Knives becoming dull after sharpening

[Obsessed with Edges]

considering it was hair shaving sharp out of box and barely slicing paper after i sharpened...i think they might do better job.

my only concern is that hope i dont lose too much steel in the sharpening process and make the belly look weirdly narrow

That's very common with trying to restore 'factory sharpness' on a lot of blades. A lot of factory edges are very thick with obtuse edge angles (BM is no exception), and the 'factory sharpness' comes mainly from thin burrs that get buffed into alignment as the final step in finishing the blade. If any of that burr does remain on the edge (buffing is supposed to remove them, but often doesn't), it'll mimic a shaving-sharp edge for a long while, and maybe cut paper pretty well, until the edge gets a little wear from other uses. Trying to exactly re-create that same 'factory sharpness' is daunting, because it relies mostly on that thin burr atop a thick & obtuse edge. If one does a good job of actually removing that burr from such an edge, all that's left is a wide-angled apex with thick steel behind it, and it'll never cut as easily again.

Actually thinning the steel behind the edge, and then grinding the apex angle to something narrower than the 'factory angle', is the best way to not just restore a shaving-sharp edge, but to improve upon it and make it more durable and much easier to maintain and restore when it dulls a little bit.


David

 

[darthwayne]

it came back from lifesharp service

but the edge looks slightly shorter:

super sharp otherwise