Maybe I'm not doing things properly, but it seems like when I sharpen a knife, it gets sharp, it passes the "3-finger" test, but it doesn't really seem to shave well.
My method, without going into stone progression or anything, is to sharpen both sides a bit at a time until I get a burr to form, in which case I get it to form on the other side, and then I sharpen each side lightly and with small amounts of passes until the burr ceases to exist. This, I thought, was how you get your knife to it's sharpest point. Like I said, these knives pass the three finger test with ease, but shaving with them doesn't seem to work very well. In fact, I just sharpened my Griptilian for the first time after having it for a little less than a week, and while it didn't need much work, it shaved better BEFORE I brought it to a burr
More info on the method used for this particular knife: I only used a DMT Diafold Fine and I kept it at factory angle (which my guess is in the 25-30º range). It took me about 90 seconds to get a burr to form, and it was quite a small one. Do I need to form a large burr? I've heard the phrase "pre-burr" before but I'm not sure what that is/means. Once it formed I flipped the knife over and formed the same size burr on the other side, then worked on each side very lightly until I couldn't detect the burr with my finger or fingernail anymore. As a side not, the knife DOES shave, it just seems to pass over the lighter hairs on my arm, and seems to be shave less hairs off per pass now. I haven't stropped yet, and I don't believe I have a finer-grit stone than what I used
I've never gotten a knife to pop hair, and frankly I don't think I need to. However, my general rule is that my EDC knives need to be able to shave my arm hairs before I'll carry them. Any suggestions for improvement on my technique or ideas on what I may be doing wrong would be greatly appreciated!
UPDATE: I decided to try out my fine oilstone for a bit (again only spending a couple minutes), then a few light strokes on the Diafold (as it feels to have less draw), then I stropped it and now it's shaving better, but I still feel I should be getting more satisfactory results lol.
When looking at the blade it's obvious I haven't taken that much steel off, as I can still see some of the deeper remnants (lines) of the initial sharpening on the edge. Would you guys recommend using a coarse stone to get more steel off and get the whole edge to that mirrored finish? Obviously I'll do it eventually, but if it'd do something for me other than make it look more aesthetically pleasing I'm game to taking a bit more metal off now
(If you can't tell, I'm babying my Grip even though I want to use it as a handle-whatever-I-need to type of EDC)
My method, without going into stone progression or anything, is to sharpen both sides a bit at a time until I get a burr to form, in which case I get it to form on the other side, and then I sharpen each side lightly and with small amounts of passes until the burr ceases to exist. This, I thought, was how you get your knife to it's sharpest point. Like I said, these knives pass the three finger test with ease, but shaving with them doesn't seem to work very well. In fact, I just sharpened my Griptilian for the first time after having it for a little less than a week, and while it didn't need much work, it shaved better BEFORE I brought it to a burr

More info on the method used for this particular knife: I only used a DMT Diafold Fine and I kept it at factory angle (which my guess is in the 25-30º range). It took me about 90 seconds to get a burr to form, and it was quite a small one. Do I need to form a large burr? I've heard the phrase "pre-burr" before but I'm not sure what that is/means. Once it formed I flipped the knife over and formed the same size burr on the other side, then worked on each side very lightly until I couldn't detect the burr with my finger or fingernail anymore. As a side not, the knife DOES shave, it just seems to pass over the lighter hairs on my arm, and seems to be shave less hairs off per pass now. I haven't stropped yet, and I don't believe I have a finer-grit stone than what I used
I've never gotten a knife to pop hair, and frankly I don't think I need to. However, my general rule is that my EDC knives need to be able to shave my arm hairs before I'll carry them. Any suggestions for improvement on my technique or ideas on what I may be doing wrong would be greatly appreciated!
UPDATE: I decided to try out my fine oilstone for a bit (again only spending a couple minutes), then a few light strokes on the Diafold (as it feels to have less draw), then I stropped it and now it's shaving better, but I still feel I should be getting more satisfactory results lol.
When looking at the blade it's obvious I haven't taken that much steel off, as I can still see some of the deeper remnants (lines) of the initial sharpening on the edge. Would you guys recommend using a coarse stone to get more steel off and get the whole edge to that mirrored finish? Obviously I'll do it eventually, but if it'd do something for me other than make it look more aesthetically pleasing I'm game to taking a bit more metal off now
(If you can't tell, I'm babying my Grip even though I want to use it as a handle-whatever-I-need to type of EDC)
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