You question is intreaging. More form the other things you mentioned then your basic quesiton about trailing edge or leading edge sharpening.
I agree about forming a burr. IMO you should always be working up a burr when sharpening, know what a burr is, know how to remove it and for sure do remove it. You can do that leading edge or trailing edge on a stone. With sandpaper or a strop you should only use trailing edge strokes. The only time you shouldn't get a burr is when doing a touch up or finishing like steeling or stropping where you are just rolling the micro edge back to straight.
Some folks, that are vary experienced, know how to read an edge, and know when a burr is about to form, and don't form burrs. They avoid ever getting one and then don't have to remove them. I believe you should form a burr. That is how you know when the two edges have met at a sharp point along the edge. Until you get a burr you haven't brought the two sides (edges) together and the knife is not sharp. If you don't get a burr the whole length of the edge the the edges haven't come together at some points so sections of the blade wont be sharp. If you don't know what a burr is you are not getting a consistent sharp edge and when it does get sharp it is just luck.
After you get a burr you have to remove it though.
It seems that every other thread here on blade forums mentions working up a burr or trying a convex edge but I dont know how do do eather of those things and honestly dont want to waste alot of time and invest on something thats going to give minimal returns in wear resistance and sharpness. If i take extra time i can shave hairs (never been able to slice hairs though... THAT is crazy sharp and i doubt i will ever see one of my knives like that)
I am not sure where you are going with this. Are you talking about not wanting to invest time or just money. You don't need a lot of equipment, but you may be setting yourself up for failure here if you are not willing to invest some time. You have come here, and are reading threads, so you must be interested in working through a problem and getting better. You are going to have to arm yourself with knowledge and try some different things to see what works (experience). Threads are good for getting pointers, but some serious study and practice on new techniques sounds like it is in order. There is a scientific way to approach this. Maybe you just want to know about leading and trailing edge sharpening and that's it. Are we wasting our time with more in depth discussions?
You have to learn how to read a blade and determine a few things. You don't need to invest a lot of money, or any more money it sounds like, except that you might need to add a leather strop. They are cheap and you can make one or use a piece of cardboard or leather belt.
You might need to educate yourself and invest some brain power and need to take an "I can do it" attitude. I am sure you can do it!
Some possibilities:
- It could be your knives are cheap soft steel as mentioned and they just don't hold an edge very well. You should be able to determine what kind of steel you have.
- It could also be that you still have remnants of a burr and are using the knife with a burr, cutting with the burr. This can be very sharp but very weak. The edge will roll over with moderate or light use like a razor blade.
- A third possibility is your are using too shallow (too acute) of an angle for the type of steel you have. Softer steels need steeper (more obtuse) of an angle to have any durability. You might be surprised how well a knife cuts with a steeper angle.
- In any case you might try steeping up the angle, adding a micro bevel with a steeper angle, or stropping which will slightly convex the edge having the same effect of giving a steeper angle at the micro edge. All of these techniques will also tend to remove any remaining burr.
What kind of knives are we talking about?
Do you know what a burr is and what it looks like? You may already be getting one, not know it, and are not removing it. If you aren't getting one you are not getting the knife sharp unless just by accident and then you probably are getting a burr.
If i take extra time i can shave hairs (never been able to slice hairs though...
Knowing what sharp is, having a plan (goals), and knowing how to get there is a lot more focused and productive then just spending more random time and finding that your knife is sharper. Purposely getting a burr should be part of that plan. You typically use coarser grits to rough in (reprofile) a blade and then use finer grits to polish the scratches from the coarser ones. Don't move on to finer grits until you have formed a burr with the coarser ones. If you only have one stone it will just take longer or won't be as polished depending on your grit, but untill you form a burr the knife is not as sharp as it could be.
At what approximate angle are you sharpening?
Do you use micro bevels? Adding a steeper angle on the edge of sharpening.
Do you strop or have a strop? Have you tried stropping?
What are you using to sharpen, stones, paper, etc, what (grits) do you have?
I suggest you read
this . It is great reading if you want to learn more. Wrap your self around it. It is the best and most thorough tutorial covering theory, terminology, technique, and equipment I have seen. At least for free anyway.
Good luck.
Gary
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