How to make even sharper????

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kriller1217

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Sep 25, 2011
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Since joining bladeforums, I have began to become OCD about my sharpness. I do not have all of the fancy gear, nor the experience, but I thought I was doing very well for myself, until now.

I have a sharpmaker with ultrafine rods and have been practicing quite a bit. I have all of my blades hair popping sharp (not sure about whittling, dont really know how to do that yet), and they all VERY cleanly slice paper when I am finished with them. I was actually pretty impressed with how sharp I could get my folders.... that was until my new Mora came in the mail today. This completely blew all of my newly sharpened blades out of the water, seriously not even close!

Now my question: Is it possible for me with the equipment I have to get my folders this sharp?! This is the new standard that I want with every one of my knives! I have looked into buying a strop and learning how to strop after using the hones, and I am excited to begin that. Will stropping help me to achieve this type of sharpness? I am seriously still in awe about how high my new standard are, and they were set by a $12 knife!

Now, from my readings around here I have learned that by honing or polishing a blade too much, it may be sharper, but tough to notice because it is so polished and smooth. This is fine with me, but how do I test that? Is there a test other than shaving or paper cutting that will show how sharp my very polished blade truly is? I like to touch my blades up as often as possible, it's fun for me, so edge retention is not much of an issue.

Sorry for the random post, I just re-read it and it was a lot of rambling. Im sure someone on here though can relate!
 
That seems to be two questions that I can see. The first as I understand it is "Can I get my folders that sharp on the equipment I have?". I can't answer that directly since I don't know how sharp your Mora is. However, I can tell you that you can get pretty damn sharp on Sharpmaker, assuming that you are starting with a decent edge. But if you have a really dull knife, it will take a lot of time to get reasonably sharp on the Sharpmaker. If you don't really use your knives heavily, frequent touchups on the sharpmaker will keep it sharp.

The second question is "how do I test that?". There are other tests like toilet paper cutting, the three finger test, etc. I just like this one.

[youtube]TRt_aCz0mmc[/youtube]
 
singularity35 said:
That seems to be two questions that I can see. The first as I understand it is "Can I get my folders that sharp on the equipment I have?". I can't answer that directly since I don't know how sharp your Mora is. However, I can tell you that you can get pretty damn sharp on Sharpmaker, assuming that you are starting with a decent edge. But if you have a really dull knife, it will take a lot of time to get reasonably sharp on the Sharpmaker. If you don't really use your knives heavily, frequent touchups on the sharpmaker will keep it sharp.

The second question is "how do I test that?". There are other tests like toilet paper cutting, the three finger test, etc. I just like this one.

[youtube]TRt_aCz0mmc[/youtube]
Click to expand...

Thanks for the video! I really dont "heavily" use my knives, mostly little things like tape and packaging. I will keep practicing on the sharpmaker, I am going right now to try that test in the video!
 
It is possible to get a VERY sharp knife with a 204 (my abreviation for Sharpmaker). Especially with the UF white stones. Before starting with the advice, what is it about the Mora that makes it so far beyond knives that are hair popping sharp?

A test that got a lot of play around here for a while was push cutting thread on a scale. I use a light sewing thread and a small gram scale, graduated in 10 gram increments. Most of the time, I can make a cut with less than 10 grams. Do not compare your results to others (mine included) you see posted unless you know all the variables are the same. Even then, do so cautiously, as even a slight draw/slice will drop the measure by 1/2 or more. You'll need a thread holder that is U or l__l shaped to hold the thread, and a small scale, like a kitchen scale. One that can be zeroed is preferable. This is still a relative test, as in, this knife is sharper than that one. The absolute values of cutting the thread won't mean much at first. After while, you'll be able to correlate different cutting feats to cutting force on the scale. Say, 10 grams will whittle hair, 50 will shave hair off your arm, 200 will still slice paper, etc.

You can also try folding up about 1/4" to 1/2" of the edge of a page from a phone book and push cutting straight down into it with no draw/slice action. Just tear a page out, fold up one edge so it's standing vertical and push down with your knife. The longer the piece you fold up, the more difficult it is.

Many people push cut paper and measure/estimate how far from the holding point the cut is. Push cutting right next to where you are gripping it is easier, doing so a couple to several inches from the hold point is very difficult. This test eludes me. Even my sharpest blades won't go beyond about 1.5" or maybe 2" on my best day.
 
If you're good at free hand, and you want insanely sharp, definitely look into strops.

I'd say get a wet stone (my preference is water, not oil) and start by putting 30° inclusive bevel, my experience is that D2 and S30V can be taken steeper than that, but it's about as far as I like to go for stuff like AUS8, and that's entirely tailored to my use of the knives, so what good that will do for you, I don't know.

Some compounds apply with greater ease than others, I'm a big fan of chromium oxide.
 
I believe if you put some Mother's Mag Polish on some copy paper and strop it like that it should get a bit sharper. Not sure if having a mousepad under it helps.
 
This is what you can then do after the strop and some practice (this it a very fine grained steel though) This is off medium lansky rods at 20 on one side , 3-6 on the other (its chisel ground), then stropped with 0.5 micron paste

[video=youtube;3fbMz1JaG1w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fbMz1JaG1w&feature=player_profilepage[/video](Ignore the music- im a metalhead :D)
 
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There are basicly two ways to get a edge sharper. Lower the angle, and depending on the type of cutting polish, or coarse up the edge. With the UF hones you should be able to get a great polished edge. Keep them clean and use very light pressure. I personally think the best way to get a knife sharper is to lower the angle. You can do this by raiseing up one end of your Sharpmaker to lower the angle. Truthfully lowering the edge angle with the Sharpmaker is going to take alot of time. Coarse sandpaper around the hones will help a little.
 
db said:
... You can do this by raiseing up one end of your Sharpmaker to lower the angle. Truthfully lowering the edge angle with the Sharpmaker is going to take alot of time. Coarse sandpaper around the hones will help a little.
Click to expand...

I prefer this method to get lower angles on the 204.

sharpmakerwithrubberban.jpg
 
I use this test. http://www.coticule.be/hanging-hair-test.html

Not sure if your defination of hair popping is the same as what I consider it as it would be HHT-4 which is what I keep all my knifes including all of my kitchen knifes. Personnaly I use a paper wheel setup then strop on CrO on plain wood and then newsprint which makes it go from HHT2 to HHT4-5.

just remember, everone's hair is different and enviorment makes a difference as well.

Oh yeah you can try to push cut TP as well. I think its harder to pass this test some times, especially when you have to use thinner TP and not the standard red charmin. I use Costco TP myself.
 
Check on Murry Carters website.He makes the sharpest knives I have ever used.Also has some free videos (Ibelieve on facebook )and sells 2 of his instructional videos on sharpening.The final step is with a Japanese water stone.Honed point to heel9Lightly one or two passes should do it.WEM
 
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