Everyone always talks about polishing and honing on super fine abrasives... I want to get a really gnarly, toothy edge, the kind that makes slicing through meat or fibrous materials seem like child's play.
I know a few members here have played around with sharpening on lower grits so I don't think this topic should be too esoteric...
The lowest grit I have personally is a 220 JIS waterstone. I've played around with edges fresh off this before... It can be difficult to remove a burr and get it really refined, but I've gotten edges sharp enough to shave my arm hair--if my skin can bare it. So for that reason I've still wound up finishing on a relatively higher grit. Usually 1000 JIS waterstone or 25 micron DMT, and I find myself liking the edges I get from the coarser DMT a little more but that's just for everyday carry kind of stuff.
I think that if I were going to be cutting something with a lot of abrasive qualities
I know a few members here have played around with sharpening on lower grits so I don't think this topic should be too esoteric...
The lowest grit I have personally is a 220 JIS waterstone. I've played around with edges fresh off this before... It can be difficult to remove a burr and get it really refined, but I've gotten edges sharp enough to shave my arm hair--if my skin can bare it. So for that reason I've still wound up finishing on a relatively higher grit. Usually 1000 JIS waterstone or 25 micron DMT, and I find myself liking the edges I get from the coarser DMT a little more but that's just for everyday carry kind of stuff.
I think that if I were going to be cutting something with a lot of abrasive qualities