Sandpaper sharpening

[miso2]

OK. I gave up on sandpaper sharpening.

It would work and did work. I can get either a good coarse or fine edge on super steels like S35VN. But there were some annoying things such as having to exchange sandpaper often.

The most annoying thing was the swarf. I use silicon carbide sandpaper, and silicon carbide appears to be very friable. While it does not interfere sharpening per se, the swarf tends to put scratches on the blade quite easily. I did put masking tape to protect the blade, but still got scratches near the edge bevel, presumably due to the flex of sandpaper.

I might try it again for touching up the edge but for now am back to stones.

 

[awestib]

OK. I gave up on sandpaper sharpening.

It would work and did work. I can get either a good coarse or fine edge on super steels like S35VN. But there were some annoying things such as having to exchange sandpaper often.

The most annoying thing was the swarf. I use silicon carbide sandpaper, and silicon carbide appears to be very friable. While it does not interfere sharpening per se, the swarf tends to put scratches on the blade quite easily. I did put masking tape to protect the blade, but still got scratches near the edge bevel, presumably due to the flex of sandpaper.

I might try it again for touching up the edge but for now am back to stones.

You did read this, right?

Check out the links through my signature. Wet/dry is occasionally underrated for sharpening. Has limitations and bonuses that can be managed.

The negatives are no different than those for lapping films and softer waterstones - really does a great job with some familiarity, especially on HSS and other higher alloy steels compared to AlumOx abrasives.

Edit:
best results from using dry and cleaning the paper often with an eraser or synthetic cork. On a system where the swarf can fall away instead of gravity clogging the paper you can go longer without cleaning. Light applied pressure also crucial to long life of paper. If you press too hard or try to jump too far in a progression, life of paper will suffer.

 

[miso2]

Yes, I did. I cleaned the paper often and applied only very light pressure, but still had swarf scratching near the edge bevel. Tried both wet and dry.
One stroke makes enough swarf to do so.

 

[HeavyHanded]

Yes, I did. I cleaned the paper often and applied only very light pressure, but still had swarf scratching near the edge bevel. Tried both wet and dry.
One stroke makes enough swarf to do so.

At what grit? This is prone to happening at 80, 120, by the time you get to 320 it really shouldn't be an issue unless the angle between primary and cutting bevel is very small. In that case stones with any mud can be problematic.

 

[Rich S]

I've been sharpening/honing my blades (including D2) with various grits of emory paper taped to a paint paddle for a long time. I start at 400, then 600, 1000, 1500 grit. Working away from the edge (obviously). Works just fine, will put a good an edge as any of my expensive Arkansas or Ceramic stones.

Rich

 

[miso2]

At what grit? This is prone to happening at 80, 120, by the time you get to 320 it really shouldn't be an issue unless the angle between primary and cutting bevel is very small. In that case stones with any mud can be problematic.

I started from #240 and went up to #2,000 just for fun. I had the issue with swarf up until #400. Above that, I did not notice it. Maybe the sandpaper I use is too friable and not ideal. Or it may be because I used edge-leading strokes. Also, I did it on Edge Pro, so swartf tended to accumulate near the edge bevel by gravity and stone pressure.

It might work fine for touching up, but not for bevel setting for me. I did have a good result with #600 and #800 for edge maintenance without the scratch issue.

Thank you very much for your suggestions!