Waterstone problem.

D

Darkstar809

Joined
Oct 12, 2011
Messages
93
Hey everyone, I don't post much but I have a problem with my waterstone sharpening. I own a combo waterstone that is 1000 on one side and 6000 on the other. Last week when I got my delica 4 ffg I proceded to sharpen on the 1000 and then 6000 and got a super sharp edge. Now after using it heavily, whenever I sharpen it, its got a nice scratch pattern after the 1000 grit and is nice and sharp, but after I'm done with the 6000 grit side, the edge has a mirror polish but is not sharp, or sometimes it will be sharp when i test it, I'll close the knife and come back and it has almost no sharpness at all. What is happening to my edge?
 
Darkstar809 said:
I stropped on a plain piece of leather but had nothing change. I do not have any stropping compound.
Click to expand...

Stropping is for when you're finished removing the burr (or reduced it to a very, very fine burr.) If you have a significant burr, stropping is just going to flip it to the other side.
 
try taking a few more passes and work up a little more of a burr and then go to the strop. you should still be able to get it sharp without any compound.
 
also, I thought I might mention that I'm using murray carter's technique, where you start with the tip and trail with the edge. It has worked on all of my previous knives but not this one for some reason. Perhaps I'm not used to working with a slightly harder steel (VG-10).
 
if you would want to save some typing, i'll be glad to give you a call and help you out if you want to email me your number.
rje196021@gmail.com

are you forming a good edge and getting a decent burr? you might want to give a little coarser edge a try and see what that is like.
 
Last edited:
Yes, I'm forming a razor sharp edge, but whenever i test my knife later, it is incredibly dull. I've decided to just stop on the 1000 grit side, the 6000 for some reason just isn't lasting.
 
i have found out through feedback that a coarser edge works better. whenever i sharpen a knife for anyone, i never go over 400 grit but most of the time i just go with 120 grit. i have sharpened knives with 80 grit and had them treetop hairs but i finish them off on the slotted paper wheel. if you want to check into another sharpening system that will give you shaving sharp edges in minutes check out the paper wheels. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=578787
 
richard j said:
i have found out through feedback that a coarser edge works better. whenever i sharpen a knife for anyone, i never go over 400 grit but most of the time i just go with 120 grit. i have sharpened knives with 80 grit and had them treetop hairs but i finish them off on the slotted paper wheel. if you want to check into another sharpening system that will give you shaving sharp edges in minutes check out the paper wheels. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=578787
Click to expand...

But doesn't sharpening with such a low grit stone only give an illusion of sharpness due to the tiny serrations that are etched into the blade by the lower grit stone? I'm not saying it wouldn't be sharp at this point I'm just asking (because I'm not 100% knowledgeable in all sharpening matters) whether the blade seems to "bite" into whatever it's being tested on because of these serrations?
 
an edge like that is similar to a serrated knife but finishing the edge off on the slotted wheel makes all the mini serrations shaving sharp without having to go real fine to get the same results. this summer i'm going to make a knife to do some experimenting on with coarser edges. i'm going to see what happens when i go down to 24 grit with the edge stropped on the slotted wheel. i bet it will still shave hair being that coarse.

i sharpened up a scrap yard regulator that was so sharp the guy that owned it was scared of it after it cut his finger from just touching the edge. it had an 80 grit edge on it.
 
I have to admit I'm quite fascinated with your results and would love to learn more about them, or as much as you are willing to share. I'm not familiar with the term "slotted wheel." Guess I'm still in the stone-age, pun intended.

I would really love to learn more of your method. My knives are all quite sharp but I don't believe they meet the description you provided.
 
I had similar issues when I started out with the waterstones. A combo 1000/6000 - wouldn't be a King would it? Feedback from any stone diminishes as you go up in grit rating, and the margin of error for how well you hold the angle is a function of grit value as well. At lower grit values its relatively easy to maintain a good edge bevel. At higher values it becomes very easy to round the edge a bit or make it a lot more obtuse than you realize either through too much variation in your stroke, or by "reaching" for the feel of the apex by elevating the spine.

Go slow with the 6000, use a Sharpie to see what's happening to make sure you just hit the apex, or try Murray Carter's method and use a trailing-only stroke on the finer stone. That said, a lot of folks find they get a lot more life and functional utility from a coarsely ground edge, especially on certain steels. Experiment a bit and see what works best for you.
 
On a 6000 try raising your knife a tad (creates a micro-bevel) and very light pressure. Pressure has a lot to do with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top