Thanks 🙏 They remain among my favorites. The price, ability to cut any steel, and just over all pleasure of use, makes em a no brainer. I’ve seen a few others trashing them. To each their own. I’ve had nothing but positive experiences with them

lol dunno if i have ever been called jewelie before. Glad I could post something. Setting up to record can be such a hassle. I do appreciate it is consumed.

Thanks! Hope it comes out sharp :D

:D Bugouts rock. I don't care what others say about Benchmade. They have made some of my favorite knives.

20cv from Benchmade may not be the best heat treat, but it does what I need. There are so many steels floating around now a days, it is hard to keep track of em all. Hell, plain ole aus8 will get me through a work day :p

Thanks 🤘

I’ve got a 120 gritomatic, but never used it. The 240 does what i need. When thinning knives, off any steel, I’d prefer something that is very friable. Prevents you from having to apply so much pressure. For me, not much beats the Shapton Pro 120. I can’t recall if i have used it for high vanadium steels, so can’t reliably say if it works well on those. Knife thinning is such a labor intensive process, if I did it on a regular basis, i would look into a powered grinder. Wet set up of course. Some sort of water mist is essential, so the heat treat isn’t ruined. Now the Norton Crystolon Silicone carbide coarse stone, i have used on high carbide steels. It’s almost as fast as the Shapton, although i do recall having to flatten it once, during a session. Have you looked into it? Its super affordable and cuts every steel I’ve presented it.

@@Jef oh yeah. I'm using the stones after they come off the grinder. Mainly to get the geometry dialed in. But also because on stuff like 10v, and k390, the belts above 120 grit don't cut them very well. So on the ones I'm making in those I go to the venev 80, to get the 120 grit belt scratches out, and start moving up the grit progression after. Then finish them with diamond microfinishing films.

Thanks. The 240 is one of my favorites for getting things moving.

They are. You just gotta keep in perspective how little the difference is. It is why I compare it to marshmallows. That is something everyone can envision. 1 large marshmallow is approx 5-7g in weight. So on that tester, 2 large marshmallows would be around 14g give or take. 35g difference between the scores, sounds like a lot, but it really isn't, in the over all scheme of things. Still, I'd be happier if those number lined up a bit closer.

@@Jef well if you change that to procent wise its a bigger gap again so apples to oranges hehe i just ise the damn things to cut and cut 🤣😅

lol i have complained about this machine since the day i bought it. there are too many ways to cheat it. hopefully folks realize that. kknives switzerland is helping to make a new type of tester that measures more of the actual cutting edge, and removes all human error. it does the draw slice and everything. really looking forward to that. will def be buying myself one. i got the new wire block bc it supposedly helps cut down on the test media waste. it does, to a certain extent, but we are talking 3-5mm of media saved each test. not really worth the money. the current models, i think, are shipped with the newer version however. it is just folks like me, who grabbed one early in the process, who are having to "upgrade".

kzfaq.info55aIgEqkbmE?feature=shared

Yes. I use a Leatherman juice with a rubberband wrapped around the jaws to hold it while i tighten the screw thingie. I’ve shown how i do it in a previous bess video. Back when i first got it and was trying to explain to others not to put too much faith in the numbers. I forget the weight of them but it is over 100g. Like 130? I can’t recall

@@Jef yeah I think I recall asking you this before and you told me the same but I forgot! Really strange how the numbers are so different. I'm tempted to get a second one now too

@@stroppystuff641 it is probably operator error :p which do you currently have? the newer model or old?

@@Jef I didn't know there was a new model! I have the pt50a from Nov 2021

@@stroppystuff641 i was talking about the test media fixture. there are several versions of it now. they do however, have a few newer 'lab' model of the actual tester. some will actually graph out your progress for you. not sure how practical that would be for just general sharpening. then again, there are those that i am sure would love to see that sort of information.

That is a choice you will have to make on your own. Both sets are excellent and will sharpen any steel. Theres just a hundred differences to go thru between them. If you like the venev then stick with them. They are splash n go and require very little maintenance. I personally prefer the feel of the gritomatic. However, they do require flattening from time, and soaking before use. Just gotta weigh the pros n cons of each and make the call.

@@Jef thanks for your help Jeff! One quick question though. Do you know of a good way to remove scratches on a black cerakoted blade? Or is there nothing that can really be done about it?

Not much you can do to fix coating that becomes scratched. Can try paint or a sharpie marker. If you have the ability you can always apply new cerakote. It is a process. A simpler method to check into maybe duracoat.

@@Jef thanks Jeff, As far as the silicone carbide stones, I was going to buy the 6"X1" to save some money but I wasn't too sure they they're worth the money at that size

@@jonathan_guerrero really how much more are you saving? I can sharpen on just about any size stone. Not everyone can do that however. Esp when starting out. The larger the stone, the easier to concentrate on other things. It's all personal preference though. These are choices you gotta make and figure out for yourself. You may prefer the smaller profile of 6x1 over 8x3. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Don't listen to that summary description they provide. It is absolutely ridiculous. I've told them, they need to remove that, in a previous video, but it's obviously been ignored. You can use these stones with ANY steel. There are those, who would tell you diamond are a better option. Just ask yourself, why? Are they selling a product themselves? Is there a reason why they truly believe that? I have no dog in the race, other than I want my knives sharp. In my experience, these are among the best you can buy. The results speak for me. Onto the meat of your question; can you learn on these? Sure you can. I learned on a cheap, hardware store, silicone carbide stone. If I can learn on that sorta stone, anyone can. Just get one coarse enough to remove steel. 400 grit would be a nice starting point. Not too aggressive, but cuts fast enough that you will see results. I've seen tons of people recommend starting on a 1k stone. I do not. I think they are too fine, and most will not see results fast enough, to keep at it. They will stop before a burr is produced, or spend an hour grinding, making little progress. Especially kitchen knives, that have never been sharpened. You need a stone that is going to remove metal, but not so quickly that you take too much off, and ruin the blade. Hope that helps. Check my tutorials if you have any other questions about how to actually sharpen. 1 hr step by step process : kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mqqIh5urtNSZdoU.html shortened process: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/m6mRas6T39vacZc.html holding consistency: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/r8lgoM1yzryqpIk.html stones I recommend: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nMmgpbh5tJq-l6c.html

@@JefThank you for taking the time to answer so comprehensively. I’ve been slowly going through your videos, which are very helpful. Do you find the Gritomatic stones have a better feel than the Norton Crystolon, or is the lack of oil the main difference? Any chance they can be flattened with a coarse Diamond plate?

Better feel than norton. They aren’t as coarse. Using water is much cleaner than oil but i don’t really have an issue with that. They are just made different. You’ll have to try em to see. As for flattening, yes you can use a diamond plate.

Awesome. I don't post many sharpening vids on there. Or much at all, lately, but I do float around, and try to engage with everyone

Yea grit ratings are fickle. The 8k suehiro you spoke of is more like a 2k Shapton. Although it does leave a nice edge, the polish is never super. As for the gritomatic, if they come available soon, I can’t recommend them enough. I know a few others aren’t as stoked on em as i am, but they are slowly becoming my top brand. Shapton still holds a place for me, but they can’t compete with the higher carbide steels these days. Thanks for checking the video and sending folks my way. Hopefully they can get something out of my videos 😁