Advantages/ Disadvantages of sharpening w/ sandpaper

D

DanMan4142

Joined
Feb 16, 2004
Messages
62
I have a question as to the advantages and disadvantages of sharpening with sandpaper. I am in the process of learning to freehand sharpen( i can get a shaving edge, but barely), and i want to get my knives sharper. I also dont want to spend much money, and sandpaper seems to be a cheap way to go. right now i have sandpaper in grits of 220, 320, 400, and 600, and a leather strop. Do i need to move up to 1000+ grit, or should i be getting a good edge with 600grit? Also are there any disadvantages to sandpaper that stones do not have? Thanks in advance for any ideas or comments

Daniel
 
I should clarify that I am talking about sandpaper clipped to a flat piece of metal, not on a belt sander or anything powered.
 
I sharpen my Greco Falcon and OT 80T with sandpaper. Sandpaper is a pretty good option for carbon steel knives. I used a 600 grit to sharpen and a 1500 grit to polish. The combination has worked really well. The coolest fact about sand paper is the speed that I can get those knives sharp. I put the sand paper the back of a stiff mouse pad and the sandpaper just does the job for me. However, if you are sharpening stainless steel knives, it might take more time.
 
Kidwholaughs,

Stainless does take a while on a sandpaper/mousepad strop. Also, softer mousepads aren't your pal. You mentioned using firm mousepads. I've used soft and it didn't do much either way. A phonebook should work well, too, as a backing surface.

DanMan4142,

You can get a shaving sharp edge with most every grit from 100 and up, so 600 would work fine. The higher the grit, the durable the edge will be, as lower grit abrasives dig deeper furroughs into the steel (their beauty is their curse). Of course, were you mad enough to search out higher than 600+ grit sandpaper (and you wouldn't be at Bladeforums if you weren't), taking intermediate steps between your coarsest and finest grit will initially take more time, but give you an even longer lasting edge (to jump from 400 to 1200 may require more time and force pressing against the sandpaper/metal hone which can fatigue the metal on your edges).

Go to www.handamerican.com when you're crazy and www.toolsforworkingwood.com when you're hearing voices. Both places will fix you up with the higher grits.
 
I think i am going to get some 1000 and 1500 grit sandpaper from pep boys and see what i can do with that. However I think my main problem is simple a lack of practice with freehand sharpening. Its not like I am not getting a perfectly usable edge, its just that i dont get the "scary sharpness" that i am after.

Also do you guys reccomend to sharpen freehand with the edge first or trailing? I have read to do it both ways, and tried both ways, and i cant seem to tell the difference. generally i use edge first, then when i am done on the 600 grit I will do some edge trailing swipes very lightly, before going to my strop.
 
With sandpaper, you can easily do either. With edge-leading, you'll less prone to making a burr. If you want a quick and dirty angle holder, a binder spine, like those sold at places like Office Depot or Staples, will hold your knife at a preset angle while you're pretty much going freehand.
 
The only disadvantage of sandpaper is that it is expensive in the long run, compared to quality solid hones. Yes the stones are *much* more expensive initially but they last a lot longer than a sheet of sandpaper.

-Cliff
 
Use a hard surface when sharpening, soft surface when stropping. Unless you want a convex edge, then a firm mousepad does the trick.

Edge-leading on hard surfaces, edge-trailing on soft surfaces.
 
Would be interested in knowing which abrasive papers/films anyone has had especially good results with when sharpening edge-leading, particularly in terms of abrasive and backing holding up well. Are there any you would recommend over 3m Trizact (sp?) and what Handamerican sells?

Thanks - Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top