Sharpmaker UF Rod came in... Hair whittling pics inside.

A

Any Cal.

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Like the title says, got the rod today... It filled the niche I needed to make the green compound strop work, so that was neat. Anyway...



I had decided that I would quit messing with sharpening once I got hair whittling, but I keep working with trying to get it sharper.:D I am actually getting significantly better stuff than that pic shows, but I am not going to keep taking pictures of damaged human hair...

Knife was my Becker BK-11 Necker that I had changed up a bit. Now I have to figure out where to go from here. My Derby DE razor blades cut nylon thread at less than 3/4oz pressure, which I havn't acheived yet, I guess I could shoot for something like that.
 
Very nice :) are you doing the microbevel like we discussed?

Put some compound on a piece of balsa or MDF, I've been playing with microbevels lately and found you can effectively strop at the microbevel angle this way and have amazing results.
 
There is a microbevel there, I was using the UF rod at @ 30* per side. As far as the compounds, so far I have been using them on leather, because I couldn't find any MDF yet.

I have been playing a bit with the pressure used, and stropping at the edge angle. I assume that with fairly light pressure, the leather follows the edge, and then may slightly convex the microbevel??? If you look real close, you can see bits of compound on the microbevel towards the left half of the hair, so maybe I am not even hitting the extreme cutting edge, and the stropping is all in my head.:D
 
You might be contacting the micro but you are right, using a leather strop will micro convex that bevel. Its a good thing but easy to round over your edge.

You can go steeper on your micro if you want too, I usually do a 20 main bevel with a 40 micro.
 
Congratulations! I predict that you will NOT quit messing with sharpening now though.

I find that when I reach a benchmark it only makes me want to reach another. The UF rods are very effective tools and you can actually whittle hair straight off the UF stones if you use the right combination of angle and pressure while honing....Though hair whittling is a bit subjective as some hair is much easier to whittle than others.

Seriously though, soak it in. You have achieved something there, achieving a goal is a wonderful thing. I offer my respect!
 
The biggest problem is that I wasn't supposed to be able to do that for a bit yet... I figured I still had a bit of technique work to get down for a week or two.

Started working on the thread pushcutting, my CS AK-47 is hitting 2oz pressure right now, but I think it will just be an exercise in stropping technique to get down to under 1oz. Will know more in a few days.
 
Yeah getting things hair whittling sharp is great isn't it? I was getting hair whittling edges right off the Ultra Fine rods at 40 º without the strop. I found that the longer I stropped the worse results I got. Sounds like I need to revisit my stropping technique.

22f64e78.jpg


Did this yesterday after a long session with cardboard. The Izula was brand new yesterday lol! :thumbup:
 
I keep trying, but the UF rod alone isn't doing it for me. The green rouge after it seems to be doing well, and then bare leather after that. I don't know if the bare leather is helping, or if it is just cleaning the compound off the edge of the knife.
 
sweet. i've been meaning to get the uf stones but i keep procrastinating. this post finally pushed me over the edge and ordered a pair of them :D
 
So one thing I've never been clear about with hair whittling...

Is the point to hold the hair by the root and then drag the edge across it like it was a stick, or just to carve slivers off of hairs even if you have to hold the hair slightly between two fingers to keep it taught?
 
cziv said:
Dang that's sharp! :eek: I never could get that with my UF rods. I use a strop too and I always get a duller edge afterward, no matter how soft I drag it down the strop.

Maybe I should put compound or spray on glass or a piece of wood and try that. I've got 3 nice strops but stopped using them. because of dulling my edges.
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It is all about technique. Angle, pressure, patience, persistence.

I suggest that your strops are giving you problems because your combination of angle and pressure is off. Practice will fix it. Strops are difficult because it is tough to see what you are doing (as such a fine level of work).

If this stuff was easy, it would not be nearly as much fun!

Do not say "never" just say "not yet".
 
um...um... well, I guess I've got a ways to go yet, 'cause things didn't go anything like that for me...:D I'll get back to you later :hangs head:

:D
 
Any Cal. said:
um...um... well, I guess I've got a ways to go yet, 'cause things didn't go anything like that for me...:D I'll get back to you later :hangs head:

:D
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Helps to have your blade totally reprofiled too. ;)
 
cziv said:
Helps to have your blade totally reprofiled too. ;)
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Yes, I did a bit of work on that blade.

I will also point out that this "test" is a bit subjective. If you are trying to do this with a very healthy moist hair, and another person is using a dry hair that already is frayed (split ends), it is impossible to conclude the same thing about your edges.

That said, the finer the edge the more success you will have with any given quality of hair.
 
KennyB said:
Wow, yeah, my knife can't do that. I was surprised when it did it with the hair semi-taught, but that is just amazing.

What kind of grit are these UF rods?
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3 micron or about 8000 grit. The key to those results are a very light touch.
 
Might want to copy this image...it comes in handy!

gritsofstonesandrods.jpg


Ceramics are sort of odd though. In practice these act like 3 micron or about 8000 grit as indicated above.
 
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