Mirror problems, help!
- This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 11/09/2018 at 3:01 pm by
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Adrian, I see you’ve been at this for years and years so I’ll assume it’s not a technique issue and your stones must be broken in. For a polished mirror bevel, I think you’d do better transitioning from the full progression through the 1000 grit diamond to the 1500 grit diamond stone paired with the 6µ Diamond lapping film on the glass blank side. I’d follow this with 3µ, 1.5µ and finish with 1.0µ diamond lapping films. Next I’d use a full progression of strops. I prefer to use leather over the balsa wood. I’d go with 4µ/2µ, then 1µ/0.5µ diamond emulsion on leather, to start. It takes a lot of strokes to get the best results when using strops. You may find at that point, that you want to continue with even finer grit diamond strop emulsions on the nano cloth paddles.
I truly believe you need to do the sharpening job the best you can each and every grit, removing the scratch pattern from each previous grit, to get to the point that your first ready to begin polishing the bevel. No matter how well you polish and how hard you work at it, if your preparation and beginning steps are leaving stray and/or deep scratches you’ll never work them out with the final polishing steps.
For something like your undertaking a lighted magnified visual aid like a USB Microscope, I believe is a must have tool.
Last I’ll say, when doing what you’re attempting your level of care when clamping and cleaning the knife sides all during the entire process is very important to avoid and prevent scratching the knife sides and bevels while working towards the highly polished prize.
Marc
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Thanks MarcH, you’re right I’ve been using the system for a few years now. I’ve had issues in the past but sharpening mostly pocket knives, persistence has paid off.
These 10 knives are 11 inches of cutting edge and the bladesmith has requested a 24 degree inclusive edge, they’ve thrown up a few problems! During one I completed today I went from the final strop back to 1000 diamond stone as I wasn’t happy with it, still not over the moon though.It does look like I’m going to have to invest in some more bits and bobs, do you know of any instruction / demonstration videos for the lapping film? I’m a bit confused on how to use them.
Lapping films are essentially used the same as you would use strops…only edge trailing up and off strokes.
Here are a couple of links to you tube videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLFv6FX3NNs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGMF2dWIesY
I’m sure there’s more to see out there with a simple search.
Marc
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Mirrored edges can be had with careful attention to detail and consistency. You’ll want to check regularly that your angle has not changed as you progress through the sharpening process. I do this after every grit change. The lapping films are the fastest way to get a mirrored edge, but you should be able to get good looking mirrored edges with the stones you already own. If you want to smooth the transition between the 1000 and the 1.4 / 0.6 ceramic then the 1500 diamond is a great choice. Strops are an essential part of the equation to a truly mirrored edge in my experience and you should consider getting some coarser grits to compliment the 1 / 0.5 strop set you have already. The 4 / 2 micron set should help bridge the gap between your stones and the strops you currently have. I also like the 14 / 10 set.
I hope this blade smith is paying you for your time. This sounds like a lot of work.
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