Can you start with 1000 grit?

[tacocat]

All,

I haven’t received my WE yet but had a question about where to start so please excuse my ignorance. I see many folks start with 100 and work their way up though 1000 and then strop or lapping film. My question is this, can you start at 1000 grit and bring a not very dull knife to sharp quicker or as a touch up? I wouldn’t use a backhoe to plant a sapling tree but instead I’d use a shovel. Why go big if you don’t need to?

Thanks,

Andy

 

 

[tcmeyer]

With each knife, we select a starting grit based on how much damage we need to remove.  For touch-ups of blades without chips or edge dents, I frequently start at 800 or 1000 grit.  One good ding in the edge might drive me to start at 400.

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jumpstat, Alan, wickededge, tacocat

[Organic]

I use the 1000# as the starting point to re-sharpen knives that I have previously finished on the lapping films and it works very well. Obviously, if the knife is very dull, this would take a long time, but it is a great starting point for a knife that has minimal edge damage that just needs a quick tune-up. The only reason to go down to a coarse grit like the 50# or 100# is to save time by speeding up the removal of material. This makes sense to do when you are re-profiling a knife or need to remove chips in the cutting edge.

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jumpstat, wickededge, tacocat

[Marc H]

Andy, you all are correct.  You choose the tool to fit the need.

Many new users chose to reprofile a knife, that is change the cutting angle to something different than it was previously ground.  Often just to experience the process, learn good sharpening technique and experience the progression through the grits from very coarse to very fine and learn how to adjust and change stones and angles.  They do it just to see how it feels and see how it works.  That’s what I did to learn the ins and outs.  Now with a good basis of understanding and practical experience TC, Organic and I pick the tool to fit the job, like you suggest.

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

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wickededge, tacocat

[Mark76]

Yes, you can for touch-ups. I think Tom (tcmeyer) is right. I recently sharpened a knife on natural stones starting at 800 from scratch (i.e. creating a new bevel) without a WE and I can assure you that was a lot of hard work. I wouldn’t recommend creating a new bevel with the 1000 grit stones, although technically it’s possible.

One thing to add: it also depends a lot on the steel hardness. On a harder steel you will have a much more difficult time than on a softer steel.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

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wickededge, tacocat

[tacocat]

Thanks for all the replies. I can tell that my ownership and use of the WE will have plenty of support from this group on this forum. It may be user friendly and I’m hoping I can have success with the WE but if I run into trouble, I know where to turn for help.

After I hone my skills on about a dozen thrift store $1.00 knives, I will move to my kitchen knives and then my friend’s knives (Dalstrong Shogun kitchen and steak knives).

Thanks,

Andy

 

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Marc H

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