Some guided sharpening systems come bundled with stones and polishing tapes. Not sure what the purpose of polishing tape. Is this just an alternative to stones in the same grit. Also, do Polishing Tapes come mounted on some sort of backing? I guess this could be titled Polishing Tape vs Stones. Is there a benefit using one over the other, besides cost and longevity?
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Polishing Tapes?
- Thread starter Rhodies
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- Nov 19, 2014
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I have Edge Pro, which comes with stones and tapes. Polishing tapes in this system is for.... polishing. Stones are from #180 to #1,000, and tapes from #2,000 to #6,000 grit. Tapes have PostIt type of glue on the back and would be mounted on a special aluminum plate.
Thanks for your reply.
Wowbagger
Gold Member
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2015
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- 7,776
Yes
a poor alternative that the only purpose served is to make the vendor money.
Fine stones hardly wear compared to the coarse stones.
Best to just buy a couple of fine stones mounted to the plates / handles for your system.
e.g., the Shapton Glass 1,000 grit stone and 4,000 stone for my Edge Pro Apex work exceptionally well, provide a near mirror surface (the result is a higher polish than I would get with my full size Shapton Pro bench stones even up to 5,000) when used with the more coarse stones to first apex the edge and I hardly need to flatten them because all the heavy metal removal is done with the coarser stones which do wear and need to be flattened much more often.
I've used films a few times but find it pointless. They load up they wear and that's it. The stones are more easily refreshed, rinse and use a nagura stone or a quick few strokes on a diamond plate, also there is no chance of snagging with an edge on a stone where as there is with the tape when going edge leading.
The tapes are extremely fast cutting for such fine grits, you only need about 3 strokes per knife edge, and the EP 6k tape will leave a better finish than a 30k Shapton Glass. As mentioned the downside is catching an edge and if you are very careful, and lucky, you can get maybe 4 knives per tape before it is shot. They are the cheapest entry to polishing, $19 for a blank and set of tapes, and each set of tapes should do 30-60 knives. For what it's worth I don't use the tapes, I use the EP polishing stones. $50 for a lifetime of polishing, as long as you don't dress them to death, and the EP 4k polishing stone leaves the same polish as the 30k Shapton Glass.
You can buy large sheets of the polishing film in many of the better home centers and cut them to what ever size you wish. A copy-paper size sheet makes quite a few strips and isn't expensive. A bit of tacky adhesive on the back and you're good to go. You can find these sheets in various grit sizes, from 1,000 up to 30,000, although my own preference is to stop at 15,000 grit.
Remember that if you buy from a dedicated knife supplier, you will be paying a much higher price, but then you get bragging rights that you bought from them.
Stitchawl
Remember that if you buy from a dedicated knife supplier, you will be paying a much higher price, but then you get bragging rights that you bought from them.
Stitchawl