Stropping & Polishing Angles

Q

QuietOned

Joined
Sep 4, 2005
Messages
157
Anyone know if there is a way to establish what the final stropping/polishing angle should be?

Ie. Half the final sharpening angle or ......

Such as if the relief grind is cut in at 10°. Finished sharpening out at 15°. Stropping would be best finished at 30°?

I've been playing with the angles on the Edge Pro of late, using both polishing tapes and leather with compounds, and I don't know if it's wishful thinking or what but it does "seem" that doubling does have some benefits. I'm wondering if I'm all wet or what. The prevailing view has been that to just raise the angle by a bit when going to the tapes and leather. I'm wondering if there has been anyone testing various angles and thoughts on this. Any reading or links on the subject would be greatly appreciated.
 
When using the polishing tapes, I consider these to be abrasive and a continuation of the sharpening process. The fact that they leave a 'polished' surface will just confuse the issue. So for the time being I use almost the same angle as the previous hone. My thinking is that there is a minute bit of give with the PSA backing so in effect I most probably put on 1 degree.
I do not know if this is the correct way, its just my way. Will be very interested in others comments.
 
I spoke to Ben Dale, inventor of the Edge Pro about this awhile back. As I recall he said to raise the arm "a little" to make sure that you were truly polishing the edge, not the shoulder. One reason for it is the thinness of the tape adhered to a blank versus the wetstone adhered to the blank. I do not believe that he would intend for you to double the angle though.

Call Edge Pro and ask. Ben is the most down to earth person and if he's available he'll always share his thoughts and passion on sharpening. Sierra, his assistant is very knowledgeable and pleasant as well.

I called today to order a ceramic steel and a couple of new stones and Ben happened to answer. We probably talked for a good 10 minutes even though he was busy building Edge Pro's, which by the way he says is going "gang-busters". The word is out that this is the best damn sharpener on earth !!!
 
:confused: Are you asking about the angles when you sharpen using a compound bevel. IIRC edge pro recommends 4 degrees less than your desired bevel. For example if you want a 17 degree bevel you would sharpen the blade to 13 degrees and then finish with a 17 angle. I did this with my sebenza. It seems my knife gets uglier and uglier but sharper and sharper and I've got the nicks and cuts to prove it. :D Otherwise if you are just asking do I change the angle when I switch to polish tapes on the edge pro - no. As for setting the strop angle check the handAmerican site http://www.handamerican.com/lhone.html
 
I agree on both counts. Thing I truly like is if they don't know something they'll say so. Doesn't happen often though and then it's "try it and let us know how it goes".

I got the same answer from Ben on the tapes. Just nudge it up a bit.

Hope you ordered the new MF stone to try. In my use it has given excellent results. Cuts agressively a bit faster than the present 180 and finishes about the 220 or a bit higher.

I've been playing with leather on blanks and using chrominum liquid in 0.5 micron. It has been kind of on again off again. I was getting ready to dull up a knife to redo and had the leather sitting in the stone holder. Angle was about 30° and I thought hmmmm. Gave it a few pulls on each side. Seemed to make a difference. So I've kind of been playing with it at various angles.

I'm just wondering if anyone has done any testing with various stropping angles and what they've found out. Anything published or written about I'd like to read.
 
QuietOned said:
I'm just wondering if anyone has done any testing with various stropping angles and what they've found out.
Click to expand...

Dave looked at the effect of final micro-bevel angles awhile back and found with really shallow cutting (plastic cord) you could see significant differences even with tiny micro bevels, he used v-rods, the same would hold for any micro-bevel application :

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=305456

Generally the only reason to use a really high angle is as Jeff Clark noted and Wayne Goddard has also written, to cut off any burr on the edge.

-Cliff
 
Thanks. Interesting read that, I've got to get back and re-read your testing pages again and again.

The high stropping angle was more accident than intentional the first time and was one of those hmmmm moments. I've been playing with the angles and without putting in some true testing as has been described I don't think I can say for sure. It seems something "good" has occured but it may be more wish than real. If that makes any sense.

I'll keep looking at it. Who knows I may invest in resettable spring scale yet. The trigger gauge is too coarse.
 
I'll add another question. How much do you strop? For me it is only a few passes to remove any remaining burr and put a little polish on the edge. Because the strop has some give I'm not sure of the exact angle.

Do you really go at it on the strop?
 
I just go 3 or 4 passes on each side, alternating sides with each stroke, using minimal pressure (maybe like the weight of your arm and the knife). I lift the angle until I start to only slightly feel the edge begin to drag on the surface.
 
Same here, when I get the angle just right the sound is different, I can almost hear the little wire burrs being stripped off. I usually do this following the 10,000 water stone to get a nice hard edge that won't refect any light.
 
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