Please share! Any videos available for some of us mere mortal sharpeners?
Raising burr of every stone vs. only once
- Thread starter WaTFTanaki
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Please share! Any videos available for some of us mere mortal sharpeners?
WaTFTanaki
Well-Known Member
Soooo. I messed around with edge leading strokes on my SG1k and being a total novice got strikingly good results after 1k and then made a total butchery of the edge on 3k. It was fun to use a different technique and the Kippington video was inspiring. It’s fun. Not ready to abandon edge trailing for my favorites anytime soon but it’s fun to experiment and will keep messing up my Hattori in the meantime until I develop a higher sharpness/butchery edge ratio.
For sharpness metrics I have not been a fan of paper slicing. I have been defaulting to see how easily diff parts of the edge fall through banana skin or oranges under knife weight to see where more work needs to be done (Murray Carter vid). Arm shaving also. I don’t get anything info wise out of the fingernail grip or three finger test, personally.
For sharpness metrics I have not been a fan of paper slicing. I have been defaulting to see how easily diff parts of the edge fall through banana skin or oranges under knife weight to see where more work needs to be done (Murray Carter vid). Arm shaving also. I don’t get anything info wise out of the fingernail grip or three finger test, personally.
Also try cutting a circle in paper or changing directions doing waves and curlicues for a little extra challenge. It will tell you if you have a nice keen edge. But it won't say anything about whether that edge will last.
Or do the standing receipt paper challenge
https://youtube.com/shorts/7GI7WFlb6u8?feature=share
Or do the standing receipt paper challenge
https://youtube.com/shorts/7GI7WFlb6u8?feature=share
Grayswandir
Senior Member
No worries man. It is a low hurdle to jump, and I'm sure there are better methods to evaluate a blade's sharpness. I have neuropathy in my hands and fingers, so Murry Carter's way of checking a blade for sharpness is less effective for me. I've tried it a few times recently, and I just don't have enough sensitivity left in my fingertips to trust what I'm feeling.
P.S.,
I like the arm shaving test, that's always fun! When I go shopping and notice people give me strange looks, I realize that it's my hairless right arm that's drawing all the attention to me!
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I find paper towel a lot more useful than copy paper, personally. Plus, it's right there in the kitchen.
Hanmak17
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Looks like a great way to remove a finger tip....
At a certain point, doesn't all of this become a bit of a navel gazing exercise? Seems to me, razor sharp is a bit of a waste, as the best edge is a durable edge.
Keeping the geometry behind the edge thin and consistent, with a slightly lower edge angle has proven to be best bet for me. These knives we buy are very hard and very expensive. I rarely have to sharpen my knifes any more, which means I am preserving them.
The point of all these tests is mostly to check for consistency in the edge and the presence of any remaining burr. That's useful info.
One thing I do is drag or tap my edge on the board under the weight of the knife, then try to cut paper. That's the real test of deburred-or-not.
I hear cries of "oh no, why did you do that to your brand new edge?!?" Well, because when I start cooking, that's the next thing I'm going to do. I care about the edge that survives board contact, and no other.
I hear cries of "oh no, why did you do that to your brand new edge?!?" Well, because when I start cooking, that's the next thing I'm going to do. I care about the edge that survives board contact, and no other.
For mine I stay fairly low grit honestly. Unless it's a bad kitchen knife in sharpening for someone I usually finish those on my aoto. I go that high for people's pocket knives. usually they like it to have that ability to glide through hairs, even though I personally realize how unnecessary it is. That, and they look at the edge and think "oooh shiny"
I've found that I have to actually explain the benefits if a toothy edge, and it's easier just to go full on polished than explain it to them.
if you email me, I've got a whole thing typed up about the process. Its nothing too fancy or complicated though.
Ah I hadn't even thought about pocket knives, probably because I can't sharpen them for love nor money so just leave mine getting blunter and blunter.
And I guess if someone is using a pocket knife for wood then you probably do want quite a fine high grit edge. I sharpened a Japanese chisel for the first time the other day; it was ok off a suehiro 3k with an edge that would've been great on a kitchen knife, but a few stokes refining on a slate and the thing was amazing.
If the edge dulls noticeably from a drag across a board, it had a burr or wire edge I'd wager.
I doubt these people are using them for wood. They just generally base their idea of sharpness on it being able to cleanly shave. If I give them a toothy edge, that shaves, but takes just a little more effort they aren't as happy. Say off my coarse dmt (which is a good all around edge even though it's about 325 grit)
This mirrors my experience - 1k gets to 7/10 sharpness (on my scale) and if I redo the progression on 3k it ends up as 5/10. Haven’t gone over 3k recently, the old 10/10 reached was with unreasonable amounts of polishing on 12k.
I DID find, however, I’m not sure where I read/saw this, but only repeating the final motion used on the 1k with the 3k - edge trailing stropping, say counting down from 5 stokes a side to a handful of alternating strokes produced the sharpest edge I have obtained to date. Is it properly deburred? Probably not.
I too am searching for an objective sharpness testing method, but have resorted to slicing off a thin bit of skin from my finger (I, for some reason, don’t have any arm air to speak of) with my OOTB edge denka and comparing ease of skin removal to the freshly sharpened knife. Happy to say last nights attempt provided similar if not slightly better results!
Yeah this is my poor man's test for one
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in fact, it may cut reasonably well, but not for long. Full deburring is essential for a good edge retention. A special case is the wire edge, where the burr is exactly on top of the apex. Very sharp, very thin, and very weak. It will break after some board contact, leaving a damaged edge behind. Or even worse, fold over the edge and make it perfectly dull.
A good fat burr along the edge may cause unexpected steering.
