Norton Water Stones

[dsmegst]

I'm noticing a small problem with using these stones.

I've got 2 combo stones covering 220/1000 and 4000/8000.

The knife in question has O-1 steel Scandi grind blade so it's not too hard to keep at a constant angle. I've done 10 strokes on one side and then the other side. Repeat. I finish with 10 more strokes per side and alternate every stroke.

Then I proceed through the grits.

On the 8000 grit stone, I'm working up a slurry and repeating the sequence as above but I do 4 x 10 strokes per side and 20 x 1 strokes per side.

Afterwards, I spent some time stropping with quality green compound.

at 100x magnification, I can see that the very edge still has some microscopic chipping instead of a smooth constant edge.

Where could this be coming from? Am I not spending enough time on each grit? I've been using the same container of water to soak and clean the stones. Am I contaminating the finer stones? Or do I need to go to an even finer grit?

The good thing is that the knife is pretty sharp. I can't whittle hair, but I can pop hair while shaving. It's not quite the edge I get on the paper wheels but close. 20 degree inclusive edge is pretty damn awesome.

 

[Jason B.]

Your not using the stones enough, you must use each stone until the scratch pattern has completely changed. As the stones get finer you must do more strokes and if you are letting the slury drip into the water then you are using that water to keep you stones wet then yes you are contaminating. O1 is not that easy to grind, it will also take more time because you are sharpening a large amount of steel at once.

 

[cbwx34]

I would add that if the knife isn't in need of major work or repair, avoid the 220 stone and start with the 1000. The 220 is amore aggressive grind you then have to smooth out, and could be what's making your edge look chipped. If you need to rebevel a knife, try and stop with the 220, before reaching the edge. (Obviously not possible if you have a damaged edge to fix).

cbw