once you sharpen the blade you are not locked into that angle for life, you are always free to change, assuming no damage. Thank you, this is really helpful! I contacted Sonny of VA who commissioned the forge in China to make the Signature Edition Knights Templar blade for the sword he made. He replied that without seeing the sword I have, he suggested 20 degrees (how the heck do you get the small zero on the upper right), so with your explanation, I think I will go with 20 at present, but 25 sounds sweet for cutting and durability.
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Post by Jordan Williams on May 18, 2018 2:18:27 GMT
I went with like 15 for one of my swords and damaged the edge fairly decently.
I think my CS cutlass machete is around 20 - 25? It's a good cutting edge.
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Post by 28shadow on May 18, 2018 3:17:04 GMT
25 produces a very good cutting edge.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on May 18, 2018 3:23:55 GMT
...(how the heck do you get the small zero on the upper right)... I use ASCII. [ALT]248. If you use Microsoft Word you will find the ° in Symbols, then copy and paste. I learned ASCII and find that easier. You could split the difference making it 22½°. I use that one frequently.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on May 18, 2018 8:34:29 GMT
It's 0200 hours and I woke up, and thought about your question involving ° and remember two more solutions.
1. Using MS Word: Enter the letter o and high light. Then click the Home Tab. In the Ribbon, second line down, you will see a series of buttons and in the group immediately to the left. The buttons 5th and 6th over you will see X2 and X2. I think the exponent is 2 could other but is too small for these old eyes to read but no matter. Click the button for the exponent desired. The two buttons work for making fractions such as 9/10 as well.
2. Can be done using the SBG forum itself, and in some cases you will have to. For example, if you copy and paste to the form special formatting is sometimes lost or you may want to type directly to the forum. In this case click the red “Reply” button and type of paste your message. In the case of the degree sign type in the letter o, high light. Then at the top of the entry page you will a series of buttons to the left very similar to the ones in MS Word tab. Take it from there. I should have stated this in the first post. A little more grog I may think of another approach, but four should be more than enough. I hope this helps.
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Post by Wes Cameron on May 18, 2018 16:18:41 GMT
It's 0200 hours and I woke up, and thought about your question involving ° and remember two more solutions. 1. Using MS Word: Enter the letter o and high light. Then click the Home Tab. In the Ribbon, second line down, you will see a series of buttons and in the group immediately to the left. The buttons 5th and 6th over you will see X 2 and X 2. I think the exponent is 2 could other but is too small for these old eyes to read but no matter. Click the button for the exponent desired. The two buttons work for making fractions such as 9/ 10 as well. 2. Can be done using the SBG forum itself, and in some cases you will have to. For example, if you copy and paste to the form special formatting is sometimes lost or you may want to type directly to the forum. In this case click the red “Reply” button and type of paste your message. In the case of the degree sign type in the letter o, high light. Then at the top of the entry page you will a series of buttons to the left very similar to the ones in MS Word tab. Take it from there. I should have stated this in the first post. A little more grog I may think of another approach, but four should be more than enough. I hope this helps. Thanks for the method.
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Post by Wes Cameron on Jun 6, 2018 0:02:44 GMT
So I tried sharpening today at 22 degrees 600, 800, 1000 grit. Would not cut paper, but cut my finger. Laied a pool noodle on the bench drew the sword across it with just the weight of the sword bearing down and it cut through the pool noodle...so why did it not cut paper?!!!
Got a few scuffs when the sword slipped, so I'll have to use metal polish on those.
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Post by Faldarin on Jun 6, 2018 15:46:37 GMT
So I tried sharpening today at 22 degrees 600, 800, 1000 grit. Would not cut paper, but cut my finger. Laied a pool noodle on the bench drew the sword across it with just the weight of the sword bearing down and it cut through the pool noodle...so why did it not cut paper?!!! Got a few scuffs when the sword slipped, so I'll have to use metal polish on those. Imo, paper is a flawed test, and always kind of has been. It all depends on the type of paper, the grain, and how you hold it (and the sword). I personally use card stock more than paper... and compare whether I have to draw the cut, or if I can just let gravity do the work. Honestly, to me, it sounds like you have done a fine sharpening job. Just be careful when you polish out the scuffs to keep the polish away from the edge itself as much as possible.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jun 6, 2018 16:53:54 GMT
A sharp blade is hard to define. Oddly one type of sharpening, angle, type, degree of polish, etc. that cuts well in one medium does less so in another. Another test material is newspaper that I find is more demanding than, say copy paper, and some prefer to use as a standard. From what you say I wouldn’t worry about your sharpening job, sounds good to me.
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Post by Wes Cameron on Jun 6, 2018 22:56:32 GMT
Thanks Faldarin and pgandy for the feedback, advice, and support. The paper test was frustrating because I was sure the sword was sharp. It cuts through the unsupported end of a pool noodle laid down horizontal, and it does this with just the weight of the blade (no furniture) and a very slight draw. Doesn't shave hair on my forearm though. There is no 'wire' left that can catch onto a tissue drawn along the blade...I think that drawing it through the pool noodle took it off. I used 600, then 800, then 1000 grit belts in succession. Did not use the leather strop for the final step as it seemed the 1000 grit was good enough. Oiled the blade after with a thin coat of 3 in 1 oil.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Jun 7, 2018 0:37:54 GMT
Most of my swords fail the paper test. None of them take hair off. Most do cut really well, however.
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Post by Wes Cameron on Jun 7, 2018 1:14:41 GMT
Most of my swords fail the paper test. None of them take hair off. Most do cut really well, however. Thanks, good to know! Now I can stop trying to shave my arms with a sword (not that I shave my arms anyway, lol)
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jun 7, 2018 3:10:59 GMT
If you already have a leather belt perhaps it’s too late but what I did was to take my finest grit belt after wearing it out abrasive wise and started adding red rouge to it and substituting that for stropping. Works well and is cheaper than leather. I don't use it on every blade though.
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Post by Faldarin on Jun 7, 2018 3:19:57 GMT
The only swords I have that 'pass' the paper test and shave hair are the ones that were sharpened by Lonely Wolf Forge. You basically need to strop to get that kind of sharpness though (as pgandy just said).
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Post by leviathansteak on Jun 7, 2018 4:42:22 GMT
Just my opinion, since youve done 1000 gritn id recommend stropping. It usually gives the edge a lot more 'bite'.
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Post by Wes Cameron on Jun 7, 2018 6:18:38 GMT
Guys...Thanks for the tips about stropping the blade. Guess I'll have to do this. I sharpened the blade at about a 23 degree angle given your suggestions that a 25 degree angle gives better durability to the cutting edge. This video suggests a 60 degree edge by pressing deeper/harder on a 6 micron belt (22:36 in the video) (I don't have a 6 micron [2000 grit, but do have a 1000]) and then using the leather belt suede side out and then the leather side (25:34) in the video. Would you mind sharing your thoughts on this please.
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Post by Wes Cameron on Jun 8, 2018 2:45:29 GMT
Thanks to everyone who gave recommendations on sharpening. I'm happy to say that after doing a few more passes with each grit and then doing 12 passes each side with the leather 1x30 belt + compound my sword slices and hews through paper easily and that I have a bare section on my forearm where it shaved the hair off!
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jun 8, 2018 3:00:01 GMT
Congratulations. My arms and legs a bare also, partially from age and the rest from testing my sharpening.
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Razor
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Post by Razor on Jun 8, 2018 6:05:18 GMT
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