Advice on how to improve sharpening technique

[Specialized_J]

Just received my waterstones an 800g and 6000g

Thought I'd practice on an old knife first and although I've definitely improved it its not shaving sharp.

I've posted a couple of pics incase its obvious that I'm doing something wrong.

 

[mrdeus]

Hmm... it's hard to see what might be wrong. I'll just throw some thoughts out there: Are you sharpening all the way down to the edge? Can you feel the burr (along the entire edge)? Did you remove the burr at the end?

 

[Specialized_J]

As far as I could tell I had a burr, my process was

On the 800 I did 5 strokes either side till I couldn't feel any notches on the edge then switched to the 6000 and alternating strokes.

Stropped on a belt which as far as I can tell made no difference

 

[HeavyHanded]

Make sure you're raising a burr, and on the 6000k finish with a few very light edge trailing strokes.
It takes a few to learn the waterstones - they aren't like other stones, give it a few tries on different knives before troubleshooting too much.

 

[aread]

Looks like you are doing a beautiful job with the stones. You might want to look at your stropping technique. When I first started stropping, my knives ended up duller than when I started. There is a great sticky by Twindog on stropping at the top of this forum.

It's too easy to take the edge off with a strop if you don't use the right angle and the right pressure.

Allen

 

[Specialized_J]

Thanks again for the advice, definitely getting somewhere now.

Made sure there was a burr across the whole edge. Stretched some denim over a piece of wood and used some Autosol as I don't have a strop or compound yet.

Got it shaving sharp but made the mistake of thinking I could improve it so kept stropping and lost the edge slightly. Still has a nice edge with a mirror finish.

 

[HeavyHanded]

Thanks again for the advice, definitely getting somewhere now.

Made sure there was a burr across the whole edge. Stretched some denim over a piece of wood and used some Autosol as I don't have a strop or compound yet.

Got it shaving sharp but made the mistake of thinking I could improve it so kept stropping and lost the edge slightly. Still has a nice edge with a mirror finish.

By using waterstones you almost don't need compound or a separate strop. One can very lightly backhone on a waterstone and get a very refined edge with a lot of bite. Or you can carefully wipe up some of the mud produced from working the stone and use that for stropping compound. I very lightly drag a piece of newspaper across the wet stone a few times - helps to agitate the mud a bit with a fingertip prior. Wrap this single layer of newspaper around the stone and use it for a strop - lightly. Plain newspaper wrapped around a stone (wet or dry, but dry seems a bit more aggressive) will work very well as a final polish at any level of refinement, tho it does not remove any but the smallest of burrs - have to take care of larger ones on the stone or with a loaded strop.

 

[Specialized_J]

Decided to change the angle of the edge bevel, not a perfect job as you can see. The bevel is wider at the tip than the heel but its much sharper now, slices paper and shaves with ease.

I have lost some of the curve from the blade which doesn't bother me on this knife but would on my better ones. Guess I concentrated on that part of the blade for too long?