|
Post by maximus on Jun 23, 2022 2:39:27 GMT
Hi readers,
I bought a 1045 high carbon steel katana, which said suitable for cutting tatami omote. I wanted to sharpen the katana so I bought a dual sided 1000/6000 water whetstone. I created a secondary bevel using the 1000 side and polished using the 6000 side. In the process, I scratched up the original single bevel. I decided that creating a secondary bevel was a mistake, and I also wanted to get rid of the scratches on the original bevel, so I tried to blend the primary and secondary bevel together to form a convex bevel. I bought a 240 grit water whetstone to make the process quicker, but after some time I thought that forming a nice even convex bevel on both sides seems too difficult for me as a beginner.
I plan to instead remove the secondary bevel entirely and form a flat V bevel by grinding down the primary bevel using the 240 grit until the secondary bevel disappears on one side and a burr starts to form, and then grinding down the other side, and then going over with the 1000 and later 6000 grit to polish it. I also bought a leather strop with green compound to finish the process with.
I will use the katana for cutting tatami omote and other soft targets with as perfect of an angle as possible, to avoid damaging the fine edge. Will I remove too much metal and thin the katana too much by grinding away the primary bevel until the secondary bevel disappears, or is this not an issue? Should I instead try my best to form a convex bevel?
Thank you.
|
|
|
Post by maximus on Jun 23, 2022 17:17:14 GMT
Also, I bought a flattening stone, which is 220 grit, made of silicone carbide. It has a flat back which works well as a whetstone. As far as I can tell it's fine to use as a whetstone, and works faster than my 240 grit whetstone, so is it ok to use for this purpose?
|
|
|
Post by RickDastardly on Jun 23, 2022 19:04:08 GMT
Regarding using the flattening stone on the steel... it can depend on the binder holding the SiC in. It's often the case that harder abrasives like SiC when used on soft metals (which the sword is, comparatively) wear much more quickly than expected. The same can happen with diamond sharpeners. By coincidence I've recently been reminding myself of this fact, choosing some new sharpening stones for my assorted knives.
It's caused (I believe) by the sharp, hard material digging into the softer metal so much that the abrasive grain gets pulled out.
SiC is generally better suited to sharpening high hardness stuff; like >62HRC, or flattening softer abrasives.
Long story short... it might wear down your important-to-be-flat flattening stone more than you expect.
|
|
|
Post by maximus on Jun 23, 2022 19:22:41 GMT
Ah I see thank you, I did only use the flat back of the flattening stone though, not the flattening side, but I'll keep that in mind for the future.
|
|
Ouroboros
Member
Imperial, Mysterious In Amorous Array
Posts: 568
|
Post by Ouroboros on Jun 24, 2022 14:17:24 GMT
Morning, You cound always go with a worksharp edge Disclaimer: In my experience flattening stones work best to flatten when used in situations of uniform wear and a good slurry buit up between the flattener and the flatenee. Whetstones/polishing stones need flattening occasionally. Flattening stones arent for direct use on the steel as they wont remain flat and will need, in turn to be flattened. Personal Exoerience: Ive used a flattening stone and diamond plates, even sintered ruby(removes faster than diamond grit for grit--shhhhh) in unethical and in some States illegal ways to play with steel. Both will remove a lot of metal owing to the slurry. When in diamond plate territory the hardness and size of the particles, not all industrial diamond is equal, some is more equal than others. A cheap set of diamond plates might run 5$ from the far east, sintered ruby rods or flats, much higher. Powders are cheap. I have not had success producing a consistent and perfect V shape along a katana length target but again im no sword polisher. Its hard enough achieving the perfect edge on a chisel, plane or graver by hand! This being said: I have had success using a mousepad and gradual grades of wet/dry auto sandpaper to shape an appleseed edge (by no means professional nor perfect). Get a few $store mousepads and some good assortment of wet dry auto paper, maybe some SiC powder imbued on a rubber surface...elbow grease+time...it might not be too late... Best of luck, just thought id shoot the semprini.
|
|
|
Post by maximus on Jun 24, 2022 20:07:39 GMT
That mousepad method sounds interesting, I'll do some research on it, thank you.
|
|