Goldfinger234
Industrial
- Apr 18, 2025
- 1
Morning everyone,
Is there a correlation between grain size of tool steel and the maximum grit to which you should sharpen it?
For arguments sake, if a well treated O1 tool steel had a grain of 3ųm, is there any benefit to sharpening beyond a 3 micron abrasive? I’m thinking in terms of woodworking tools, chisels etc., that will need to withstand the normal impact forces placed on them by hand, not something like a razor, that will generally be sharpened at a shallower angle and only has to cut hair. Chisels are generally 25 degree primary and 30 degree secondary bevel.
I’m not a metallurgist and it’s one of those subjects shrouded in myth, mainly because most woodworkers aren’t metallurgists!
To the layman it just seems that if the grain of the steel is a given dimension, how can it support a finer edge and stay robust enough?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Is there a correlation between grain size of tool steel and the maximum grit to which you should sharpen it?
For arguments sake, if a well treated O1 tool steel had a grain of 3ųm, is there any benefit to sharpening beyond a 3 micron abrasive? I’m thinking in terms of woodworking tools, chisels etc., that will need to withstand the normal impact forces placed on them by hand, not something like a razor, that will generally be sharpened at a shallower angle and only has to cut hair. Chisels are generally 25 degree primary and 30 degree secondary bevel.
I’m not a metallurgist and it’s one of those subjects shrouded in myth, mainly because most woodworkers aren’t metallurgists!
To the layman it just seems that if the grain of the steel is a given dimension, how can it support a finer edge and stay robust enough?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
