in response to a question in the stropping poll

Keith Neal said:

"oh... and sometimes G"

"and B too, sometimes"

This is very interesting. I would have thought that people with a lot of experience would have settled on a "best" way to finish. Why do you use different methods under different circumstances?

Keith

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I use different methods because they yield different results. There is no single best type of edge that i've found, so i change things up as necessary to achieve the results i am looking for (or my customer is looking for in some cases). One thing remains true through all of this though... when i am finished on the stones, my edge should be 99.9% clean anyways. The stropping (or not) is just there to alter the final edge feel and edge shape for strength.

Totally agree with this!

I had a very different change in mindset when learning to hone straight razors, and a lot of folks who do that don't go past 1k stones until it'll shave(albeit crappily). This was a shift in mindset for me that stuck. It doesn't have to go to .2 micron to be great.

The sharpening can change between blades even for the same customer depending on what they are cutting. Extreme sharpness can even be a bad thing. If you are cleaning meat off of bones, a very sharp knive will tend to bite into the bone rather than scrape. Or an edge can lack the teeth to cut into leathery tomato skins, etc.

JBroida said:

I use different methods because they yield different results. There is no single best type of edge that i've found, so i change things up as necessary to achieve the results i am looking for (or my customer is looking for in some cases). One thing remains true through all of this though... when i am finished on the stones, my edge should be 99.9% clean anyways. The stropping (or not) is just there to alter the final edge feel and edge shape for strength.

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That makes sense. For what type of edges do you use which type of strop?

in all honesty there are so many factors that go into it that i cant explain it all here so easily

also, there is the use of the strop between stones that some people find effective. i personally do not like to strop after a low grit edge because i dont believe it will achieve what im trying to do as well as the same action on the next stone in the progression.

i found that playing with your strops whether they are loaded or not, and going back and forth on your finishing stone along with some careful observation will give you a good idea what is happening and educate you on what you want out of any particular edge.

i have a high wattage desk lamp right where i sharpen along with a roll of paper towels. i have recently found that paper towels with this light are very good in finding the wire edge and helping me to dissolve the burr and remove any wire edge by making the much easier to see.

Jon, Can you describe a bit about how you use wet newspaper to strop? Do you do it only on single bevels?

I took some advice of yours earlier and stopped stropping single bevel blades. I guess I just did it because i already had a strop and the feeling is to just use it if you have it. I have noticed improvement but I also have been concentrating more on "where in my mind" i am sharpening so it might be all that, or a combination. I still strop my gyutos on Cr02

for what its worth I don't use what newspaper I use regular dry newspaper