Sharpening 20cv

[ceast]

I picked up a PM2 in 20cv but hear the steel can be a bear to sharpen. I have SG 500, 1k, 2k, 4k (all ep) and SG 1k and 4k regular stones. Also a CKTG 140 plate, DMT Coarse and some CKTG 1 micron and .5 micron diamond spay/paste. I feel like this should be adequate, or should I plan on having to pick up a couple additional diamond plates?

[old onion]

I have a Para Military 2 also with 20cv. I don't find it any harder to sharpen then any other steel.You should be fine with what you have.

[ceast]

Great, thanks. DLT trading sprint?

[Jason H]

Hello ceast,

You can sharpen it with what you have,it just may take a bit longer than what you are used to.

[lsboogy]

We have a lot of tools at work in 20cv - the machinists say it's a very fine grained material and sharpens very well. They like it more than the zdp steel tools - head machinist tells me it's less chippy if you run sufficient cutting fluid. I trust a guy who has several 20-30 million dollar machining stations building parts for flight.

[Jason B.]

At 4% Vanadium the Glass stone will start to give you troubles at 500 and up. You could probably get to about 1k but it would have been less painful to just use the diamond plate at that point. At 4% Vanadium the carbide content becomes enough that the interaction with the abrasive can be a real issue and because of the hardness of the Vanadium Carbide it will require diamond or CBN abrasives to properly sharpen.

The Coarse DMT and a 1 micron strop is a favorite EDC edge of mine for high alloy steels. If you like a little finer add the DMT Extra fine, it is an easy jump from the Coarse and will provide you with the increased edge refinement that is sometimes needed.

[ceast]

At 4% Vanadium the Glass stone will start to give you troubles at 500 and up. You could probably get to about 1k but it would have been less painful to just use the diamond plate at that point. At 4% Vanadium the carbide content becomes enough that the interaction with the abrasive can be a real issue and because of the hardness of the Vanadium Carbide it will require diamond or CBN abrasives to properly sharpen.

The Coarse DMT and a 1 micron strop is a favorite EDC edge of mine for high alloy steels. If you like a little finer add the DMT Extra fine, it is an easy jump from the Coarse and will provide you with the increased edge refinement that is sometimes needed.

Thanks much. I like a pretty toothy edge for edc (and kitchen) stuff in general. I may pick up a finer plate at some point, but not initially. It's not like I'm gonna dull out that steel terribly fast.

[n64bomb]

It will just take longer. Stay in the grind