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Recommendation? (sharpening) more pressure and less strokes or light pressure and more strokes?
- Thread starter Dare Robertson
- Start date
I agree.HeavyHanded, thank you for your feedback. Your comment about the wire edge and burr was interesting. I thought they were synonymous so will research further.
Since I only reprofile once (if necessary at all), I haven't been too concerned about the edge, such as if I might be using too much pressure or apexing with a very low grit. I figure at that point I'm only dealing with a tiny, almost microscopic, apex area and anything I don't want there will be removed when I go to higher grits. On the other hand, I can't see the apex or see into the metal behind it (jpm2 mentioned unwanted flexing could occur in this area) so it's definitely possible bad things are happening there that I don't want.
For what I need my knives to do, coarse, toothy, edges at around 400 grit work well. Even though I think it's fascinating that some can get their knives sharp enough to whittle hair, for example, I have to be careful I don't waste time sharpening to standards that are not of practical use to me.
Since I only reprofile once (if necessary at all), I haven't been too concerned about the edge, such as if I might be using too much pressure or apexing with a very low grit. I figure at that point I'm only dealing with a tiny, almost microscopic, apex area and anything I don't want there will be removed when I go to higher grits. On the other hand, I can't see the apex or see into the metal behind it (jpm2 mentioned unwanted flexing could occur in this area) so it's definitely possible bad things are happening there that I don't want.
For what I need my knives to do, coarse, toothy, edges at around 400 grit work well. Even though I think it's fascinating that some can get their knives sharp enough to whittle hair, for example, I have to be careful I don't waste time sharpening to standards that are not of practical use to me.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2010
- Messages
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MtnHawk1
Working with the coarse stone its good to stay on point for what the burr is, how it forms. The abrasive is not 100% efficient, so some of the metal it comes into contact with, deflects away from the abrasive point. If you had a single abrasive grit you'd see it deflects some metal in three directions - front and sides.
Working off the edge and using a large field of abrasive you only ever see this boundary line at the apex. Large abrasive chunks are not only larger, the space around them is larger - they have more clearance than they normally use. If you press too hard while grinding along the apex the abrasive can excavate a lot of metal and also create a larger boundary region. You can shift the entire boundary region out of whack. Worked back the other way, the tip (which is a lot sturdier than a typical burr) gets pushed over and leaves a low spot right behind the apex - the wire edge is born and can only be removed by a full grind down past the waved region.
This is why I will lean on the edge as long as I'm not near the apex. Once I get close I lighten way up to reach the apex, normally stopping at three finger sticky before moving on to a finer stone to microbevel. This might even be just a hair shy of actually apexing the full length - it just means the grind troughs have gotten close enough to the edge that my finger pads can feel the added friction along the entire edge. I guess this is my hasty method of "burrless" or plateau sharpening. Not that I care if there's a burr one way or the other unless I'm stopping at that grit. If so, I lighten up and finish till I can make out the first verifiable hint of a burr.
Working with the coarse stone its good to stay on point for what the burr is, how it forms. The abrasive is not 100% efficient, so some of the metal it comes into contact with, deflects away from the abrasive point. If you had a single abrasive grit you'd see it deflects some metal in three directions - front and sides.
Working off the edge and using a large field of abrasive you only ever see this boundary line at the apex. Large abrasive chunks are not only larger, the space around them is larger - they have more clearance than they normally use. If you press too hard while grinding along the apex the abrasive can excavate a lot of metal and also create a larger boundary region. You can shift the entire boundary region out of whack. Worked back the other way, the tip (which is a lot sturdier than a typical burr) gets pushed over and leaves a low spot right behind the apex - the wire edge is born and can only be removed by a full grind down past the waved region.
This is why I will lean on the edge as long as I'm not near the apex. Once I get close I lighten way up to reach the apex, normally stopping at three finger sticky before moving on to a finer stone to microbevel. This might even be just a hair shy of actually apexing the full length - it just means the grind troughs have gotten close enough to the edge that my finger pads can feel the added friction along the entire edge. I guess this is my hasty method of "burrless" or plateau sharpening. Not that I care if there's a burr one way or the other unless I'm stopping at that grit. If so, I lighten up and finish till I can make out the first verifiable hint of a burr.
Do you disagree with this video, is the application different, or do I misunderstand your comment?