Sharpening Record Page

I'll try to post a photo tonight, but last night I got 2 knives to whittle hair without stropping them. I used a Bark River Mini-Northstar with a convex edge (12C27), which I decided to finish with about 10 strokes on the Sharpmaker, with the ultra fine rods. I did the same with an A.G Russell Woodswalker (AUS-8).

Now, this was honest hair whittling -- no tricks. The hair was completely free hanging, under no tension, no dragging the hair across the edge, and it was a fine hair (straight from my wife's hairbrush) as opposed to course body hair.

I intend to try this with other knives, but didn't have the time last night.

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KeithAM said:
I'll try to post a photo tonight, but last night I got 2 knives to whittle hair without stropping them. I used a Bark River Mini-Northstar with a convex edge (12C27), which I decided to finish with about 10 strokes on the Sharpmaker, with the ultra fine rods. I did the same with an A.G Russell Woodswalker (AUS-8).

Now, this was honest hair whittling -- no tricks. The hair was completely free hanging, under no tension, no dragging the hair across the edge, and it was a fine hair (straight from my wife's hairbrush) as opposed to course body hair.

I intend to try this with other knives, but didn't have the time last night.
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Congrats! Did you use a microbevel? That is how I am able to get hair whittling sharp without stropping fairly quickly (my CPM D2 Millie pictured earlier did it with a 1000 grit Shapton Glasstone, and with Spyderco ceramics my decent steeled knives are able to get to hair whittling sharp as well without stropping). I'm sure I could do it with full bevel sharpening as well, but I am so used to doing microbevels due to thier time savings that I haven't really tested the hair whittling abilities of my full bevel sharpening jobs until I get to much finer grits. BTW, the only knife I sharpen full bevel anymore is my Takeda Gyuto, which takes a very nice edge at 4 degrees per side, but takes a couple hours at least to take it all the way up to the .05 micron finish that my OCD makes me do.

Mike
 
KeithAM said:
...

Now, this was honest hair whittling -- no tricks. The hair was completely free hanging, under no tension, no dragging the hair across the edge, and it was a fine hair (straight from my wife's hairbrush) as opposed to course body hair.
...
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Is this also the case with the other people in this thread?

I'm also able to whittle hair when it's under some tension or when it's dragged across the edge, but never free hanging.
I sharpen freehand now on a round ceramic rod or on a ceramic stone, but I've ordered myself a sharpmaker, so maybe I will be able to get my knives that sharp in the future.
 
gunmike1 said:
Congrats! Did you use a microbevel? Mike
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It is indeed a microbevel. The convex on the Mini-Northstar probably terminates at about 10 degrees per side. I added a microbevel using the ultrafine rods in the 30 degree inclusive (15 degree per side) setting. I usually strop, but I just wanted to see if I could whittle hair without doing it.

Buckabee, I don't know what the original poster's criteria are for "hair whittling." I've been able to split hairs with my knives since I was a teenager in the late 1970s, and I didn't even know much about sharpening back then. I think of hair whittling as a level of sharpness higher than hair splitting, which can be coaxed to occur by doing any number of tricks, like cutting the hair under tension, using very course hair, or dragging the hair horizontally across the edge. To be honest I haven't read this whole thread to see what others are doing.
 
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I whittle my own hair not body hair. I am Russian - I guess I have thin hair.

However I do not think it should be any restriction on hair types - I guess if you are able to whittle some human hair you will probably be able to whittle any human hair - they range from 60 microns to 120 (in extreme cases) and I just do not see too big difference, also I honestly do not see any way to measure thickness.

So I guess only requirement - it need to be human hair.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
nozh2002 said:
I whittle my own hair not body hair. I am Russian - I guess I have thin hair.

However I do not think it should be any restriction on hair types - I guess if you are able to whittle some human hair you will probably be able to whittle any human hair - they range from 60 microns to 120 (in extreme cases) and I just do not see too big difference, also I honestly do not see any way to measure thickness.

So I guess only requirement - it need to be human hair.

Thanks, Vassili.
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But does the hair need to be free hanging while whittling ?

Btw, My hair is 60 microns thick, I measured it with a micrometer.:)
 
nozh2002 said:
Well I hold it by one end only:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQPwHu4lxsQ

I think this is pretty good whittle example.

Thanks, Vassili.

P.S. Can you find (with your micrometer) anything even thiner then hait to whittle?
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Thanks. That means I'm not classified yet:)

I can find things much thinner than a hair, but I'm not really succesfull at whittling them. The thinest thing I found in a short time were thinest basic fibers of a polyester wire, and it was about 8 microns.(the micrometer is not precise below 10 microns) But they are so thin that when I put them down, I've got big problems finding it back:D

As said, I'm not able to whittle free hanging hair, so I'm not the right person to test whittling thinner things for you at the moment. But if you have some "common" thing you can whittle and want the thickness of, I can try measuring it if I have something similar at hand. Fuzz/Vellus hairs for example are about 20 microns thick here....

And now I'm certain somebody will be saying : wow! :D
 
what about something more uniform, like cutting phonebook paper, and measuring the distance between where you pushcut and where you are holding it? it seems like hair leaves a lot of variables
 
Let's keep it as a hair whittling thread. I think it is much more consistent and did not require special skills to perform. Paper cutting to my experience may depend a lot on humidity and skills also, but hair whittling pretty consistent.

I probably should note again that hair looks like palm tree - it has shell and you need to whittle it against shells. So you meed to hold it at the top and move blade from top to root.

However if you need really precise measurement you need thread cutting test I use for edge retention test and to actually learn how to sharpen to that level (lets not discuss it here see my edge retention testing thread - sorry - can not find it myself).

Thanks, Vassili.
 
buckabee said:
But does the hair need to be free hanging while whittling ?

Btw, My hair is 60 microns thick, I measured it with a micrometer.:)
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I was under the impression everyone was holding it by one end. Holding the hair under tension would defeat the purpose, doesn't take much sharpness if you do that.

Even on one person body hair thickness can vary a lot. My chin hairs are a few times thicker than my leg hairs, which are thicker than my arm hairs etc.

Maybe we should pick a new material that's more standardized?
 
Here are a few more from today. Again, the hair was free hanging -- hanging straight down and held between thumb and forefinger.

Sharpening is simple -- Sharpmaker with ultra-fine rods followed this time with a few passes on a chromium-oxide charged leather strop. No expensive 8000 grit Japanese waterstones here.

Here's one cut by an A.G. Russell Woodswalker:

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Here's one cut by a Spyderco ZDP-189 Calypso, Jr.:

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One more for today, Spyderco UKPK:

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Small Classic Seb.
Thinned out and convexed with Lansky. Stropped on leather loaded with Flitz..

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I prefer the Lansky for precision on small folders. You have much more control and feeling then with an Edge Pro. Edge Pro is for Big blades.

Nice Topic!
 
Here's a couple more I did today. Same sharpening method and conditions.

Bark River Mini-Canadian (A2):

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1970s vintage Buck 110 2-dot (440c):

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nozh2002 said:
I whittle my own hair not body hair. I am Russian - I guess I have thin hair.

However I do not think it should be any restriction on hair types - I guess if you are able to whittle some human hair you will probably be able to whittle any human hair - they range from 60 microns to 120 (in extreme cases) and I just do not see too big difference, also I honestly do not see any way to measure thickness.

So I guess only requirement - it need to be human hair.

Thanks, Vassili.
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I think that's reasonable enough. I can't quite picture myself explaining to humorless customs officials why I'm importing a single verified 65 micron russian human hair...
 
Fluffster said:
I think that's reasonable enough. I can't quite picture myself explaining to humorless customs officials why I'm importing a single verified 65 micron russian human hair...
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LOL

I heard stories of people chipping their edges on Russian hair, so better use your own..
:p
 
How do your guys edge's do on stuff like kleenex or 2 ply toilet paper? I don't have a camera to photograph pics of the edge or hair but I usually test my edges first by tree topping my fine arm hair. Then if it passes that I move on to slicing 2 ply toilet paper then kleenex. I haven't really found anything harder to slice or push cut than kleenex so i'm just wondering if you guys have tried that.
 
Uncle Rukus said:
How do your guys edge's do on stuff like kleenex or 2 ply toilet paper? I don't have a camera to photograph pics of the edge or hair but I usually test my edges first by tree topping my fine arm hair. Then if it passes that I move on to slicing 2 ply toilet paper then kleenex. I haven't really found anything harder to slice or push cut than kleenex so i'm just wondering if you guys have tried that.
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Yes I did. But it is more tricky then hair whittling.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
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