I don't know what I did to this edge!!!!!!

HoosierQ said:
That's where the Sharpie comes in. If you remove all the ink right down to the edge on both sides and don't have a big old burr piled up, you've apexed the edge. Magnification also helps. I have a magnifying glass which is just allright. Some people use loupes and microscopes with much greater magnification. An apexed edge is, by definition I suppose, one where the planes of both bevels (both sides) intersect in a single curved line along the edge (a straight line I suppose if we're talking wharncliff). In other words both of the bevels meet at the very edge. No realistically, that edge will have some thickness (and thus not be a line geometrically speaking) but if you can't see any width to the edge itself with magnification, you have an apex.

Failing to achieve an apexed edge along the entire edge is probably the single biggest problem for new sharpeners. It is also what happens when a sharp knife gets dull. That apex is just a few molecules of steel wide if you've done your job right and it either wears off, leaving metal on what you've cut, chips off, or rolls over...thus taking away a nice straight crisp apex. The other big problem is getting a big burr and leaving it. A burr is shards of metal raised up by the abrasive still hanging off the edge. When first formed, it can seem very sharp but those shards break off quickly and dull the edge. A burr, while part of the process of getting an apexed edge, can fool you. You gotta get that off of there. Imagine a burr as being like one of those crazy punk spikey mohawks that people wear...standing straight up from what may or may not be an apex.
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Thanks for explaining this so clearly for me.
 
ben, if you still have problems i would be glad to give you a call if you send me your number. i sharpen a lot of knives and i use the white compound to strop the edges. i had a tilt sent to me for sharpening and the white compound put a shaving sharp edge on it no problem.

rje196021@gmail.com
 
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