Getting better Sharpening?!

[exracr]

I've been using Lansky Arkansas soft Stones/ lansky oil.. got an almost white, and a really dark blackish/grey stone to finish. Stroping on backside of leather belt. I've sharpened probably 400 knives n 5 kitchen block sets since Christmas 2015 seriously.

I got my new Buck Vanguard to literally sliced downward with only gravity pulling the blade thru phone book paper if i get the tip started into the paper. I can hold the blade with two fingers, one on each side and let it swing and go downward thru a page length of phone book paper.

But it won't grab the outside edge of a page? How realistic is it to get this thing much sharper with the way I'm sharpening it?

It's scary sharp now... little sucker tried to cut my thumb finger print off earlier- 1/4" and didn't pull blood.

 

[exracr]

I really wish I could figure out what to use to finish up blades to give them the mirror polished edge. I figure it's my stropping?

Any products, techniques that you guys have used personally with pics would be much appreciated.

I've got a bunch of large pieces of different kinds of leather laying around here I want to make into strops; just haven't built them yet. Pastes you prefer???

 

[MichaelMyers]

Too polished maybe or over stropped. Try slicing onto folded toilet paper. All my knives loses bite if I strop too much. Nowadays I call it a day after removing the burrs on a 600 grit lansky diamond. Plenty of bite.

 

[bucketstove]

I've been using Lansky Arkansas soft Stones/ lansky oil.. got an almost white, and a really dark blackish/grey stone to finish. Stroping on backside of leather belt. I've sharpened probably 400 knives n 5 kitchen block sets since Christmas 2015 seriously.

I got my new Buck Vanguard to literally sliced downward with only gravity pulling the blade thru phone book paper if i get the tip started into the paper. I can hold the blade with two fingers, one on each side and let it swing and go downward thru a page length of phone book paper.

But it won't grab the outside edge of a page? How realistic is it to get this thing much sharper with the way I'm sharpening it?

It's scary sharp now... little sucker tried to cut my thumb finger print off earlier- 1/4" and didn't pull blood.

Hi,
What do you mean by "grab", are you talking about push cutting ? no slice just straight down?
can you slice the paper if you start at the edge of paper?
Are you raising a burr? What do you do to remove it?

 

[exracr]

If I hold the paper upright, the blade doesn't grab the paper n start to cut the paper by itself. I think I'm refering to it's "Bite".... it pushes the paper over instead of biting into it on it's own.

It slices like butter everywhere on the blade, has zero burrs when felt with top of fingernail the whole length down it currently.

 

[bucketstove]

If I hold the paper upright, the blade doesn't grab the paper n start to cut the paper by itself. I think I'm refering to it's "Bite".... it pushes the paper over instead of biting into it on it's own.

It slices like butter everywhere on the blade, has zero burrs when felt with top of fingernail the whole length down it currently.

Ok oh, so its not push cutting, push cutting is not about tooth/bite, its about how well you form the apex (the V) and remove the burr

Here is an example of an overstropped/rounded/toothless/biteless edge, it won't saw/slice/cut human skin (or tomato skin), but will still slice paper well , it has zero "slicing aggression" Scam science- blade proof superhuman- how its done - oT E M P E 5 To

Now he doesn't exactly show push cutting that printer paper, he slices it, but the way he does it pretty close to a push on 45, it shows me that edge will do a push cut on that printer paper at 90 , printer paper is easier to cut than newspaper or phonebookpaper

Here you can see an edge formed on a 180/320grit stone, formed without stropping, do push cuts on newspaper at 90 degree, 45 tip left , 45 tip up, its almost first person point of view push cutting demo Normark EKA 12C27 : optimal edge geometry for slicing hardwoods (norton economy fine edge) - CliffStamp

Now he doesn't try slicing skin or tomato in the video, but that edge will do those thing, because hes got a 320 grit "tooth" on that edge, he didn't strop it on a buffer, its still toothy , it won't slip on a tomato

 

[bgentry]

But it won't grab the outside edge of a page? How realistic is it to get this thing much sharper with the way I'm sharpening it?

So it won't start a cut into the edge of paper with a push. Will it cut the edge of the paper if you make a slicing motion?

There is a bit of technique to cutting the edge of paper. Try starting at a 45 degree angle to the page. This makes it much easier. If it rips the paper, turn the paper a quarter turn and try the other edge. The grain in paper runs one way (in most paper) and slicing with the grain is easier than slicing against the grain.

If your blade won't cut the edge with any of these methods, I'd guess the edge is rounded in some way. Or perhaps it has a large burr pushed to one side. If that's the case, the blade should shave arm hair like *crazy* on one side of the blade, but the other side won't shave.

Brian.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I've been using Lansky Arkansas soft Stones/ lansky oil.. got an almost white, and a really dark blackish/grey stone to finish. Stroping on backside of leather belt. I've sharpened probably 400 knives n 5 kitchen block sets since Christmas 2015 seriously.

I got my new Buck Vanguard to literally sliced downward with only gravity pulling the blade thru phone book paper if i get the tip started into the paper. I can hold the blade with two fingers, one on each side and let it swing and go downward thru a page length of phone book paper.

But it won't grab the outside edge of a page? How realistic is it to get this thing much sharper with the way I'm sharpening it?

It's scary sharp now... little sucker tried to cut my thumb finger print off earlier- 1/4" and didn't pull blood.

If I hold the paper upright, the blade doesn't grab the paper n start to cut the paper by itself. I think I'm refering to it's "Bite".... it pushes the paper over instead of biting into it on it's own.

It slices like butter everywhere on the blade, has zero burrs when felt with top of fingernail the whole length down it currently.

There's a saying about sharp edges: "Geometry cuts."

The thinner the edge geometry is, the easier it'll be to make the knife's edge bite the edge of the phonebook page. By 'geometry', this includes edge angle, thickness behind the edge, and the apex width. The apex width, in particular, is what'll better enable the 'bite' at the edge of the phonebook page, and it's all about refinement (thinning); using finer stones/abrasives with a very, very light touch and good, steady control of the angle will help. Otherwise, most any decent stone or sharpening tool, used with competent technique, can still do most of the job. If the edge isn't biting the edge of the paper, it's likely because the apex is too wide, or not fully apexed, or rounded, or a combination of all these factors.

As to your subsequent post about wanting to achieve a mirror finish:
You'll need a tighter sequence of sharpening grits on the stones, up through 2000-grit or higher, plus stropping with appropriate polishing compound, to get a true mirror on the bevels. Chances are, your existing stones might not be quite enough to make it ready for mirror-polishing on the strops. A bare leather strop will do almost nothing for polishing; it's basically only helpful in cleaning up the very weak burrs and other loose debris left by sharpening.


David

 

[awestib]

Here you can see an edge formed on a 180/320grit stone, formed without stropping, do push cuts on newspaper at 90 degree, 45 tip left , 45 tip up, its almost first person point of view push cutting demo Normark EKA 12C27 : optimal edge geometry for slicing hardwoods (norton economy fine edge) - CliffStamp

I really like that video! The angles he mentioned may be off by a degree or two (since he is not measuring it) but the point is that he works this knife in a way that makes a lot of sense to get the performance he needs for a certain job.

 

[Megabassx7]

Sounds like the it's too obtuse. Try thinning it out a bit and it should be doing what you want it to. I have had that problem alot and it took me forever to realize when I looked down the edge that it was just to fat after the apex. Can you fold the paper in half and slice along the fold like you want?