Sharpening Advice Needed

S

Slimman

Joined
Jan 9, 2008
Messages
198
Hello,I was hoping someone could tell me what I am doing wrong. I took my Benchmade 710 D2 to my sharpmaker. I put the Sharpmaker stones in the 30 degree slots. Used a sharpie to mark my blade edge and set out to thin down my edge alittle. I payed close attention as I did each side...it took alittle while but I thought I finally got down to the blade edge. I never really did raise a bur...just eyed it. Then put the stones in the 20 degree slots and put the final bevel on the edge. I finish stroping it on a phone book. When I was done it shaved like crazy....went thru newsprint so easy...was the sharpest I had ever had it. I was happy
Well today I was out cleaning in the garage and had to open a few boxes cut some cardboard...some tape...etc. Nothing big. Well tonight I was playing with my knife as I was on the phone and it would shave anything or even slice a normal sheet of paper without getting hung up. What the heck happend to my edge??? Obviously I am doing something wrong. Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Probably had a burr (which the stropping aligned and made nice and straight), not a properly formed edge.
 
Slimman said:
... I put the Sharpmaker stones in the 30 degree slots.
...
Then put the stones in the 20 degree slots and put the final bevel on the edge.
Click to expand...
You are doing this backwards. As you are finishing the edge the angles should only get greater, not smaller. The second time around you were grinding nothing but shoulder. If you can't visualize this, try drawing it out.

Slimman said:
I finish stroping it on a phone book.
Click to expand...
Strop with compound. But only after you have learned how to form proper bevels. Otherwise, stropping can make you lazy because you get a sharp edge anyway, but eventually the bevel geometry will degrade and you end up with a sharp edge but with poor performance.

Slimman said:
What the heck happend to my edge???
Click to expand...
You never had one. A burr was doing all the cutting.
 
sorry I meant to say that I put the stones in the 40 degree slots for the finishing bevel. (Sharpmaker doesnt have a 20 degree slot)
 
Ok....I know this has probably been covered a million times. (I just dont want to go back thru all the post to find it) Could some tell me the correct way to propely form a edge............and how do you know when you have it?

When I was done useing the dark stones (Sharrpmaker) I tested my knife and it was sharp. It would shave very easily at that point. I thought I had a properly formed egde............obviously I didnt. Any help or links to a post that would help would be appreciated. Thanks
 
After you have sharpened your knife on the Sharpmakers brown stones at 30° and raised a burr, strop the knife a few times to align a possible burr. Reset you Sharpmaker with the white stones at 40° for the corner surfaces. Stroke lightly on the corners of the stones a few times to cut away any burr then reset the white stones for the flat surfaces. Sharpen carefully on the flats to your satisfaction. Check to make sure you have not re-formed a burr. Strop again, then go forth and cut something.
 
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