How do I take scary sharp to the next level?

[Furious_Toast]

Hi everyone,
I have a huge pet peeve about knives being sharp...really sharp. Well I can get my knives pretty sharp, easily sharp enough to get a clean shave, but I want to know how to take it to the next level. I've heard rumors of knives that can shave without even touching skin. How do I do this? Right now I have stones up into the 3-5k grit range and I strop with cardboard because I have yet to get my hands on a decent cheap strop. Will a leather strop get me to scary sharp? I just want to find the cheapest way possible.

Thanks!

 

[KennyB]

Too many ways to answer this question without more information about the knives you're trying to sharpen, what angle, blade thickness and grind type, etc.

 

[Kai Winters]

When I open my knife the hair falls off my arms in fear. How I get the edge this sharp??? Not gonna say...hehehe

 

[philwar]

I can only speak for myself. I can get most folders sharp enough to shave a freehanging hair with just the Spyderco Sharpmaker.
If I feel like going crazy, I use the Edge Pro Apex. Takes a lot more effort, but I can get an edge so sharp, quantum physicists have borrowed my knives to split atoms.

 

[Sadden]

What stones do you have now? Shapton makes stones as fine as 30k , by that point you are starting to get to a respectable level of sharpness.

With that said you are concerned about cost. However as you go finer and finer you will find increasingly few options. A cheap strop is not ideal here either. For now focus on getting a clean burr free edge off of what you currently have. Save up and pick up an 8k stone (i am partial to the shaptons). Also get a 2 Kangaroo Leather strops and some 1u and 0.5u CBN. Its the most cost effective way to get a true 30k edge.