Took some pics this weekend of my sharpening process. Pictures are 1 mm wide and 1 mm high (edited with correct picture size, thanks Matus). Process for each stone was to raise a burr on one side, flip the burr, and then reducing the burr until I couldn't feel it with my fingers anymore. I've always thought it was harder to de-burr on a courser stone, and I think this backs it up.
Up first, is a pic with no edge at all, and just a 150 grit sandpaper finish:
Next picture is 120 grit dmt burr raised and flipped. The dark area is the steel starting to curve up to a bright line that is the edge of the burr.
Next, I've sharpened until I could no longer feel the burr, and the edge felt toothy. You'll notice that there is a small wire edge still left on the knife at this point.
From there, I switch to a 600 grit splash and go stone. The next picture is after I've raised the burr, flipped it, and then reduced it until my fingers felt a toothy edge. You'll notice that the wire edge is starting to rip off, but is still present along most of the edge. I was a bit surprised by this one.
Next, I do a larger jump, going to 6k. Same as before, raised a burr, flipped it, and then stropped, edge trailing, until I felt the knife was sharp. There are only a few spots where small micro-burrs are still attached, and at this point, I'm not sure how much they would even affect performance, other than maybe catching in paper slightly.
Last, I stropped on a cheap leather bench strop loaded with chromium oxide, and then a light cut into hard felt. Maybe not as toothy as some prefer, but for me, it can slice a tomato with almost no effort, and cooking for 2 everyday, the edge will last me about 4 months. Granted how long an edge lasts is more dependent on how someone uses a knife, and what surface they are cutting on. Steel is AEB-L @~62 hrc.
Thanks for looking!
Up first, is a pic with no edge at all, and just a 150 grit sandpaper finish:
Next picture is 120 grit dmt burr raised and flipped. The dark area is the steel starting to curve up to a bright line that is the edge of the burr.
Next, I've sharpened until I could no longer feel the burr, and the edge felt toothy. You'll notice that there is a small wire edge still left on the knife at this point.
From there, I switch to a 600 grit splash and go stone. The next picture is after I've raised the burr, flipped it, and then reduced it until my fingers felt a toothy edge. You'll notice that the wire edge is starting to rip off, but is still present along most of the edge. I was a bit surprised by this one.
Next, I do a larger jump, going to 6k. Same as before, raised a burr, flipped it, and then stropped, edge trailing, until I felt the knife was sharp. There are only a few spots where small micro-burrs are still attached, and at this point, I'm not sure how much they would even affect performance, other than maybe catching in paper slightly.
Last, I stropped on a cheap leather bench strop loaded with chromium oxide, and then a light cut into hard felt. Maybe not as toothy as some prefer, but for me, it can slice a tomato with almost no effort, and cooking for 2 everyday, the edge will last me about 4 months. Granted how long an edge lasts is more dependent on how someone uses a knife, and what surface they are cutting on. Steel is AEB-L @~62 hrc.
Thanks for looking!
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