Now that I've got the burr formed...

[Swedge]

Let's assume that I have got a burr formed all along one edge of the blade with a coarse stone. Now I hone the other side of the edge and flip the burr over to the other side. Now what?

Do I now move on to the next finer stone and repeat the process?

Or do I keep honing with the same stone but with less pressure and flip a progressivly smaller burr back and forth and try to eliminate the burr (or get it as small as possible) before moving on to the next finer stone?

And when I move on to the next finer stone, do I try to raise a burr all along one edge of the blade and then flip the burr over to the other side? Or once I've raised the burr formed all along one edge of the blade with a coarse stone and then reduced it as much as possible, do I try to avoid raising a big burr with finer stones?

 

[chococrazy]

Let's assume that I have got a burr formed all along one edge of the blade with a coarse stone. Now I hone the other side of the edge and flip the burr over to the other side. Now what?

Do I now move on to the next finer stone and repeat the process?

Or do I keep honing with the same stone but with less pressure and flip a progressivly smaller burr back and forth and try to eliminate the burr (or get it as small as possible) before moving on to the next finer stone?

And when I move on to the next finer stone, do I try to raise a burr all along one edge of the blade and then flip the burr over to the other side? Or once I've raised the burr formed all along one edge of the blade with a coarse stone and then reduced it as much as possible, do I try to avoid raising a big burr with finer stones?

You move to the next stone, It will progessively get smaller as your grits get higher. If it's still there at the end you strop or you can steel it or run the blade through of piece of hardwood.

 

[Swedge]

In other words, raise the burr, flip it once, and then move on to the next finer stone. Correct?

 

[chococrazy]

In other words, raise the burr, flip it once, and then move on to the next finer stone. Correct?

Yes. 5char

 

[Kaizen1]

I raise smaller burrs as I get into finer grits myself.

 

[THG]

What I do after that is start doing one pass per side. Once the burr is gone (or most of it or whatever I can get off), then I move onto finer grits and continue doing one pass per side, always checking to make sure I'm not making another burr.

 

[ChapmanPreferred]

When you have finished on your finest grit/abrasive then move onto a strop either charged with rouge or natural.

 

[Jason B.]

Or do I keep honing with the same stone but with less pressure and flip a progressivly smaller burr back and forth and try to eliminate the burr (or get it as small as possible) before moving on to the next finer stone?

This exactly.


If you hold your angles well it only takes a few strokes to do so.

 

[Swedge]

Or do I keep honing with the same stone but with less pressure and flip a progressivly smaller burr back and forth and try to eliminate the burr (or get it as small as possible) before moving on to the next finer stone?

This exactly.

If you hold your angles well it only takes a few strokes to do so.

And when I go on to the next stone, do I then repeat the entire process: get a burr formed all along one edge of the blade with the finer stone. Then hone the other side of the edge and flip the burr over to the other side. And then keep honing with the same stone but with less pressure and flip a progressivly smaller burr back and forth and try to eliminate the burr (or get it as small as possible) before moving on to an even finer stone?

 

[Jason B.]

Work to refine the edge and try to porduce as little of a burr as possible along the way. Once the edge is formed the need to raise a burr is no longer required, the reason for moving to a finer grit is to remove the inperfections. Coarse stones create the edge and fine stones refine it.

 

[Ben Dover]

Coarse stones create the edge and fine stones refine it.

I believe that you have summed up the entire essence of knife sharpening in one sentence!:thumbup: congratulations!

 

[zyhano]

Work to refine the edge and try to porduce as little of a burr as possible along the way. Once the edge is formed the need to raise a burr is no longer required, the reason for moving to a finer grit is to remove the inperfections. Coarse stones create the edge and fine stones refine it.

+1 :thumbup:, burrs are removed metal, which is a waste of your blade. furthermore, only sharpening on one side to get a burr involves the risk of not having your cutting edge dead center under the middle of the spine (the edge is more to the right or left) which ruins your blades cutting ability

 

[stitchawl]

+1 :thumbup:, burrs are removed metal, which is a waste of your blade. furthermore, only sharpening on one side to get a burr involves the risk of not having your cutting edge dead center under the middle of the spine (the edge is more to the right or left) which ruins your blades cutting ability

With just this in mind, it's always been my habit to sharpen twice. That is; I raise a burr on one side, switch to the other side and raise another burr, then switch back and do it again. Twice for each stone. True, this method removes more metal than just doing it once, but gives me a very centered edge. And as I only sharpen my kitchen knives 2-3 times a year, my knives don't really show any significant signs of wear despite having most of them for the past 30+ years. If I can get 50-75 years of good usage from a knife I'm happy.

Stitchawl

 

[Swedge]

Work to refine the edge and try to porduce as little of a burr as possible along the way.

I've been pondering this, and I'm not entirely clear on how to "refine the edge"!

I've produced the burr all along one side of the edge. I've knocked it back to the other side. So far, so good, right?

Now I gently hone the side with the burr until the burr appears to be gone (but not knocked over to the other side). Is that it? Anything else?

 

[THG]

I've been pondering this, and I'm not entirely clear on how to "refine the edge"!

I've produced the burr all along one side of the edge. I've knocked it back to the other side. So far, so good, right?

Now I gently hone the side with the burr until the burr appears to be gone (but not knocked over to the other side). Is that it? Anything else?

The burr will flip to the other side once you do a stroke on that side, e.g. if you stroke on side 1, the burr will end up on side 2. Then stroke side 2, and it ends up on side 1.

Do 1 stroke per side until the burr seems to have gone away. If you do multiple strokes per side, you are pushing up more metal and will continue burring.

 

[Jason B.]

That's it, now progress to finer stones to remove the coarse scratches on the edge you have created. Repeat the process of using finer stones and removing scratch patterns until you can go no further.

 

[udtjim]

I remove the burr as soon as I can feel it. I stroke evenly on each side, back and forth often. I find that this helps top not create a big burr which is just costing you steel. I deburr with the rock hard felt.

 

[1066vik]

Swedge, instead of the term "refining", think "polishing" the edge.
by moving to finer grit (harder) stones, you're making the scratches in the edge smaller and smaller, until you have as close to a mirror finish as you want for your purposes.

 

[Jeff Clark]

Do not wait until the end to remove your burr. Remove it at the end of each step. When you are done with your coarse grit take a few extremely light edge-forwards strokes at a slightly increased angle with your medium grit hone. The burr is a menace. Think of it as something hung on your true underlying edge and flopping back and forth. That extra mechanical strain will weaken the edge you are trying to form. It can even cause it to crack and tear.

Continuing from grit to grit at exactly the same angle is the slowest way possible to remove a burr. Light stropping will sometimes only pretty-up a burr by removing some of it and leaving the rest smooth and aligned with the bevel. That leaves an edge that may shave, but is not as strong as possible. Extensive stropping to remove a burr can easily start to round the edge. I remove the full burr with edge-forwards honing then do a little more honing at my normal angle before stropping.