My thumbnail test…
- This topic has 15 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 08/28/2017 at 3:22 pm by
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First, welcome to the Forum.
Your stones are probably still in the break-in period if you’ve only sharpened 6 knives. The knives will get better and sharper as the stones wear more and your technique improves. Sounds like your making good progress. Welcome.
Marc
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Welcome AlRon22!
Like MarcH said, the diamond plates (and ceramic plates if you have those) will require some break in time. I didn’t fully believe that there would be a noticeable break-in period when I purchased my setup, but I can attest that there was a dramatic improvement in the refinement I was able to get that started on 7th knife that I sharpened. I would say that the significant improvements continued until the 10th knife and then from there has been more incremental improvements most likely related to improved technique and greater attention to detail. Keep at it and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Can you tell us a bit about the setup you have (which model WE, are you using strops, which stones you have)? There are some nuances specific to individual setups that we can direct you to if we know what you’re working with.
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Yes. As for specifics, I have the 2017 WE 120 model. I have used a sharpie on the bevels and have a used the 800 grit stone to make sure I’m on the correct angle. Then I proceed to either the 100 or 200 grit stone and raise a bur (wire edge as the manual describes). I must say that I can typically raise a bur quickly on the middle portion of the blade, but near the heel and the tip, it seems to take me longer. I then will make a bur on the other side. From there, I just progress through the stones from 400-1000 alternating strokes. I must say that my technique seems to be getting more consistent…I was using more of a diagonal stroke–(i.e. away, then up) but I’ve changed that to more of the traditional up and then away from me. I have found it difficult to know when to go to the next stone. Although I’ve only sharpened 6 knives or so, I feel like I have put the stones to use. Perhaps patience is the key here. Any pointers would be great! I appreciate what’s already been pointed out in other posts.
Welcome aboard AlRon22. The guys are right about the break-in period – it’s more important than people realize. As for the way your Medford knife performs, I’d venture a guess that it has a pretty highly polished, wide angle on it which allows it to shave easily but which doesn’t offer much bite into your nail. Once your stones are broken in, a 1000 grit finish should offer you both fairly easy shaving and considerable bite. You can always tune your edge to be optimized for more tooth/bite or better shaving based on how you finish them.
-Clay
I think that you’ll find some good information about when to switch grits in this thread.
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Welcome to the forum! As you’ve already noticed, people are very willing to help each other here. So if you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge
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All I can share with you without seeing photos of the clamped knife up close, is how I scratched my knives while sharpening them. Probably the most common way that I scratch one is while wiping it to clear the sharpening debris so I can get a close look at the edge. The paper towel or cloth towel picks up metal filings and trash and as I drag it across the knife I have scratched it. Sometimes I had scratched the knife with the WE clamp. Then I started placing a small patch of leather chamois between the knife and the clamp. That, for me improved my clamping holding the knife more securely and protected it. The down side is sharpening dust and debris falls down and can be trapped between the chamois and the knife in turn scratching the knife as I handled the knife while unclamping.
I’ve scratched knives by dropping the stone mounted on the rod against the knife. I’ve scratched knives with the stone sliding across the side of the knife not being careful what I was doing. I believe I have scratched knives because I had small metal filings on my finger tips that I hadn’t realized, just while handling the knife.
Still the most frequent way I still scratch the bevel as I am sharpening is wiping sharpening debris off the bevel shoulder as I clean the sharpened edge to view it for my sharpening progress. This debris just falls down as sharpening dust as I’m sharpening and lays or sticks there on the slightly raised crisp shoulder until I pick it up in my wiping towel. I find that if I wipe vertically up first it doesn’t spread so bad and only scratches a small spot if It’s going to scratch. I use a clean part of the towel immediately after the initial wipe up.
Marc
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I agree with MarcH. I can imagine two other reasons. First of all you may (unconsciously) change your technique when coming near the tip. See here: http://howto.wickededgeusa.com/knowledge-base/setting-the-teeth/. Secondly (related to the first reason) is that you haven’t right positioned of your knife yet (found the “sweet spot”). The edge in the curved places may then look different from the rest of the edge. Although it’s a bit unclear to me why you see scratches there and not for example a wided bevel. See here: href=”http://howto.wickededgeusa.com/knowledge-base/does-the-angle-change-along-the-length-of-longer-blades-on-the-wicked-edge/.
Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge
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