Can't seem to get my BK15 sharp again.

[Noswad0208]

I tried sharpening it for a while. Watched my angle and made sure it was right, worked both sides, stropped, worked both sides again, stropped again. Every now and then I'd get it sharp enough to shave in a couple spots even though it looked like I was keeping my angle right all the way.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[bucketstove]

I tried sharpening it for a while. Watched my angle and made sure it was right, worked both sides, stropped, worked both sides again, stropped again. Every now and then I'd get it sharp enough to shave in a couple spots even though it looked like I was keeping my angle right all the way.

What am I doing wrong?

Hi,
Do you raise a burr?
Can you please explain in detail what steps you take in order?
What angle?
What abrasive?
How many passes per side?

 

[Jason B.]

Most common problems with the edge include, not holding the angle correctly, not holding the angle low enough, not grinding the edge to an apex, and not inspecting the edge close enough. Edge inspection probably being the most important and most neglected part.

 

[Tomstumble]

Spend more time on your aggressive grit. Try ten to twelve passes on one side then the other. A distinct burr should form before moving on.

 

[Steel_Drake]

Noswad,

The biggest mistake that novice sharpeners tend to make is failing to reach an apex along the whole length of the blade on their starting whetstone. This problem can be avoided by sharpening on one side of the edge only, without alternating sides, until a burr is raised along the whole length of the edge. Once a burr has been raised along the whole length of the edge, flip the knife over and sharpen the other side, again without alternating sides, until the burr is flipped to the other side along the whole length of the edge.

Once you have formed a burr along the whole length of the edge on both sides, you can be certain that the knife has reached an apex. The next step will be to remove the burr, and for that I recommend shearing it off using high angle passes.

I've made a couple of YouTube videos demonstrating burr based sharpening and shearing off a burr using high angle passes that may be able to assist you:

[video=youtube;cWU_qTp3DLM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWU_qTp3DLM[/video]
[video=youtube;oRmcQ-MqbBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRmcQ-MqbBE[/video]