What grit for a "Toothy edge" ?

Hankins

Hankins

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Dec 7, 2008
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Using my belt to raise a Burr and then buffing it off...
What grit is best for a Toothy Edge?
Have a hair popping sharp blade and tried to cut a rope the other day. Expecting it to glide thru in one pass.
Nope took two passes disappointing. :(
 
Hankins said:
Using my belt to raise a Burr and then buffing it off...
What grit is best for a Toothy Edge?
Have a hair popping sharp blade and tried to cut a rope the other day. Expecting it to glide thru in one pass.
Nope took two passes disappointing. :(
Click to expand...

Don't really know if grit translates into toothiness directly, as my regular routine is polishing up to 5k grit sandpaper and finishing with 0.5um strops which leaves a mirror finish and yet has incredible bite. You can barely touch the edge without it taking a chunk out of whatever is in contact with it.

Perhaps someone could elaborate further? I'm especially curious myself.
 
On my rigging knives I keep 400 or 600 grit edges. I cut lots of rope with mine, works very well. Often when cutting a large diameter rope I will use a chopping block and mallet. One good whack will take a sharp knife right through 2" rope, but my knives are designed for this type of use.


-Xander
 
I was taught to use a 220 grit belt to raise the burr, take the burr off with a handful of strokes on a Norton fine India stone, strop.
using this technique I can shave hair off my arm, push cut newsprint, and cut a 1" manila rope with a 5.5" blade. have seen someone else use this same technique and cut the 1" rope with a 4" blade.

Edit to add: this is my technique for carbon steels. i don't own much by way of stainless or PM steels.
 
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"Toothy" means different things to different people. I often use a 400-grit belt to set the edge and get a burr, then buff lightly on the back of a worn belt or on a strop, using green chrome compound either way. Similar to 1066vik's technique, this develops an edge that is crisp and fine, but still aggressive.

It depends on the steel, too. Alloys with lots of large carbides, like D2, feel a bit toothy to me even when polished. (this is not a bad thing for most uses)
 
I like a really toothy edge for many of my personal knives, around 120 grit for me. I still strop though so it is a toothy yet polished edge if I do go that direction.

I go to 280 to 2000 grit plus stopping on most knives depending on the use and what I want.

There is a bit to it but I find that a knife can be just as sharp at a somewhat low or high grit. I find I get more effortless cutting at high grit but sometimes I can get a really aggressive cutting action at a low grit. (all subjective of course, a scalpel should not be at 60 grit)
 
I really like a 400 grit edge with a gator belt, then a strop loaded with flitz. The 400 is aggressive enough to cut your edge in without getting things too hot, and leaves a crisp neat somewhat polished edge. The 400 grit is a tad more forgiving, and you run less of a risk in dishing anything out or removing too much material.

I have tried stropping an edge after a 180 grit pass, and the 180 grit burr looks like hair or something on your edge. very pesky to strop that stuff off. The 400 grit leaves a finer burr that strops off more easily, and leaves a fairly aggressive and toothy edge. A great working edge that will pop the hair right off your arm. I send all my knives out with this edge. its easy to do, and is a very nice edge for most cutting chores.
 
What compounds and devices are you gents stroping or buffing with?

I have been getting an excellent shaving and working edge working 40,60,80,120, then skipping to 1,000 then to 3,000.

I'm not saying I have it perfected, just that I tried a few different things on hand and that cut and held up best out of what I tried, but lots of variations did well.

I was about to order a leather belt and some compound but wasn't sure what to get or that I would see an improvement, but I'm pretty sure I want to try it out.
 
Josh Mason said:
I really like a 400 grit edge with a gator belt, then a strop loaded with flitz.
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That's what I do too. I only strop enough to remove the burr then maybe one or two more light passes on the strop (stropping by hand).
I think 400 grit and stropping offers just the right amount of toothiness for general cutting.
 
For a "working" edge that I want "toothy", I use a 220 grit CZ belt and then a quick strop or light buff. If it needs any refinement, I go back to the 400 grit belt. I don't buff them hard or try and remove the "teeth" in excessive stropping.
Slicing edges are taken to 8000 and then polished.
 
I also cut a lot of rope at work. I sharpen my edc folders on a wore out 220 belt. Then buff the burr off with no stropping. I have 3 knives that I rotate when I go to work I just pick one out that I use for that 2 week hitch. 1 knife (mini grip) is 154cm. I have a custom I made that has a cpm-d2 blade. The last one with Aus-8. All will cut 2 inch nylon rope with no problem. The cpm-d2 takes a nice fine edge and holds it longer than the other 2 edc's using the same sharpening method.
 
I usually shape the edge with a 220, then go to 400. Afterwards I sharpen by hand with a 600 grit stone and strop.
 
I use a 320 SC belt and then just a light touch with a felt belt with green polishing compound. Just enough to knock the burr off and polish just the edge of the edge leaving the teeth above. I'm a definite believer in a toothy edge. A highly polished edge just won't cut some things right.
 
Looking like a combination of technique and steel type...
Looks like D2 and 154cm are the ones to stay with
 
JBS TOOLMAKER said:
I use a fresh 100 or 120 blaze to set the angle, go to a 220 klingspor roll a burr then buff it off.
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I do that as well and the edge is very toothy. I will go to 400 and then strop for a finer edge if I feel it is needed.
 
I have been playing with a "Toothy" edge lately, and am on the same page as Daniel. 120 to set the bevel and strop the burr off, It won't cut paper very well but will do wonders on Rope and Meat. You can always take the Grit higher if you so choose.
 
Try using a new 220 grit belt with edge-in strokes and very lightly try to remove the burr with the 220 grit belt. I tried this years ago on a cheap knife and got a very toothy edge. I had a lot of trouble removing the burr without forming another, but I didn't practice much. Lately, I've been doing toothy edges on a stone. I've done them on both coarse India and 220 grit King water stones. The 220 water stone gets very sharp with the right technique, able to whittle curls off my beard hair. Again, I didn't practice as much on the coarse India, but IME, the India stones are a little easier to use than water stones, until you get used to them.
 
Would think a Toothy edge for cloth/tissue cutting like a CQB blade would be better than a shiny polished edge
First has to get thru a Vest or usually heavy fabric to start being effective
 
Hankins said:
Would think a Toothy edge for cloth/tissue cutting like a CQB blade would be better than a shiny polished edge
First has to get thru a Vest or usually heavy fabric to start being effective
Click to expand...

I should think a lot of it depends on technique and blade design. A great deal of time and energy went into giving certified "body blades" (certified to cut through a body in a single stroke) a high polish when Katanas were still used in combat.

I saw a study a couple of years ago where a fellow formed edges with various methods, then examined them under a microscope, and then used them with various cutting techniques and some gauges to measure the force required after so many cuts. He showed a edge formed with a grit (200-400 or so) or coarse stroping held up longer/sharper for slicing while a polished edge held up longer/sharper for chopping, if memory serves.

The study showed what you want for a hard/long use slicing edge was uniform, slick sided microscopic serrations.

I should have book marked it. It was genius stuff.

I think a balance of tooth and polish has been proven to be an edge the holds up under hard use and slice like magic, and what I see the most of here is 120-220 shape to a burr, then polish off the bur. Sounds logical to me.
 
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