Mirror edge sharpening/maintenance

[drummerdimitri]

After having put a nice mirror edge on my blade, I find myself not knowing how to resharpen the edge or maintain it.

I use 3 different diamond paste grits (7/5, 3/2, 1/0) after the 1000 grit stone to achieve an incredible mirror polish.

My question is the following: When my knife stops cutting the way it used to and there is no visible damage to the edge, do I go back to the 1000 grit stone and progress through the diamond pastes or do I just strop with the diamond pastes and if so, what grit progression should I be using?

 

[rampco88]

Without knowing the steel on your knife, but assuming it’s of good quality and the edge is not completely gone, usually some time on the strop is all that’s needed to maintain/touch it up. Benchmade/Work Sharp makes a nice edge maintenance tool (model #50030) with a ceramic rod and strop. Should be all you need.

 

[drummerdimitri]

Without knowing the steel on your knife, but assuming it’s of good quality and the edge is not completely gone, usually some time on the strop is all that’s needed to maintain/touch it up. Benchmade/Work Sharp makes a nice edge maintenance tool (model #50030) with a ceramic rod and strop. Should be all you need.

My knife has an M390 blade and I am using a TSPROF Blitz pro sharpening system.

 

[shane45-1911]

Get yourself a jeweler's eye loupe. You will be able to see the edge MUCH better and determine what level of polishing is required, based on the scratches that are not easily visible to the naked eye.

 

[kreisler]

do I go back to the 1000 grit stone and progress through the diamond pastes

yes

explanation: if the edge is dull because the apex has become rounded, then a stone will create the needed microburr and bring the apex crispiness back. diamond pastes are for cleaning up the crispy apex line, removing remainders of microburr.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Because mirrored edges are important....