WE stone options

[romad97]

From strictly a sharpening point of view, what would the next step be on the WE after the 1000 stone? Do strops actually sharpen any further or is it mostly for aesthetic reasons? Would ceramic be the next step?

 

[Komitadjie]

There are several possible entirely valid places to go after the 1K diamond plates, really. You can go on to the Chosera waterstones, the ceramics, stropping on various materials with various abrasives, or any one of another half dozen options from second-source vendors like Ken over at CKTG. Examples there would be Shapton waterstones, diamond films in a wide array of grits, nubatama waterstones, and a number of other stropping materials.

And yeah, the strops DO continue the work, both in terms of removing burr, and polishing the edge. Bear in mind that a certain size of abrasive on a strop will result in an entirely different finish than that same abrasive on a solid backing (like a stone).

 

[cbwx34]

Strops do further refine the edge... the 5/3.5 combo is a good finish strop. You won't remove the scratches of the 1K stone.. but you'll find a noticeable improvement to the edge.

Or, like Komitadjie said... there's lots of alternatives.