Fed up with sharpening!

[sevenedges]

Cliff, I should have been more definitive. you are exactly right on the reasons why it tales so long to resharpen a knife on a benchstone. What I should have said was "re-bevel a knife on a benchstone." Which is what I used to do. I now just throw it on the belt sander. Then use a microbevel. after a few microbevel sharpenings It gets the sander again and then finish it off with the stone micro beveling. However I have never been able to duplicate the cutting performance (sheer sharpness) of a blade that does not have a micro bevel. Sure they(microbevels) pop hairs and thats all you really need. But a single beveled edge is sharper to me, if for no other reason that it is a few degrees less at the cutting edge. Sure I could start the primary bevel a few degrees lower than normal so my micro bevel would end up at the same angle as it would if I didn't use one at all, but what ever i am cutting has to overcome that 5% microbevel slowing it down and making it a less effecient cutting tool. This may seem and is trivial but using a microbevel takes away from the overall scalpel like cutting power a edge can posess. I use one because they are fast, however I am going to re bevel a blade freehand this weekend to see what i can do.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

... was "re-bevel a knife on a benchstone."

Yeah, that can take awhile especially with the really low grindability steels commonly used now. I primarily use a 200 silicon carbide waterstone for such work which cuts such steels fairly fast meaning I can lower an edge on a small folder in minutes by using a lot of force and very rapid "filing" with a small section of stone.

I now just throw it on the belt sander.

Yeah, I do the same for knives of any size or to do the first rough cut on most knives which I refine with stones.

... what ever i am cutting has to overcome that 5% microbevel slowing it down and making it a less effecient cutting tool.

Rather than looking at it as the micro-bevel being more obtuse, look at it as the relief grind being more acute. The edge bevel needs to be at a certain angle to give it the necessary strength or otherwise it will fold. However the steel behind it doesn't need that angle and so you can reduce it, usually a lot, like half or less. This is the same principle that makes it more efficient to have a primary grind rather than just one edge bevel on flat stock (scandinavian grind).

-Cliff

 

[sodak]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Is the EdgePro clamp able to properly clamp a full flat ground blade?

For those that recommended using a coarse DMT stone and the Sharpmaker, how do you estimate and control the bevel on the DMT stone?

DB, I'll try your trick tonight and see how it goes.

As Gunmike1 noted, the edgepro simply is a resting platform for the blade, but it works best with a flat ground blade. I have found that the edgepro has helped me tremendously in perfecting my benchstone technique also. Once you know what sharp is, then you know what to strive for.

This thread has some great advice also, I use Cliff's microbeveling technique also. Works great. A belt sander is on my Christmas list...

 

[sevenedges]

Cliff, true you can't get too thin of an edge, or it will be useless on anything but newsprint. I am going to thin out a sebenza this weekend and see how much stress it can take with a single grind vs. a microbevel. I cut an aluminum recessed lighting fixture the other day with a microbevel on a sebenza and it still shaved cut about a foot of it at least. it still shaved. I know it would have been duller than a chisel had it been single ground. happy chopping. I too love to cut wood with blades, people think I'm crazy chopping up all this firewood while they sit around camp scratching their heads. Maybe I'm crazy I don't think so though.