Hi Leo and Gofly,
Thanks for your help. I have read the theory by Clay regarding bevel angles and bevel width and I think I am beginning to understand it. On his personal blog he has also devoted a few posts to it. (http://sharpeningtechniques.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html) Unfortunately the links to the eDrawings do not work anymore.
I did my work on the cheap knife yesterday not so much in order to improve the knife, but to learn my skills on the Wicked Edge. That said, my girlfriend enjoyed it: she produced some very thin slices of tomato this morning. 🙂
Today I worked on her Global chef’s knife. That’s made of a much better steel already, although it is nowhere near CPM. After the 600 grit stones it was far less scratched than the cheap knife and it cut paper smoothly already. And after the 1600 grit stones it was sharper than it has ever been (as my index finger can testify – I had just got into this nice motion pattern Clay shows, when my finger slid off :ohmy: )
I am still not certain on how long I should continue with a particular grit of stone before I go on to the next. With the 100 grit stones I created a burr on one side after about three quarters of an hour. I was finished with the stones after about an hour. That was a long time, but I regrinded the blade from 20* to 15*, so that’s understandable.
However, after that, on the 200, 400 and 600 grit stones I had to polish for over half an hour to create a noticeable burr on one side and it took me three quarters of an hour before I could move on to the next stone. I know for certain I did hit the edge pretty soon (using a magnifying glass and the Sharpie trick, and working only on one side of the knife to create the burr), so perhaps I am just bad at feeling burrs.
How much time on average do you guys spend on the 200, 400 and 600 grit stones for this type of knife? (Relatively large – a chef’s knife – and medium hardness – around HRC 57.) Three quarters of an hour just seems way too long.
Thanks again,
Mark.
