Mirror edges with KME?

[sharp_edge]

I am having difficulties to put on highly mirror polished edges on my knives progressing with KME's 140, 300, 600, and 1,500 grit diamond stones followed by its lapping films. I mean the edges are shiny and kind of mirror but at certain light angles I can still see some obvious scratches. I don't feel those lapping films are very effective or maybe I did not sharpening longer enough with each stone/film before moving on to the next one? Or do I need some aftermarket stones after the 1,500 grit in order to achieve true mirror edges? By the way, sharpness is not the issue here.

 

[Wowbagger]

I can still see some obvious scratches

To me it looks like you need to spend more time on each of the middle stones until the scratches from the 140 are completely removed .
Use magnification.
One advantage of sharpeners that let you change the way the grit cuts across the sharpening angle face is that you can see the scratches / pattern from the previous stone while you use the next finer grit to remove the old patern of scratches . Think the way a lawn mover leaves tracks on the lawn and when you change patterns across the lawn
The lapping film will tell you when you are done with the other finer stones .
Keep at it .
It's not a quick thing to do .

PS : bottom line (pun intended) use the next stone up from 140 until you have removed all the metal from the edge that is above the bottom of the scratch(s) made by the 140.

 

[sharp_edge]

To me it looks like you need to spend more time on each of the middle stones until the scratches from the 140 are completely removed .
Use magnification.
One advantage of sharpeners that let you change the way the grit cuts across the sharpening angle face is that you can see the scratches / pattern from the previous stone while you use the next finer grit to remove the old patern of scratches . Think the way a lawn mover leaves tracks on the lawn and when you change patterns across the lawn
The lapping film will tell you when you are done with the other finer stones .
Keep at it .
It's not a quick thing to do .

PS : bottom line (pun intended) use the next stone up from 140 until you have removed all the metal from the edge that is above the bottom of the scratch(s) made by the 140.

Thanks! That actually is a good idea, which also answers my question on how to tell the scratches from previous stone are completely removed. So basically, for example, sharpening with one stone at the 45 degree angle and the next at the 135 degree angle, and so on. Correct?

 

[Ozmose]

That can come from grit contamination too. Are you cleaning your blade thoroughly before moving to the higher grit stones? One little speck can jack up a mirror edge real easy.

 

[Tensaw]

One of the things I liked about the KME was being able to take the knife outside for inspection without removing it from the clamp.

 

[sharp_edge]

That can come from grit contamination too. Are you cleaning your blade thoroughly before moving to the higher grit stones? One little speck can jack up a mirror edge real easy.

Could be. I wipep the blade before moving on to the next stone, though definitely not thoroughly.

 

[joesrx]

Agree with more time on the mid grits and maybe lighter pressure.

 

[Wowbagger]

Thanks! That actually is a good idea, which also answers my question on how to tell the scratches from previous stone are completely removed. So basically, for example, sharpening with one stone at the 45 degree angle and the next at the 135 degree angle, and so on. Correct?

Yes or just a few degrees different . As long as you are clearly crossing the old scratches and creating a visibly different texture .

 

[Wowbagger]

Could be. I wipep the blade before moving on to the next stone, though definitely not thoroughly.

Should be running water over the blade and rinsing / scrubbing the stone under a water tap. Cool to cold water is best not hot / messes with some water stone binders .
When I see a stone loading up (especially the finer grits ) ; and easier to see on water stones like Norton or Shapton , then I rinse the stone and blade. With most stones I do this many times while I am working with each stone and usually use a "thing" to clean the "pores" of the stone . I use different stone cleaning "things" depending on the type of stone .There are rust erasers that work well for this . These are what I use and they are for taking rust off the sides of Japanese knives (which I never use them for ) but they work great on some types of sharpening stones :

Rust Eraser Sabitoru Medium and Fine 2-piece Set​