Alright, dumb question time!

[mike]

I only get one dumb question per day. I’m very reluctant to use it so early in the day but here goes:

Do you have to check your angles with the angle cube to make sure you’re hitting the apex?

When I sharpen I make sure the angles are the same on both sides at 200 grit and just go from there.

I do not own a jeweler’s loupe but I plan on getting a USB microscope very soon. I just use sharpie at 200 when I’m setting my angles to male sure I’m apexing.

Also- do you have to lay on sharpie after each grit?

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NotVerySharp

[Readheads]

I use the cube to check the angles at the start only.  I only use a sharpie if I have never sharpened that specific knife before. If it is a repeat I use the recorded setting from the Advanced Alignment Guide (ex. D6, top depth).  I find the AAG very repeatable.  I then bring up a burr with the 400 grit.  The burr is easy to feel with a trailing edge finger feel.  I let the next grits take off the burr with leading edge strokes.

If I have never done a specific knife before, I use a sharpie to help me decide on the angles. The closer the better for faster sharpening. Unless of course you want to change the angle alot (reprofile). Some people wait for 400 grit to raise the burr but in this case I do it at 100 to be sure I reach the apex and not have to do it over later. Regardless, apex is important, full length burr is important.

In summary, I only use the sharpie and cube in the beginning.

BTW, I only do kitchen knives cause I have no real use for the others.  I use a $35 Carson USB scope which also connects to my phone. Very handy for visual feedback.  It magnifies to around 250x as shown in my composite below.

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dulledge

[Organic]

I do like to use the angle cube to spot check here and there, but I’m not in the habit of using it on every grit change currently. I do use the sharpie and inspect the edge with a loupe or usb microscope on almost every grit. I would be interested in hearing what the experts around here do.

[Mark76]

I usually only use the angle cube the first time. The exception is of I use stones that (may) have different thicknesses, like whetstones or strops. But if you’re using an angle cube after every stone your’re even pretty sure you don’t make any mistakes.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Marc H]

I measure with the angle cube every grit or stone change. I find very seldom is the measurement dead on the same even just flipping over a stone. I think only one of my diamond stone pairs is the same. It may differ by as little as a tenth or two tenths of a degree or so but we have the ability to micro adjust for it so why not, (if you use a Gen2 or Gen3). It only takes a few seconds to do so. As I became accustomed to adjusting for those fine increments now I have a good idea of about how much I need to screw in or out on the adjusting screw to compensate for it, so its quick. After all a lot of us are using diamond lapping films to attain that mirror polish finish so why not keep the bevel as close and as flat as I can by keeping the angle as precise as I am able too. There’s enough slop as the stones slide so why not eliminate what errors I can.

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

[Pinkfloyd]

I only use sharpie to find angle, to make sure im hitting the apex. I use angle cube on each stone change, some use the VSTA. I find it does not work for me so I check with cube after each stone change, because angle does change with some stones.

[Readheads]

Hmmm, I think that the slop in the handle/rod (which is ~0.4 deg) overides the other errors. This is measured with the cube when holding the handle against the blade by the bottom of handle vs. the top of handle. These pretty much are the hold points of trailing vs. leading edge motions.

However, I mix the trailing/leading all the time while listening to the edge being sharpened. It seems to me that there is a “sort of natural attraction” to the stone “finding” the plane. My scope and sharpness checks are still very consistent.

What do you think ?

[cbwx34]

Readheads wrote:

Hmmm, I think that the slop in the handle/rod (which is ~0.4 deg) overides the other errors. This is measured with the cube when holding the handle against the blade by the bottom of handle vs. the top of handle. These pretty much are the hold points of trailing vs. leading edge motions. However, I mix the trailing/leading all the time while listening to the edge being sharpened. It seems to me that there is a “sort of natural attraction” to the stone “finding” the plane. My scope and sharpness checks are still very consistent. What do you think ?

Yup… been my mantra for years.  Totally agree.

[mike]

If you don’t have to check the angle after every grit, my issue must be blade geometry.

I tend to sharpen my knives a lot with the work that I do. The knives I have now I’ve had for 3 years and they’ve seen a sharpening at least once a week. I’m very particular about keeping my knives sharp because in my line of work, a dull knife makes for rapid onset of fatigue.

I’m going to be getting a new set of knives here pretty soon so, hopefully I can get my knives back to being as sharp as they used to be. When the knives are new, I can get a very acute sharpening angles on them and they are really screaming sharp. Nowadays I have to settle for 20-22 degrees and maybe 4 hours of sharpness

[Readheads]

Sounds like you could use one of those sweet, variable speed belt sanders and do some major reprofiling of the entire blade

[mike]

I have a 2×72 belt grinder actually! 🙂

Normally I use it to repro file serious damage to the blade. I think what I might do is, like you said, thin the entire blade, not just the edge.

[dima]

I don’t think angle cube would give you an acceptable reading to figure out if you’re hitting apex. It’s not that precise. Checking for burr is much much more accurate and easier approach. To answer your second question – no. Why would you do it? Sharpie is useful when you try to match existing angle. That happens before you even begin sharpening. Unless I’m missing something here and the question is in fact loaded.

[Organic]

Perhaps I have been doing it incorrectly, but I found that when I checked the angle after every grit and adjusted it to be the same as before, I sometimes ended up with multifaceted bevels. I do not have this issue when I just leave the angle setting alone, so that’s what I do now.

 

[tcmeyer]

I use the angle-cube only to set the initial angle;  I then set the VSTA’s to that angle setting.  Thereafter, I set every stone (even the one I’ve used to set the VSTA’s to) to the position of the VSTA’s.  I do this because my stones are all modified and can’t be counted on to be uniform.  A difference in thickness of 0.010″ will account for about 0.1 degrees of angular difference.  For me, the worst stone-to-stone difference (about 0.6 degrees) requires about 2 turns of the micro-adjust screw.  Most are only a quarter-turn or so.

I use the Sharpie only to match an existing bevel.  And I never assume that the existing bevel is the best possible – usually, it’s not.  However, achieving a good bevel at the tip can be difficult, often requiring a re-profiling.  In which case it’s usually easier to match the bevel at the tip using the Sharpie.

I have always held that holding the handle at the bottom is the best method.  It limits the possibility of “rocking” the stone over the edge as a pivot point and reduces the time and motion you spend with the your pinkies exposed to the “bleeding edge.”

I wish I had a 2″ X 72″ belt sander.

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