What is your touch up process ? Not shaving but still sharp?

O

okbow68

Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
185
What is your process if the blades not shaving but still very sharp?
I have been stopping on semichrome then green compound then plain smooth hard backed leather. Am I way off your technique?
 
a soft surface like leather or sand paper over leather/rubber causes convexing. i use silica/alumina paste on a flat glass slab (i was used to oilstones.) with my method, you have to maintain constant angle and very light downward pressure (just above the weight of the blade.)
 
I dont strop but my knives will still shave. I think many times if you have too fine of and edge it wont shave efficiently. I like my edges to have a little teeth. I use an apex. Takes all the guess work out of sharpening.
 
I like to use take it back to the finishing abrasive I used before and hone the edge at the same angle very lightly as was mentioned, but making sure to do the same amount of passes on each side. There's no magic number of passes to use, I just go until it is sharp enough, and focus on reducing pressure and amount of passes per each side as it gets sharper. So just for a general example ( each knife, user, hone requires its own number ) I do 5 passes per side at slight pressure, then 3 at slighter, then one or two passes per side at ultra light pressure and just do this until its as sharp as I need.

Basically the point is to refine your apex, but without raising a burr on one side. This is kind of contrary to the general wisdom of sharpening a badly blunted edge, but with "touch ups" on an already sharp edge the name of the game is saving yourself work, so there's no point in raising a burr because you'll have to do more work to remove it. Instead if you've already had a knife ground until the apex met, then dulled out, you just need to work each side equally until its as sharp as you want it again.
 
I use a 3 micron diamond paste on balsa. 10 swipes per side and it's ready for business. I follow up w/ 1micron boron carbide on balsa for a little bite in the edge.
 
I'd return to the stone as by that time it should have shaved every hair it touches. After stone work it should be shaving some hair and after 5-10 passes on a good leather strop with slurry it should be shaving every hair it touches. Consistent Technique is very important. DM
 
I use a strop with CrO2 for about 10 strokes, then finish on a bare horsehide bench block.


Stitchawl
 
Depending on the level of sharpness and final polish of the blade, I have a choice of 28u,14u,6u,3u, and 1u strops.
 
A few light backhoning passes on a 4000 or 6000 grit King stone, or whetstone followed by some plain newspaper.
 
A few passes with the fine diamond hone followed by ceramic hone polishing. Sometimes I use a strop but not always. I also use some "base stock" paper from work to put a final shine on the blade. The paper is just pulp, I'd say similar to the surface condition of newspaper but without the ink so it cleans the edge extremely well as well as a bit of a polishing affect.
 
I just power strop with .5u compound. 1 pass a side. If that doesn't work it's my 15u belt usually only takes 1 pass if there's no damage then strop.
 
If there's no rolling/chipping in the edge, just strop on my cardboard loaded with metal polish. This usually does it.

Worse than that, but only rolling, align the edge back by 'steeling' it on other blade's smooth spine, then 1000 & 1500 grit sandpaper, then strop as above.

Chipping is a different world. It needs full rework.
 
You can get edge that shaves even off rough stones or ceramics, its just matter of techniqueYou dont even need polishing compounds!
 
I will use either Flexcut Gold compound or a grease based silicon carbide paste, both on plain leather glide to wood. Both work great but the SC paste cuts the super steels I use a lot better,IMO.
 
I return to the last stone used for that knife and depending on the damage I will progress backwards in grit until the abrasive removes the correct amount of material without wasting time. After the stone I use a bare leather strop to finish the edge off.

Most of the time I just use my finishing stone to "strop" the edge, doing this often means I actually only sharpen my knife a few times a year when the bevel needs to be reset.
 
Two very light passes at >30 degrees on my Spyderco ultra-fine stones (like using a ceramic steel) and then a few strokes at 40 degrees (inclusive) and it is back to a usable edge. If this does not give a useful edge then it is time to put more effort.
 
I spend so much time tinkering with different methods, I wasn't initially too sure what my real routine is. But, for the most part lately, I just strop on green compound applied to the inside (rough face) of my leather belt for basic carbon steel and simpler stainless blades, or on a small leather-on-oak strop block with 1 micron diamond compound, for some of the more abrasion-resistant stuff. When either of those isn't quite getting it done, I'll use wet/dry sandpaper over my leather/oak strop block. If I'm not happy with the bevel on a particular blade, I'll use diamond hones to re-bevel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top