First edge with Edge Pro + 6000 grit tape question

Check out the edge porn thread. Im sure i have a post in there showing some stuff and listing the respective finishes
 
If I go up to 3000 with the tape it makes a pretty much perfect mirror. Don't really see how the 6000 could make it any better tbh. I can't say anything about sharpness though.
 
I don't have the polishing tapes but I have a 10K Chosera stones to go along with my 1k and 400 and I am able to get some really sharp mirror polished edges. This is my work knife and hasn't been sharpened in probably about a week. Also its a Strider SMF so it cries if you don't use it.
 
Need a good camera and good light for that, in person after meticulous grit progression and with an eye for it the difference is readily apparent. 3k finishes look a little wavy and 6k looks a lot less wavy.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but with the 3k grit and the green compound supposedly being the same grit, if I went up to the 6k I'd think it would negate the use of my strop (unless I got another strop with finer diamond paste or red compound?).

I don't know about the sharpness off of the 6k grit, but coming off of the 3000 grit with very light pressure, these knives (I've done all 4 now) are definitely sharper after a little bit of stropping (I use light pressure when stropping) assuming both the strop and 3k tape are equal in grit. I suppose chalk that up to the leather knocking off the last little bit of microburr?
 
Also unless your using hand american green compound then ita not 0.5u , could be anytbing. The stick compounds are notorious for thier poor paefticle size distribuition.
 
Yeah I'm wondering about the green compound particle size I have. I recently finished my first S30V knife on the EP, a Ritter Mini Grip, and came off the 3000 with a nice mirror and crazy sharp. Stropped for a minute or so and was going to take some pics of the result, but noticed that the finish wasn't catching the light very well. Sort of a haze on the finish. Another minute or so back on the 3000 and the mirror came back.

So I'm guessing this green compound isn't what I assumed it to be. Can someone recommend a true compound or paste that will finish higher than the 3k tapes? Preferred brands and place to buy them would be greatly appreciated.
 
I was looking around on CKTG and noticed there are a couple different sprays, ken's and handamerican. Ken's is over 3 times the cost of the HA. Is there that big of a difference between the two?

Also has anyone tried the kangaroo strop designed for the edge pro? Would they be a good option, and would they work well with spray or better if left dry? I noticed there is a 2" wide option that would work well for freehand touch ups. Thanks for the input.
 
The HA stuff is monocrystaline diamond , which is significantly cheaper than both CBN and Poly Diamond.

Monocrystalline means that the particles are blockish in shape and have a set number of cutting edges.
Polycrystalline has many cutting edges given the same size particle. Depending on which particles sizes your talking about this can range from 20x - 100+x more cutting edges per particle. Cbn is the same in this regard.

This makes CBN and Poly much faster on harder steels and ceramic.

The CBN leaves a slightly smoother finish.
The Poly leaves a slightly toothier finish.

I use CBN on roo , the heavy burnishing effect caused by the roo compliments the CBN nicely.
I use Poly on nanocloth which gives a pure effect from the compound with no burnishing. leaves a microacopically toothy edge (beyond what we can see even at 1000x)

HA is the only other company i would buy abrasives from besides Ken.
 
Sadden, I appreciate all the good info.

If I'm currently finishing at 3k (~0.5u) and was going to invest in only one kangaroo strop for the EP, would the best abrasive to finish up on be the 0.25u, or is it too far of a jump to go all the way to the 0.125u? How long does one bottle typically last? CKTG seems to be out of stock on Ken's 0.25u, but there is 0.25u HA available.

Another thing is that I wouldn't want to buy a roo strop for the EP and load it up with the cheaper spray, only to be dissatisfied and have to purchase another strop to load with Ken's spray, if that makes any sense. Also, I haven't ruled out getting 2 strops and loading each with 0.25 and 0.125.
 
Hard question for me to answer. The EP grading system is non linear and seems highly innacurate IMO.

If the 3k truly is 0.5u then a jump to 0.125uis not out of the question.

In regards as to how long a bottle lasts , its a very very long time. The only person i know whose used a significant portion of one bottle uses some 80u cbn (bout 160 grit) on a fullsize belt grinder shaping his knives. Hes used about 1/5 of a 2oz bottle to shape over 500 knives.

Ive done quite a few knives with the stuff and havent needed to reload yet..... I use 0.025u poly on nanaocloth (3x11 on glass) and havent needed to reload it yet either , use it every 2 days.


You probably wont ever use a full bottle , instead you will just go back and get a wider range of grits , ask me how i know :p
 
Yes, I've definitely been bitten by the extreme sharp and polish bug. Hey, everyone's gotta have a vice, right?

Somehow I never noticed that there are many options for stropping designed for the EP. I've noticed in particular kangaroo, balsa, and nanocloth. If I were to choose 2 of these combined with 2 different sprays, what combinations would you recommend assuming 3k is truly 0.5u? I probably wouldn't go any lower (for now) than 0.1u. My initial thoughts, unless suggested otherwise, is kangaroo with 0.25u and nanocloth with 0.1u.
 
0.25 and 0.1u Poly on Nanocloth. Very fast , leaves an incredibly "sticky" edge. Makes a versatile knife that can handle lots of situations.

Eventually id be weaning off the EP films and moving towards strops/compound to replace those grits. More cost effective long term. And less finnicky.



Id avoid balsa below 1u.
 
Sadden, I noticed you said you use CBN on kangaroo and poly on nano. Would CBN for both perform just as well?

So, in other words do you not see much need for the roo? I know how to strop on basic leathers and compounds and can do it well, but could probably use more education in different stropping mediums like roo, balsa, nano, etc.
 
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Yeah, I should have done some more research before saying the 3k tape was 0.5u. The EP site itself says the 3k tapes are equal to 3u. I was getting my number off the first post in the grand unified grit chart sticky. Oh well.

Now knowing what we know, I'm finishing at 3u. What would be the best progression after that for a couple strops? 1u to 0.5u or 0.25u? Just kinda spitballing here. All suggestions are welcome, and also which media you would place these on. (kangaroo, balsa, nano, etc). I'm thinking it'd be too great a jump from the 3u to 0.25u to 0.1u as previously discussed.
 
3u would be around 5k , makes more sense.

Id go 1u CBN and then 0.5u CBN. See how you like that :) Roo or Nanocloth , depends if you want burnishing or not.
 
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