edge trailing sharpening/stropping beyond shaving sharp

awestib

awestib

Joined
Dec 29, 2008
Messages
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O.k., following instructions from all your expertise guys, I am quite comfortable now to sharpen any knife to easily shaving sharp and cutting fine paper with just edge trailing/stropping motion on sandpaper (I actually use sanding belts that happen to be the right width for the strop, they are 3M Trizact belts) on thick leather only with 65 and 16 microns, then I strop on good quality green compound (0.5 microns) on same leather strop. I don't want to put another microbevel on with ceramics so that is not an option. Is it possible to go beyond shaving/newsprint cutting with this setup or do I have to go further down with the sandpaper (they also come in 6 microns but not beyond)? It's perfectly fine for what I need and very quick and easy! However, you all now, we are driven ...
Thanks guys!
Andy
 
I've been doing a lot of fiddling with sandpaper sharpening lately, using mostly 400 - 600 grit on both hardwood and leather-on-hardwood, then stropping with either diamond compound, or silicon carbide compound, or green. The more I do it, and the more I'm able to improve my results (to tree-topping arm hair, currently), the more I believe it's possible to take an edge as far as you're capable. I don't think the tools & materials will be the roadblock to that end, but technique always is.

I'm sure that, with very good technique, much improvement could be made by progresssing through finer grits (up through 2000+). But, the farther you go in grit, the easier it becomes to over-do it, and at some point you might see the aggressiveness go away from the edge. At the same time, I also think it's possible to refine technique at the lower & medium grits, and get results at least as good. One thing I've noticed that seems to make a difference, is to use hard backing when at or very near the finishing strokes, regardless of whichever grit that may be. That seems to result in a much cleaner apex, for me, before going to the strop.
 
After getting the hang of it (hearing/feeling when the angle and pressure is right), I now rarely fail to get a hair whittling edge with brkt white compound. I don't know the particle size, but it should be bigger than 0.5 micron. I have 0.5 micron compound too, but it's a different kind that's messier (gets all over the place). If I'm not getting the edge I want, I go to the black compound for a couple of swipes (perhaps at a shallower angle, not sure) and then I go back to the white compound.

I usually just do touch ups of v-edges on the strop (in stead of (v-)micro bevel), but I've also convexed a couple of dull/slightly damaged knives using sand paper (I used 600 and 1200 -- sounded about right, haven't tried other grits) and the two compounds and whittled hair.
 
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Hey mrdeus, I thought the white compound is finer than the green one? But it seems that the BRKT green compound is a mix of different size "grains". I remember reading (forgot where) about the carbide size in regular carbon steels (like the one I have the most, O1), and it is about .5 microns or so, so I think in theory, I should get an whittling edge on the green compound. I think I have to work on my technique, maybe even more careful strokes etc.?! Thanks OwE for the input!
 
Yeah, in bark river's case the white is finer than the green, but I've heard that generally green is supposed to be finer, but I guess it varies. The white compound certainly cuts fast enough. The bottle of green compound I have says "0.5 micron 60,000 grit". The brkt compounds didn't come with any info, but the white is listed as 12,000 grit (green 6000, black 3000) in online stores.
 
'White' compound varies all over the place. Not just particle size, but the abrasive type in the compound. Most of the time, it's probably aluminum oxide, and the particle sizes for that cover a huge range, and also vary in hardness and/or friability (how/if the particles break down into smaller particles). Sometimes the 'white' compounds are a different abrasive altogether, like tin oxide or even talc, which is useful only for buffing very soft materials. Really depends on individual manufacturers and vendors, as to what they're actually selling as 'white' compound. About the only way to know, is to ask the vendor or the manufacturer (if known).

It's possible, and even likely sometimes, that a given 'finishing' compound may be a larger particle size, but still perform like a smaller one. This is due to differences in hardness and particle shape, for the most part.
 
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