polished edge

[stickymeat]

Hi, i was wondering how you get a "polished edge " on your knife, I dont really now what its called or how to describe it though, and also do you think stonewashing would look good on my delica 4?

 

[unit]

The easiest way is to pay someone to do it for you.

The hardest way is to use the search function and start reading what comes up.

Basically, you sharpen the knife and keep progressing through finer and finer grits until you achieve the polish you want. Spyderco's VG-10 polishes very nicely and somewhat easily (if you ask me).

 

[Samael]

And, perhaps more importantly, why do you "need" a polished edge in the first place? Sure, it's cool and all, but it will disappear the first time you actually use the knife.

 

[stickymeat]

so you dont need any polish or anything? and its something that i was curious about and wanted to try, but thats a good point, im just trying to think of things to do to some of my knives to make them looke "nicer" you could say

 

[Samael]

No. Polish the blade if you want. Polishing the edge is mostly cosmetic.

 

[unit]

But polishing the blade will scratch easily also. Do you use the knife?

Polished edges have their place, but many users will prefer to work with a conventionally sharpened edge.

Have you researched polished edges?

 

[stickymeat]

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/871420-How-to-stonewash-knives

like this guys manix, endure, it looks so its looks sweet, but then when you use it to cut lets say rope, will it still bbe that shiny?

 

[james terrio]

...but then when you use it to cut lets say rope, will it still bbe that shiny?

Nope. I like a fine polished edge for delicate, non-abrasive tasks like thinly slicing fish. For almost anything else I actually prefer a bit more "toothy" edge.

If you want to really push the limits and shave curliques off cigarette paper or push-cut tissue, yeah you want a super-thin highly-polished edge.

It really depends on what/how you want to cut.

 

[unit]

What he said.

I enjoy push cutting so polished edges are what I like. But I do not do mirror edges as I find them weak. Instead I convex my edges to varying degrees based on need and want. They are still highly reflective and perhaps some people think the are pretty...but that is not reason I carry a knife.

Opinions vary.

You can only have an informed opinion after you research and experiment.

 

[RevDevil]

I like to leave my knives with a slightly toothy 320 grit. It gives the edge a much better service life than a mirror polish to 10K or beyond.

 

[BluntCut MetalWorks]

Get it sharp - any thing betwen 220 to 2k grit toothiness, then strop with 1micron polydiamond <= happy bitting edge! Polish without a sharp edge ain't worth the trouble. As others said, progressing low to high grits. btw - a buff wheel can buff without first flatten the blade or edge.