Shapton Glass: 500 to 2000 - Losing Edge, What am I doing wrong?

J

J Thomas

Joined
Feb 26, 2003
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When I sharpen on a Shapton Glass 500 I get an edge I'm happy with, however, when I go up to the 2000 stone I lose the edge I just attained with the 500.

To the best of my ability I am holding the same angle and using the same heel first, blade trailing strokes.

I can cut paper with the 500 and zip through, but, after the 2000 the edge still cuts but there is no zip.

I've been trying to focus on the coarser stones I have and the 2000 is me trying to working on a higher edge formation.

Any help or direction appreciated - Thank You.
 
rounded apex due to angle inconstancy or heavy pressure
 
You may also be working up a small burr that you can't see on the finer stones.
 
Get the edge you like on the 500 then use the 2k like a strop.
 
Yup got the same problem with another system and my strops. I have a craaaazy sharp result but the grind is not mirrored, and apex turns rounded every time I am above 1500.
I have decided that I can live with it :)
 
When you say zip , does it cut the sane just quieter? If so that's normal higher grits cut quieter at least in my experience.

Like Jason said use sttopping strokes. Also keep some magazine paper near by do a few strokes and cut the paper if it doesn't cut feel for a burr . If you can't feel a burr still do this do one stroke on one side and make a cut is it better or worse ? If it's worse or the same do a stroke on other side and make a cut if it improves you have a small burr , I still haft to do this on some steels . I work in a weld shop as well so my finger tips are callused up so I don't have that much feeling in them so I haft to resort to that method for tiny burrs .
 
I find that I use less pressure when increasing in grit. 500gt is the coarsest I use, and I usually find myself using the most pressure, and when i hit 2k, im barely touching the stone to really only remove the scratches from previous stones, not to reshape in any way what I did earlier in the process
 
Also, like a diamond stone, use light pressure for the best results on the Glass stones. It really does make a big difference on both coarse and fine stone.
 
Thank You everyone for the helpful insights and sharing your knowledge.

I was able to work on a couple knives today and I used the 2000 grit after the 500 with very light trailing strokes, heel to tip.

BIG DIFFERENCE.

It is amazing to me how a stone can have different results due to the pressure used in working the knife.

I appreciate your all's help with this, building the knife sharpening onion of knowledge one layer at a time.

All the best.
 
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