C-Max troubles!

[Dupont24]

I just bought half dozen c-max rounds and I sharpened them to 90, 100, 110, so far. I've been cutting until now with a single Glensteel square sharpened to a 120 degrees. So far the C-Max rounds are chipping on the heel a whole bunch more than the 120 Glensteel. I noted on the GRS site that square C-Max are considerably more $$$ than the round round blanks. Are the squares worth the extra money? What are some considerations to why i'm breaking so frequently? In less than one week I've sharpened so much that my 90 degree c-max is 1/2" shorter than it was new

 

[sam]

What are you engraving that's causing so many broken points?

Carbide is many times more brittle than high speed steel (like Glensteel). C-Max is my go-to graver material unless I have trouble with it breaking in hard metals. If that's the case then I go back to Glensteel because it's less brittle than carbide.

Try dubbing the point and see if that helps.

 

[fegarex]

The C-Max are best when you put a "micro radius" on the heel. The structure of the grain of the material is so fine that the tools actually get "too sharp" and the super fine point will chip much faster than that of a Glensteel or others. I just put the graver on a ceramic stone like I am going to take a cut (about 15 degree lift) and the rotate it left and right to make a slight radius. It will still cut a nice groove but by doing this you have made the point about 10 times stronger. Also, some will "dub" the point by sharpening to a 45 or 50 degree face and the just hitting the final face at something like 60 or 70.
I find the round ones just as good as the others and are much faster to sharpen.
Rex

 

[mrthe]

Try first to engrave without any type of vibration in the vise,try to increase the face angle to 50/55. degree and dubbing the point if you are using hard metals.
Gleensteel if i'm not wrong is a type of HSS for this reason chip less, but dull more.
i don't think that you can find any difference buying the square one the type of metal is the same, the round one don't have less quality

 

[Dupont24]

I'm just engraving a Spyderco knife. The same one in my recent post. It seems like the heel always chips as I cut around corners. I'm left handed and i think it breaks as I turn the vise clockwise so I can cut a left hand corner. It ALWAYS chips on the right side of the heel ( left if your looking at the heel facing you).

Thanks for the tip

 

[fegarex]

Make sure the heel is short too. Longer heels tend to break easier. I find the C-Max the BEST graver I've used for engraving the tough stuff and that is mostly what I do. Vibration is the enemy however on any graver. Also, if you are chipping a heel on corners, chances are you are dropping the graver in the corner. This is what causes drag and heel breakage.

 

[rod]

I am with Sam, Rex, and Paolo, in their good advice,

In industry, we used to do what engravers call, dub-ing, taking that tiny sharp edge off, to give longer life.

C-Max is also my go-to graver, and as great in bright cutting of silver/gold, as it is for steel.

best

Rod

 

[Christian DeCamillis]

Those Spyderco's are stainless.m Carbide is not the best choice for that. If you do use it make you don't polish it. I normally tell people to slow down there speed with stainless. The aforementioned advice about a micro radius will help indeed.

Personally I would order some of the gravers from Tira that are hss and formulated especially for stainless . I had those manufactured for that purpose although they do make a good all around graver. Use some lubricant for stainless as well regardless of the graver you use.

I suspect you are getting edge build up which is what occurs with carbide and stainless.m The stainless basically cold welds itself to the graver over time on a molecular level when the stainless that has adhered to your graver decides to let loose it takes part of the carbide with it. So in essence it chips or breaks off a piece of the graver with it. Lubricant will help but hss is just a better choice in my opinion.

Chris

 

[Dupont24]

Thank you all for your excellent advice. I immediately put a micro radius on the heels and lifted the graver slightly higher through the corners and I noticed a marked improvement.