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Finally, I Can Kinda See Myself!

Recent Forums Main Forum Techniques and Sharpening Strategies Finally, I Can Kinda See Myself!

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  • #48780
    NorCalQ
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    • Topics: 54
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    Well, after 4 hours of going from 100 – 1k, 1200 and 1600, 1.4 and .6 micron ceramics, 9 and 3 micron diamond films and leather strops (?), I finally got a mirror finish, although not completely clear of left-over scratches.  The knife is sharp enough to slide thru phone book paper, going straight down, with knife weight only.  Thing is, when I try to slice sideways, I still get catches, although no nicks are visible with my digital scope.  Can anyone offer an explanation to help me get past that?

    I spent tons of time attempting to rid the bevel of prior scratches, using medium to light pressure.  I started with scrubbing each side, then went to strokes of either leading edge or trailing, of at least 100 to 150 strokes.  After working the ceramics like edges together to wear them in, they worked very well.  Problem was, I felt like I could have used an interim diamond grit between 1k and 1200 ceramic, cuz as soon as I switched to the ceramic, I started getting reflection, even though there were still scratches.

    I also found that when I got to the higher grits, my scratch pattern differed depending on whether my grip was high on the paddles or low.  I’ll have to be more consistent about that.  Is there a consensus on that?

    All in all, it was a good 4 hours.  I def want to cut that down and would like to know how?  Even though I’m spending a ton of time with each grit, I’m apparently still not getting out all of the prior scratches, so I’m thinking it must be something else, other than purely stroke number.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks for reading this long post.

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    #48793
    Organic
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    • Topics: 17
    • Replies: 929

    Paper has a grain to it, so it is usually easy to cut in one direction. If a blade is very sharp it will cut paper with and against the grain.

    The best way to get rid of residual scratches is to go back a few grit levels. This is counter intuitive, but it works. Fine grits remove material slowly and won’t get deep scratches out without a lot of passes. A more coarse grit will work much faster.

    I don’t think you actually need anything between the 1000 and the 1200. You probably just need to go back down to the 800 grit stones and do some additional work. If you want to try another route, the 1500 diamond is a good followup to the 1000 diamond. It might fit well between the 1000 and the 1200 ceramic. I don’t have the 1200 / 1600 so I can’t say for sure. I go from 1500 to the 1.4 / 0.6 micron ceramics and that works well for me.

    My strategy with hand position on the paddles is to always hold them on the bottom. This is for consistency and for safety because it keeps my hands below the edge most of the time.

    4 hours is a lot of time, but it sounds like it was a good learning experience. Things will get faster.

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    #48804
    tcmeyer
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    • Topics: 38
    • Replies: 2095

    My phone book paper will cut vertically but not horizontally.  The sharpest knives I have won’t cut it – even scalpels.  I’ve decided that the paper is just too weak in that direction.  It’ll tear before it’ll slice.  I’m not sure, but I think that if I start a cut vertically, I can then steer it to horiz.

    Absolutely scratch free bevels are really, really difficult to achieve.  Besides the basic protocols, you’ll go nuts chasing contaminates.  I sharpen normally to 3 micron film and none of my friends or family gives a hoot about the residual scratches.

    I had an interesting case today (Fri).  I stoned a blade with 1500 until all the 1000 grit scratches were gone. When I started with my 6 mu film, some of the 1000 scratches reappeared.  Anyone notice that before??

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    #48811
    NorCalQ
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    • Topics: 54
    • Replies: 149

    In all the youtube vids I’ve watched on WE, I do remember hearing that some scratches will get covered over in the process, only to be uncovered at a later stage.  Is that possibly what happened here?

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    #48833
    tcmeyer
    Participant
    • Topics: 38
    • Replies: 2095

    No doubt that’s what happened here.  The question is:  How did this happen?  What is the mechanical reason?  Hmmm… That’s two questions…

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