Here's a Spyderco s90v Military knife I got from Locutus as a challenge to make it shave ready.

I used the WEPS diamonds up to 1000, and then the Chosera 2K, 5K, 10K, and then the 15K Shapton and 30K Shapton WEPS stones along with a little help from Hand American .25 micron mono Diamond and Ken Schwartz's .050 Poly Diamond sprays.

This was a very challenging knife to make shave ready.

Enjoy!

So the WEPS Shaptons are ready?

I think Tom has put together his own set of Shapton paddles Joshua. It may be still a bit before they are for sale at the Wicked Edge. I believe I am correct but if I am wrong, Clay will soon set me straight I'm sure!

Leo

Hi Tom!
Looks like you have recovered from your flu attack or your hand wouldn't have been so steady during your shave. Good video and some great sharpening for Locutus. I wonder if he has bought a WEPS yet?
Did you try my old Finnish recipe for your flu? Really powerful stuff! LOL!

Take care my friend
Leo

Lots has happened to keep me off this forum since the end of November! First it was completely busy, then my computer died, then I died! It's good to be healthy again, and back up and running!

I've had my Shaptons for the WEPS for a while now I do believe that there will be some available soon from Clay and possibly even from a couple of WEPS dealers.

I will warn you that the s90v will fight you all the way!

It's nice to see you up and running again Tom! Nice video too BTW.

Thanks, David! It's good to be back, and cleanly shaven!

I bet it fights a bit, not a very soft steel with a nice touch of vanadium. One member of the Spyderco forum tested his S90V Mule to 59.2hrc and his Military to 58.8rc.

http://spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36721
Bottom of first page.

When I received the knife from Locutus, he had already spent his hours profiling it. To be quite honest, having dealt with un-profiled s30v and it kicking my butt, I was quite impressed how quickly the WEPS stock Diamonds made new angles on the s90v. Of course, Locutus wasn't as thrilled since he did all the work

But after the WEPS 800/1000 diamonds, things didn't start slowing down until the 5K Chosera Level. I noticed a point of diminishing returns as the grits got higher. As the abrasives got finer, they needed more time to abrade through the steel.

There were some decisions to make with the sharpening of this knife, too. I still wanted it to function as a knife, so I went for the 10K Chosera edge at 16 degrees, and some .125 CBN to "polish the grooves" to make it a basic shaving edge. The knife was sharp, but the shave was horrible - the steel was actually too thin and seemed to roll over when stropping. So I upped it to 18 degrees and used the Shapton 15K with some HA .25 Micron Diamond spray (to help cut) and then the 30K Shapton with some Ken Schwartz 0.050 Poly Diamond spray. The shave was better, but still not quite to the point where I felt comfortable. I went back to stropping (a lot!) with .25 micron diamond on felt at about 30 degrees per side (I was going for a convexed edge here), then I finished on 0.050 Poly on Balsa.

The edge for the shave wasn't popping hairs, but it was whittling them. The edge geometry was much more stable, too.

The S90V really does need diamonds all the way up if you want it to shave... Otherwise, the WEPS diamonds to 1000 with a little polish from the Choseras or Shaptons really do make the edge quite aggressive and unstoppable.