Stropping for burr removal

[ejames13]

Should be at least sharp enough and durable enough for both the cardboard cutting and paper-slicing afterward. Main thing you're looking for, is that the paper-slicing edge keeps working after at least a few cuts in cardboard, if not much longer. That'll prove the burring is no longer an issue, coming off the diamond, if it keeps cutting.

Thanks. I’ll give that a shot. Also, I always use the flats, never the corners.

 

[microtech85]

You can get a perfectly good edge off of the spyderco medium ceramic. In fact, it is one of my favorite stones. My m390 knife comes off the medium stone so very sharp. It easily pops hairs and can make wavy cuts in phone book paper. Sometimes i end at the medium, but most of the time i do 2 to 3 passes on each side with a loaded strop after the stone. I think the medium spyderco stone 302m makes for a great single stone sharpening solution. If i could only have one sharpening stone, it would be between the spyderco medium 302m or the dmt fine.

 

[David Martin]

Then your not having to rebevel or deal with really dull edges. DM

 

[ejames13]

You can get a perfectly good edge off of the spyderco medium ceramic. In fact, it is one of my favorite stones. My m390 knife comes off the medium stone so very sharp. It easily pops hairs and can make wavy cuts in phone book paper. Sometimes i end at the medium, but most of the time i do 2 to 3 passes on each side with a loaded strop after the stone. I think the medium spyderco stone 302m makes for a great single stone sharpening solution. If i could only have one sharpening stone, it would be between the spyderco medium 302m or the dmt fine.

I definitely like the edge I can get with the medium stones and M390 in particular. I still feel like there’s always a tiny bit of burr left though. Trying to perfect my technique to minimize that.

 

[microtech85]

Then your not having to rebevel or deal with really dull edges. DM

I maintain my knives on a regular basis so i rarely have a need for my coarse dmt. and based on a poll i did here a couple months ago, almost all forum members who responded sharpen their knives every week to once a month. It is best practice to not have to use your coarse stones too much for the sake of blade life. The coarse stones remove so much metal from a blade and so shorten its useful life. If i could only have one stone, i would not want it to be coarse because i would never have a refined edge that i like. I like edges finished on 1000-2000 grit.

 

[David Martin]

I believe you missed my point. DM

 

[ejames13]

Should be at least sharp enough and durable enough for both the cardboard cutting and paper-slicing afterward. Main thing you're looking for, is that the paper-slicing edge keeps working after at least a few cuts in cardboard, if not much longer. That'll prove the burring is no longer an issue, coming off the diamond, if it keeps cutting.

I sharpened a CTS-204p knife last night on the SharpMaker diamonds and brought the edge to the point where it would push cut copy paper. I verified under a 10x loupe that there was no burr remaining. After that, however, I did a few swipes per side on the medium ceramics and I noticed there was a small burr that formed which I couldn't completely eliminate. No matter how light the pressure, how short the strokes, and how careful I was being, I was just flipping the tiny burr back and forth with each pass. If I decreased the angle too much it would not sufficiently remove the burr from that side. If I increased it too much it would just flip it to the other side. Couldn't seem to find a sweet spot where it would remove it from one side and not create a burr on the other. Any tips?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I sharpened a CTS-204p knife last night on the SharpMaker diamonds and brought the edge to the point where it would push cut copy paper. I verified under a 10x loupe that there was no burr remaining. After that, however, I did a few swipes per side on the medium ceramics and I noticed there was a small burr that formed which I couldn't completely eliminate. No matter how light the pressure, how short the strokes, and how careful I was being, I was just flipping the tiny burr back and forth with each pass. If I decreased the angle too much it would not sufficiently remove the burr from that side. If I increased it too much it would just flip it to the other side. Couldn't seem to find a sweet spot where it would remove it from one side and not create a burr on the other. Any tips?

That's why I'm not too fond of ceramics in general. Too prone to burring issues. I'd go back to the diamond, re-establish the clean apex there. Then, if you still choose to use the ceramic at all, take only a single, extremely light pass at a time, and verify everything's OK with sharpness after each single pass. In general terms, I'd absolutely minimize how many passes are taken on the ceramic, after already proving the edge is good coming off the diamond.

Ceramics can help in time, after one gets the feel for them. But while still trying to figure that out, they can be a pain in creating more issues than they solve. I went down that road myself, to a point where I basically avoided using them for a long while, until I'd further developed my own touch for sharpening in general, on other stone/abrasive types. That's when I looked back and started revisiting ceramics a little bit, and found that my touch had improved with them as well. But having said that, I still don't use them that often, due to the fussy nature of avoiding and fixing burrs associated with them. It's easier now, and manageable, but still noticeably more tedious than with other options.

Overall, if burrs are still stubbornly resistant to being removed like that, it usually means the sharpening passes which created them were still somewhat too heavy, or strayed a little too high in angle, which increases lateral pressure against the edge and makes the burr fold over when it's still relatively thick/heavy. The goal is to thin the burr to a degree that most anything will strip it away, instead of just flipping it back & forth.

Edited to add:
Burrs are also more prone to form when attempting sharpening on abrasives which aren't quite hard enough to handle the wear resistance (carbide content) of the steel. A steel like CTS-204p is pretty carbide heavy, with a lot of carbon, chromium and vanadium, as well as some tungsten and molybdenum. All of that wear resistance makes thinning the edge difficult on abrasives which aren't quite up to it. This is another reason I'd minimize use of ceramics (alumina), which won't do as well as the diamond used previously, in cleanly cutting, thinning and shaping the carbides in/near the edge.

 

[ejames13]

That's why I'm not too fond of ceramics in general. Too prone to burring issues. I'd go back to the diamond, re-establish the clean apex there. Then, if you still choose to use the ceramic at all, take only a single, extremely light pass at a time, and verify everything's OK with sharpness after each single pass. In general terms, I'd absolutely minimize how many passes are taken on the ceramic, after already proving the edge is good coming off the diamond.

Ceramics can help in time, after one gets the feel for them. But while still trying to figure that out, they can be a pain in creating more issues than they solve. I went down that road myself, to a point where I basically avoided using them for a long while, until I'd further developed my own touch for sharpening in general, on other stone/abrasive types. That's when I looked back and started revisiting ceramics a little bit, and found that my touch had improved with them as well. But having said that, I still don't use them that often, due to the fussy nature of avoiding and fixing burrs associated with them. It's easier now, and manageable, but still noticeably more tedious than with other options.

Overall, if burrs are still stubbornly resistant to being removed like that, it usually means the sharpening passes which created them were still somewhat too heavy, or strayed a little too high in angle, which increases lateral pressure against the edge and makes the burr fold over when it's still relatively thick/heavy. The goal is to thin the burr to a degree that most anything will strip it away, instead of just flipping it back & forth.

That's very interesting. I've been considering breaking down and getting an EdgePro with some of the Congress Moldmaster SiC stones, but the Sharpmaker is just so handy for quick touch ups.

I'll try the single pass at a time method, and also see if I can lighten my touch. However, I find it difficult already to maintain consistent contact with the stone using such light pressure.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

That's very interesting. I've been considering breaking down and getting an EdgePro with some of the Congress Moldmaster SiC stones, but the Sharpmaker is just so handy for quick touch ups.

I'll try the single pass at a time method, and also see if I can lighten my touch. However, I find it difficult already to maintain consistent contact with the stone using such light pressure.

I just added another note to my post above, re: the wear resistance of the steel being sharpened. That could play into some of these issues also.

 

[ejames13]

I just added another note to my post above, re: the wear resistance of the steel being sharpened. That could play into some of these issues also.

Thanks. Do you recommend Silicone Carbide for sharpening such a steel?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Thanks. Do you recommend Silicone Carbide for sharpening such a steel?

For that steel, especially in refining it's carbides at the finishing end of things, I'd recommend sticking with diamond. But at coarser grinding steps, silicon carbide should do OK.