Getting Close

Once u get the initial burr on both sides with the 100s u should not need to raise a burr again with the other stones. I would recommend that u reduce the number of passes you make once you raise a burr on both sides to about 50-75 using very light pressure, just the weight of the stone. On the strops 15-25 strokes on each grit should be plenty. Also remember, it takes about 25-50 knives sharpened to break in the diamonds. Once u do you will have some razor sharp edges. On the angle issue, try turning your arms backwards on the rods so you do not have to commit to one of the predetermined holes. That along with an angle cube you should be able to get your angles spot on. Happy sharpening!!!

Davidghemail

You’re going to reach “broken-in” fast with the number of strokes you’re doing. Until your stones are well broken-in, they’ll produce very deep scratches which are difficult to remove.

I’ve been watching mine recently and find that 5-10 strokes for each inch of blade length is enough to remove the scratches from the previous (lower) grit. To be clear, for a four-inch blade, I’ll do 20 full-length strokes on each side. For a 2-inch blade, I’ll do half of that.

The angles you use need not be precise from side to side; it’s the repeatability of subsequent stones that’s important, to ensure that you’re actually working the entire bevel, from shoulder to apex. If you’re using the AngleCube, take at least three sequential readings each time, letting it settle out each time for about 5 seconds. Mine has something under 0.1 degree of error, so if I get readings that vary equally between 19.0 and 19.1, I can assume that the angle is very close to 19.05.

I haven’t received my Gen 3 vise upgrade yet, but when I ordered it in June, the price was $169 and I got the Father’s Day discount. I just checked and it is listed as the second item on the first page of “Accessories” at $169. The description doesn’t clearly say “Upgrade”, but that’s it.

For those that are interested, I’m using diamond stones to 1000-grit, and diamond film in eight descending grit sizes: 15, 9, 6, 3, 1.5, 1.0, 0.5 and 0.1. With new film, scratches are removed with only 4-5 strokes per inch. After about 10-12 knives, I see now that it takes 7-8 strokes to do the same. I will try to clean them with my Superaser to see if it restores their cutting ability.

As it happens, I did use the Superaser this past weekend to clean my diamond films and it did clean them up nicely without removing any grit that I could see. I have not yet checked to see if I have restored their cutting ability. Thanks for the reminder – I’ll do that soon.

I don’t think that any abrasive applied to the surface of film abrasive will remove old grit to expose new grit. There is only one layer of abrasive particles. If you remove it, you’ll see the shiny surface of the mylar film substrate. This, incidentally, is your cue that it’s time for new film.