Coarse stone and stropping

J

jasonbourn

Joined
Oct 6, 2013
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I find I get a sharper edge if I get a clear burr with a medium stone, then go straight to stropping. I have two nicer arkansas stones that I've tried using to get a finer edge, but always seem to end up with a much duller edge after using. Clearly I'm not a hand sharpening pro, but the edge I have after the coarse stone and strop can shave hair, fly through receipt paper, etc. Is there some hidden frailty to the edges I make? I guess I've heard of a wire edge, but running through a cork doesn't erase the edge I've made. Is there some other test I can do to see if my edges are durable? Any thoughts on why I can get an OK edge with the coarse and strop, but am hopeless moving to higher grits?

Many thanks.
 
Either way works well for me. Get agreqtshaving sharp edge with norton crystalon and strop and also going up to fine Arkansas without a strop. I like the norton crystalon and strop as its fast and easy.
 
Your edge is going to be plenty sharp, just not in a unified edge. The irregularities will catch and start a cut when used on a draw very effectively. You will see a big difference when attempting to carve etc compared to a more polished edge though, it won't perform anywhere near as well. If used with a draw and lighter pressure, the edge formations can last a long time and make a great utility cutter. There is a very limited number of stroppings one can do on a coarser edge before it starts to loose its fiz in my experience, but it can generally go a longer time with no maintenance than a finer edge. If you are doing cutting chores where you have to apply some pressure to that coarse edge, you'll notice it won't hold up as long.

In my opinion your issues with finer polishes likely come back to angle holding technique. The margin of error to produce a "flat" cutting edge when done freehand is defined by the abrasive size, larger abrasives have larger margins of error. The "wobble zone" is the size of the abrasive (or what is sticking proud on the stone). Finer abrasives have smaller margins of error and with the same amount of precision that works fine a coarse stone will make a somewhat rounded edge.

This issue comes up a fairly often, many folks can make good to great edges up to a point and then it starts to taper off ( I was the same way). IMHO that's where your technique becomes a limiting factor.
 
Your producing a good edge on a coarse stone. Good. What's the grit of your coarse stone? Stropping it will take it a step finer/ more refined. This being a good cutter, just camp there for now and keep working at your sharpening technique. That's a good cutting edge and will last a long time. As your abilities on a stone get better take it 200 grit finer (one more stone). Which is all the refinement you'll need (around 350 grit). Plus, some stropping. This edge will give you plenty of performance. It will end up around 400 grit. Your doing fine, just keep working at it. What steel? DM
 
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