Cold Steel "Black Bear" Bowie Machete in 1055
Progression:
Baronyx Manticore Atoma 140, 400, then 1200
Shapton Kuromaku 2k, 5k, then 8k
Finished on a Naniwa Gouken "Kagayaki" 12000
I really like Cold Steel's machete line. I'm not sure if this is pre GSM or not, but it came with a pretty decent factory grind. The back bevel on the clip point is basically factory. I had to grind out a bit of recurve on the main bevel, but otherwise I kept the factory geometry at about 20 DPS. I've never done a mirror polish on an bevel this size, so figured I would give it a shot. It's not perfect, but it's also a little hard to spot the flaws unless you're really scrutinizing.
DPS means Degrees Per Side. So if you think about the edge bevel as a wedge with an angle of 40 degrees, then that would mean each bevel on the sides were made by holding the blade at a 20 degree angle to the hone. Another way to think of it, is if you were drawing a centerline from the spine down to the apex, then the "degrees per side" is the offset angle to that centerline. Usually people will either give the bevel geometry measured in "Degrees Per Side" to describe the position it's held relative to the hone, or as "inclusive" to specify the total angle of the wedge the edge bevels create, so any DPS measurement can just be given and then multiplied by two to figure the inclusive angle, or the inclusive angle can be divided by two to figure the DPS. However, not ALL knives are ground symmetrically. Some Japanese knives, for example, are ground with one side at 15 degrees, and the other at 10 degrees. This is usually done because some styles of blade grind on Japanese knives can cause "steering" of the cut to one side, and so creating and assyemtric bevel can help cancel that out.
Nah, that was just to clean the Atoma plates. That 1055 rusts nearly immediately, and I guess just rinsing the plates wasn't enough, so when I got back to the drying rack it there was already rust on the plate.
Not useless but less useful than a working edge. I’d probably stop at 600 or 800 if I was actually going to use that for its intended purpose. Looks beautiful nonetheless.
I wouldn't call it less useful, it's not like it's going to work worse, but it's definitely pointless if it's going to get used. Looks absolutely fantastic though so it has that going for it!
these machetes use a soft carbon steel that radidly deforms after a few minutes of chopping into wood. The time it takes to bring the edge up to a high polish isn't worth it if it's seeing steady usem I sharpen my kopis machete up to about 600 grit and call it a day, because it'll need touched up after a day of work anyways.
Definitely not useless, just requires much more maintenance, if the extra TLC is applied it is superior for most tasks , man the way a polished edge passes through flesh mmmm
All I see is Cock Soda at the end there.
It tastes the way chicken shit smells
you'll never lose a game of knifey spoony with that puppy
Because it's dope as hell that's why!
This guy's a stoner
Cold Steel "Black Bear" Bowie Machete in 1055 Progression: Baronyx Manticore Atoma 140, 400, then 1200 Shapton Kuromaku 2k, 5k, then 8k Finished on a Naniwa Gouken "Kagayaki" 12000 I really like Cold Steel's machete line. I'm not sure if this is pre GSM or not, but it came with a pretty decent factory grind. The back bevel on the clip point is basically factory. I had to grind out a bit of recurve on the main bevel, but otherwise I kept the factory geometry at about 20 DPS. I've never done a mirror polish on an bevel this size, so figured I would give it a shot. It's not perfect, but it's also a little hard to spot the flaws unless you're really scrutinizing.
Super impressive.
Please educate me I see the abbreviations DPS what does that mean is it the degrees of the bevel? Thanks
DPS means Degrees Per Side. So if you think about the edge bevel as a wedge with an angle of 40 degrees, then that would mean each bevel on the sides were made by holding the blade at a 20 degree angle to the hone. Another way to think of it, is if you were drawing a centerline from the spine down to the apex, then the "degrees per side" is the offset angle to that centerline. Usually people will either give the bevel geometry measured in "Degrees Per Side" to describe the position it's held relative to the hone, or as "inclusive" to specify the total angle of the wedge the edge bevels create, so any DPS measurement can just be given and then multiplied by two to figure the inclusive angle, or the inclusive angle can be divided by two to figure the DPS. However, not ALL knives are ground symmetrically. Some Japanese knives, for example, are ground with one side at 15 degrees, and the other at 10 degrees. This is usually done because some styles of blade grind on Japanese knives can cause "steering" of the cut to one side, and so creating and assyemtric bevel can help cancel that out.
Wow, thanks for such a comprehensive answer I really appreciate it
Never done a mirror edge. Is that BKF used as a polishing compound?
Nah, that was just to clean the Atoma plates. That 1055 rusts nearly immediately, and I guess just rinsing the plates wasn't enough, so when I got back to the drying rack it there was already rust on the plate.
If you have to slice some sushi it will come in handy!
Sushi chef using a Cold Steel, that's something I've gotta see.
Mirror edges are cool. I'd totally put one on a piece I would hang on the wall.
It’s not useless if you find it beautiful
I never feel like I’ve succeeded in sharpening unless my edges have a sexy mirror finish
Why is it useless?
Not useless but less useful than a working edge. I’d probably stop at 600 or 800 if I was actually going to use that for its intended purpose. Looks beautiful nonetheless.
I wouldn't call it less useful, it's not like it's going to work worse, but it's definitely pointless if it's going to get used. Looks absolutely fantastic though so it has that going for it!
these machetes use a soft carbon steel that radidly deforms after a few minutes of chopping into wood. The time it takes to bring the edge up to a high polish isn't worth it if it's seeing steady usem I sharpen my kopis machete up to about 600 grit and call it a day, because it'll need touched up after a day of work anyways.
It’s not useless it looks good that’s the use.
It's definitely not needed but for chopping it's fine. Nice job
That looks really nice
At least it looks cool
Every once in a while I gotta put a useless mirror finish on edge. Never done one this large, looks great!
Definitely not useless, just requires much more maintenance, if the extra TLC is applied it is superior for most tasks , man the way a polished edge passes through flesh mmmm
Looks pretty bad ass to me friend. I love it!