bur rolling?

M

mean

Joined
Jul 27, 2009
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392
this may not apply to those who use diamond compounds and such, ever notice after you have created your bur, ran a steel on your blade and stroped, some times you can shave hair or cut paper from the angle of one hand but not the other hand?

I was sharping my edc when I noticed after stroping, some of the leather was sticking to my blade, yes I know I may have over steeled the bur but, no matter how you try there will be a little lay to the bur one way or the other, my ? is do any of you finish sharping on the side which makes your knife cut better from your strong hand?

just an after thought!
 
I've noticed the phenomena, but I usually do what it takes to remove the burr. The edge folds too easily with these burrs.
 
what could be the culprit of said bur? and how do I remove it, could it be to steep of an angle? I mean after stone, steel and leather, what is left to remove this type of bur?
 
Some steels, especially when sharpening with ceramics, seem to suffer what I've heard called "steel migration", so one side of the edge is thicker than the other side and a "super burr" forms. I've noticed this most with ats34, but have seen it with 440C, 154cm, etc., mostly stainless steels.

I usualy just go back to sharpening with a coarser stone until the "super burr" has been removed. I generally have to concentrate on one side of the edge - if you can determine the side the burr has rolled to, that is the side to get rid of the dang thing.

If all else fails, run the edge 90 degrees to the stone to knock the burr off.

When resharpening, keep an eye out for the burr becoming thick - then take care to knock the burr off.

Some knives just seem to do this - probably due to variations of heat treat since I've seen one of two knives of the same model have this issue while the other does not.
 
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I think maybe my steel may need replacing, I have used it for years, after my last post I used a ceramic stone on the bur and it seem to remove most or atleast center it, the edge now feel uniform from both sides of the blade, I cannot feel the bur from either side now, thanks for the posts!
 
A steel should not be part of your sharpening process. Period.

A smooth steel will simply bend a burr into alignment and give you a flimsy wisp of an edge. A grooved steel is just a sloppy file and will partially align and partly rip off pieces of the edge. If you strop an edge that has a burr (steeled previously or not) you will also partially align and partially rip off pieces of the burred edge.

You really should try and minimize how much burr you form on your edge and carefully cut it off using an abrasive hone. The way that you do both of these things are pretty similar. If you hone edge-forwards lightly and alternating left and right sides you will form less of a burr in the first place. Once you get a basically sharp edge if you elevate your honing angle slightly and do a few more honing strokes you will cut off your burr. Then go back to your original honing angle for a few more edge-forwards strokes and you will have a solid edge.

At this point you may be able to improve the finish with some light stropping or edge-trailing honing on a fine hone. This improvement will be solid and reliable.

A steel is good for stretching out the cutting performance of a meat cutting knife in a butcher shop. The stress of cutting meat is light enough to keep working even if it starts to roll. A steel that realigns the edge is adequate for this purpose, but you don't want to use it in forming the foundation of your edge.
 
Jeff Clark said:
A steel should not be part of your sharpening process. Period.

A smooth steel will simply bend a burr into alignment and give you a flimsy wisp of an edge. A grooved steel is just a sloppy file and will partially align and partly rip off pieces of the edge. If you strop an edge that has a burr (steeled previously or not) you will also partially align and partially rip off pieces of the burred edge.

You really should try and minimize how much burr you form on your edge and carefully cut it off using an abrasive hone. The way that you do both of these things are pretty similar. If you hone edge-forwards lightly and alternating left and right sides you will form less of a burr in the first place. Once you get a basically sharp edge if you elevate your honing angle slightly and do a few more honing strokes you will cut off your burr. Then go back to your original honing angle for a few more edge-forwards strokes and you will have a solid edge.

At this point you may be able to improve the finish with some light stropping or edge-trailing honing on a fine hone. This improvement will be solid and reliable.

A steel is good for stretching out the cutting performance of a meat cutting knife in a butcher shop. The stress of cutting meat is light enough to keep working even if it starts to roll. A steel that realigns the edge is adequate for this purpose, but you don't want to use it in forming the foundation of your edge.
Click to expand...

very informative, thanks for the advice, I will drop the steel and stick to just honing and light stroping, thanks again
 
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