Working up a burr and taking it off - Edge Pro

K

KC8QVO

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Apr 7, 2011
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I spent some time last night fine tuning my edge on an ESEE Izula II. I have been using an Edge Pro Apex for a while now and I have had pretty good results with it. However, the last time I sharpened my knife it still felt "rough" when I ran my fingers off the edge. Most of the time I don't go past 600 or 1000 grit. The last time I sharpened it I went to 600.

So last night I went back to 320 and got a fairly even burr on one side, then I flipped it over and ran the burr up the opposite way. Each time I worked up the burr I noted the smoothness of the edge on the side I ran the stone compared to the roughness of the burr side. I paid close attention - because apparently I've screwed this up in the past, or my touch isn't sensitive enough to feel it.

Edge Pro says to do light forward strokes on the burr side to wear it off. This is what I have always done. However, last night it took an awful lot of work to get the burr side smooth again. In fact, I found the other side working up a burr all over, so I had to flip the knife a third time.

I did this method all the way up to 1000 grit this time (320, 600, and 1000). I think this is the sharpest I've had the knife recently as it slices through paper pretty easy compared to after the last sharpening session.

One more note about the last time I sharpened the knife - I knew I wasn't getting the edge "right" so I took my ceramic hone to it. In short, I took the edge OFF and dulled it. I figured I would try to finish off the edge on the hone, but that didn't work. I was thinking of using the hone this time to see if I get different results now that my edge is "smooth" on both sides, but I don't want to repeat what I did the last time and have no edge left.

Ideas? Other than looking at the knife through a microscope is there anything I can do to properly clean the burrs and truly finish off the edge?
 
Finishing with very light strokes on both sides should clean off the burr. Using a ceramic hone with light pressure should also work. Running the edge lightly through cardboard should take it off too. Do you have a strop?
 
Leather strop after sharpening works like no other. Give you a mirror edge if you do it right
 
Your learning and correcting your mistakes, your on the right path.

It takes several times of flipping back and forth to remove a burr. Think of it as a sign you are really close to the apex and once the apex has been formed and can get no smaller via the abrasive used so the burr itself becomes smaller and smaller to the point it goes away. This only happens when you use the appropriate amount of pressure though, which I suspect you are or very close.

When you re-profiled the izula you progressed through the grits in the correct way. Before, not so much. So remember the steps you took to create the edge on your izula and do that every time.
 
I've never re-profiled the Izula - I matched the angle that was on it as best I could. I just use it a lot and by the time I get back around to sharpening I take it down with a heavier grit to work it quicker.

In any event, I suppose I just didn't put enough effort in to it previous times.

I did get a buffing wheel and some compound today for my bench grinder so I am curious to see how that works.
 
I think its time you start to strop your blades. Check our stropman stuff his strops are great hand made in the US and he includes the compounds with his strops. Some one makes leather strops that are mounts on the Edge Pro blanks that are made from Kangaroo leather that are supposed to be the cats meow right now. If you want a nice set up try a block of balsa wood from a craft store or Hobby shop. Just take the block to a very flat and level surface and sand your side you plan to stop with to make it as flat as you can. Green Compounds works best ive found or diamond sprays from Hand American. Once you get a good edge on your knife with the EP you can perty much just strop it once a week or so to maintain it. I also keep a Steno size note pad with all the sharping data for all my knives. Like the Knife waht stones and how many strokes I used per stone/side and what angle set up I used on the EP. There is also a quick and cheap mod you can add to you EP to maker sure you keep the same angle when you change stones on you EP using a 5/8" Drill Stop collar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HoHW3TUdz5s
 
Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll look in to stropping more.

The buffing wheel doesn't work too well. It is too fluffy and not precise enough for an edge, though it does "work" it just hits the whole blade and not just the edge.
 
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