Is my burr formation routine correct?

[Mmm390]

i found lots of videos about burr formation but they weren't too specific on details.
This routine is working for me...
But I'm having slight issues when I get down to the super fine grits.

1. Course grit on left side until I feel a burr form on right side. Switch over to a medium grit for the left side to polish it up.

2. Then I switch over to the right side(burr side)with the medium grit until I feel a burr form on the left side. Then I switch over to fine grit to finish up the right side.

3. Switch over to left side with fine grit until burr forms on right side.

4. This step is where I'm running into issues. Once I switch to super fine grit I'm having a difficult time getting a burr to form at all.
I think I can feel one...but it's very subtle even after many passes and I'm not getting consistent results with the sharpness at this point.

It's just about push cutting paper sharp....but it's not the hair popping razor sharp that it should be at this point

Thanks!

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

You really only need to form a burr at the coarsest stage. In other words, with your first stone, form a burr from one side, then 'flip' it from the other side. That verifies the edge is apexed.

After that, it's all about carefully reducing the burr and refining the edge. That means just cleaning up the edge and continually testing how it cuts as you go (should get better & better). No need to deliberately form a burr again, after the first stone. It's perfectly logical that finer stones would tend to produce a burr that's smaller/finer, to a point you'd have trouble detecting it. But you don't have to do that, if you've already burred the edge at the first stone.

 

[Eli Chaps]

I might be confused with the description, but I'm reading that as you aren't sticking with the same stone on both sides while forming the burr. I think you'll find most of us work on one stone at a time, both sides of the blade and then move to the next stone.

I do de-burring passes on every stone as well.

 

[xraso]

I do what Eli Chaps does.

Course till I find a burr - make sure it exists along all of the edge. Flip to the other side and do the same number of strokes, checking for burr along whole edge.
flip back to original side a do some light passes to clean burr (half the number as original and half the pressure), then flip again and so same number of light passes.

Switch to medium grit, repeat (smaller burr)

Fine grit repeat, but going for tiny burr, and double the clean passes.

Ultra fine (ceramic), don't form a burr, polishing passes for extra shiny bevels, flip a lot more often.

I always finish with a strop to remove any remaining burr.

 

[Wowbagger]

4. This step is where I'm running into issues. Once I switch to super fine grit I'm having a difficult time getting a burr to form at all.

What steel ?
What sharpening method; freehand or jig ?
. . . heck . . . what stones ?

 

[Pendexter]

1. Course grit on left side until I feel a burr form on right side. Switch over to a medium grit for the left side to polish it up.

2. Then I switch over to the right side(burr side)with the medium grit until I feel a burr form on the left side. Then I switch over to fine grit to finish up the right side.

If you are consistently using the coarse stone on the left side only, you'll end up with uneven bevels. One side will be taller than the other. Theoretically, at some point in the distant future, you'll end up with a Japanese style kitchen knife where it's an 80/20 grind instead of 50/50.

My understanding is that you want to do approximately the same number of passes on each side, especially for coarser stones, to ensure that your bevels are even.

I had the same question regarding burrs about a week ago. My conclusion (for freehand) was edge trailing strokes to form a full-length burr on both sides, then very light edge leading passes at a slightly elevated angle to remove the burr before moving on to the next stone. By slightly elevated, I mean either the exact same angle or maybe 1-2 degrees more. i.e. 15 edge trailing, 16 edge leading with a feather touch.

I know that some people rip the burr off on end grain wood or something similar, I imagined in my head that it would result in a less consistent apex, which is why I do the edge leading strokes to clean the burr off. But I'll be following this thread to get more info.

 

[Mmm390]

I'm testing out a friends Ken Onions work sharp that he lent me because my wet stones weren't performing well on M390 and K390.
Ive been testing it out on my cheap kitchen knives at the moment because i do not want to mess up my nicer knives right off the bat.
Which I hear can happen very quickly on a belt sander.
I've also been looking at a "Wicked Sharp" but I don't know anybody that owns one to try it out.

Until very recently I was perfectly satisfied with using wet stones to get decent working edges on my utility knives. At that time I didn't know anything about edge angles, burrs, types of grinds, etc.
But then I started collecting nicer knives and now I'm becoming obsessed with being able to sharpen them to their maximum potential. It's a surprisgly relaxing therapeutic activity/hobby.
I'm still very new to it.

But my ultimate goal is to be able to get M390 and K390 hair whittling sharp.


Ok that makes sense! So once I get a burr formed from course grit, every grit size after that is to basically clean up the bevel. Not form more burrs.

 

[Chris "Anagarika"]

All have given good advices. Since you’re starting out, I suggest to read all the stickies on this subforum. A good condensed hints, tips and insights. Especially ‘What sharpening is all about’ and ‘Seven secret’