Burr is kicking my butt

Well, I don't do the little sawing actions. I have no idea how Jeff and others do it, but when piercing the paper, I just push the blade through slowly, this tears the tp a little while/if the spine and edge are wedge shaped in profile. The cut cleans up when the edge and spine are parallel (or the spine is convex to the edge) and not forcing the tp apart. After making it to the handle, I draw back in one motion with no downward pressure. For the pics, I of course did not have to do the piercing.

Yes, it actually work without this little sawing action too - just verified this, after you mentioned it. Well, it is too late to make video - tomorrow then...

Thanks, Vassili.

It is not sawing but moving forward like by impulses.
 
I usually take one long slice (well, how long depends on how long I make the cut). I have never tried chopping toilet paper. Looks pretty cool. Actually, I think that slicing toilet paper is easier with a slightly coarser edge. Not really coarse of course but just a tad more bit than fully polished. Just my $0.02.
 
Hey vassilli when you stop sharpening on the diamond stone and move to the strop. How many strokes do you strop on each side??
 
Hey vassilli when you stop sharpening on the diamond stone and move to the strop. How many strokes do you strop on each side??

First I polish each side may be around 50 times each or more to have edge like mirror polish focusing not on the very edge but mostly on sides and then 20 times or more switching sides.

Thanks, Vassili,

It takes about 10-15 move to remive the burr without rising angle - patience is the key here. It take some time for fine abrasive to eat out burr roots.
 
So when you focus the strop on the shoulders and not the edge the leather wraps around just enough to touch the edge and polish it?
thanks for the help vassili
 
So when you focus the strop on the shoulders and not the edge the leather wraps around just enough to touch the edge and polish it?
thanks for the help vassili

Yes. It does not really wrap around, because it is thin and not fluffy and I put really thick layer of Green Rouge - it is like glossy. But idea is that it will touch it by accident anyway just enough to sharpen it not to round it up.

I read before recommendation to search for the angle right when edge stop biting into leather when you move it edge forward, like at that point you need to move it edge backward. I accurately follow this recommendation and always have my edge nicely rounded up... Now I focus on sides looking at edge under high light lamp to see when edge is just start touching surface.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
All right guys I pulled out the strop and the benchmade mini grip. I loaded the strop down with chromium oxide, all right this is how I stropped. I did like vassili said I moved the edge forward and kept lowering the angle until the blade stopped biting into the leather. Now when I did this the spine of the blade was only about an 1/8th inch off the strop. I did this 50 times on both sides of the blade. Does this seem right??

Now I noticed some scratches on one side of the edge. So I figured after 50 strokes these should be more polished and at least harder to see right? well they're not their still there. The actual edge doesn't look any more polished. It does seem just a tad bit sharper. It's push cutting through paper really easy. It also sharper on one side more than the other. I can tell by the way it shaves hair. It shaves alot easier on one side. What does this usually mean??

Thanks for the help guys this strop thing is a little confusing too me.
 
shaving on one side better than the other usually means a burr.

If your angle on the strop is high enough, the only thing it polishes is a hairline along the edge. It's quite visible under magnification. If the angle is too low, you'll polish the shoulder of the bevel, not the edge.
 
well I just looked at it under the microscope. The side that seems sharper has striations running up the edge a little ways that shows up shiny under the lighted microscope. On the other side the side that seems duller the only shiny part is right at the very very edge, no striations running up the edge. What does this normally mean?? What do you guys think I should do to make it sharper??
thanks again guys.
 
I did like vassili said I moved the edge forward and kept lowering the angle until the blade stopped biting into the leather.

I am sorry, I was not clear I guess. My point was - not to follow this recommendation, because this way I round up the edge!

I read before recommendation to search for the angle right when edge stop biting into leather when you move it edge forward, like at that point you need to move it edge backward. I accurately follow this recommendation and always have my edge nicely rounded up... Now I focus on sides looking at edge under high light lamp to see when edge is just start touching surface.

"I always have my edge nicely rounded" - means dulled!

Thanks, Vassili.
 
I usually use toilet paper as a test medium when I go beyond easy shaving. I take toilet paper and pierce it with my blade. Then I see that I can slice it without tearing using a slightly transverse drawing cut. Some steels this is a pretty straightforward test of how thinly I have profiled the edge. On some stainless I have to strop using submicron diamond grit to achieve this performance.

Hi Jeff, can you verify my video - is it same what you are doing?

Thanks, Vassili.
 
pretty basic-if the knife isn't sharp enough, sharpen it ;) If the bevel already matches up to the sharpmaker, just make some passes and strop again after. Depends on how you assess the shaving ability as it is, use either the medium or maybe start with the fine.
 
Thanks hardheart, hehe. Well my question is aimed toward stropping. I dont understand completely the strop. Do you strop at the angle you sharpened at or slightly less?? thanks for any help
 
Thanks hardheart so just very slightly less than the original sharpening angle. And very very little pressure. thanks hardheart thats what I needed to know. When I was doing this last night it seemed to be polishing the should more the way I was doing it. I'll try this probably tomorrow night. Thanks again, Chet
 
At your situation RealityCheck, it's ok to increase your angle just a tad...as long as your stropping strokes are very light (no pressure other than the weight of the blade). What might be happening in your case is that the stropping is polishing the blade just almost to the very edge, but not quite the edge. Increase angle just a tad and try 50 more. No...try 20 more. I'm guessing you're going to notice the difference right away. Then try 30 or 50 more after that twenty.
 
Thanks hardheart, hehe. Well my question is aimed toward stropping. I dont understand completely the strop. Do you strop at the angle you sharpened at or slightly less?? thanks for any help

I do it slightly less, right near very edge touch leather, as I sad, focusing more on the sides. Imagine huge edge on the pillow - pillow will kind of wrap around edge and if you move it - edge will be rounded - dulled. It may have almost same as edge after rough grind sharpening but without teeth - nicely round. It even may shave too, being round under small radius.

You need to avoid this to happen.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
I use Arkansas stones. Do finish work on black and translucent stones. What works for me is to finish, I go one stroke on each side and alternate stones and finish on translucent. Can't split hairs, but I have sharpen knives for friends and everyone seems happy.
 
Well I just figured out what is happening on my benchmade mini grip. While sharpening on the sharpmaker I now see that if you hold knife spine up on the left side of the blade the angle is one angle. On the right side the angle is different. So it is actually hitting the shoulder. it wasnt doing this before and i've only sharpened it on the sharpmaker so it must have removed just enough edge to start doing this. So I guess its time to reprofile the mini-grip now huh?? Or can I strop it instead??
 
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