New WE owner/sharpener…. The more I learn 3/5

[Braden Wright]

Intro/Question 1 are here: https://knife.wickededgeusa.com/forum/6-techniques-and-sharpening-strategies/13343-new-we-owner-sharpener-the-more-i-learn-1-5

(3) Can you have too many passes with a stones/strop?

Background:
I know there is a point of diminishing return with sharpening but I wasn’t sure if as I noobie it was ok to just always error on the side of doing more passes. I do have a microscope on order (another recommendation found on the forum) so I can start looking at things as I go a long and I’m hoping that will help. I’ve been trying to feel/listen but it gets harder without experience on some of the finer grits.

[Leo James Mitchell]

There is no correct answer to your question…different stokes for different folks as the old saying goes. Once you get the burr we all seek in step 1 go on with the rest of the diamond wands using light stokes that caress the steel. Listen and feel and in time you will know when each grit is done and so move on to the next one. To sum up…carefully raise a burr along the whole length of the blade edge and then every step after light stokes along the whole edge.
My two cents worth!
Leo

[wickededge]

Leo is right about pressure too – it’s really important to lighten your pressure as you go up in grit until you are just whisper light with your last stones. I’m thinking that you might be pushing a burr to one side on your Delica because it’s cutting decently but not shaving. Did you try shaving with it going the other direction?

-Clay

[Braden Wright]

Thanks for the feedback (I see both of you on lots of posts so I’ve already learned a lot from those)…. I was hoping for a more direct answer but unfortunately its not always that easy (found same thing when I started getting into BBQ). I feel confident that I’ get good burr on the 100’s and the 200’s before I move on…. after that I wasn’t trying to form a burr (seemed like some people did it for higher grits).

Good advice about light pressure I think my first couple knives I was heavy handed but then I was watchin more videos and on the higher grits people were saying pressure was only the weight of the blade so I’ve been staying pretty light (but lighten as I go)

Sounds like I just need to practice more and start doing more testing along the way (I grabbed some 1/4″ hemp rope and am going to get some wood), I just don’t think I was giving myself enough feedback. I still have a lot to learn but I feel pretty confident to be able to improve as I move forward (which I wasn’t when I posted…. biggest things is I was worried about practicing bad habits).

[Zamfir]

So after the burr is confirmed and you move on in stones and go lighter and lighter are you just keeping the burr straight and thinning it down or does it just automatically get worn away through the stone progressions or do you have to do something else after you confirm the burr to remove it?

[wickededge]

With alternating strokes, light pressure and progressively finer grits, the burr essentially goes away. There is probably an argument to be made that there is some atomically small wire edge left until the edge is blunted, just by nature of the ideal intersection of the two bevels coming to a point, but for all intents and purposes, it is removed.

-Clay

[tcmeyer]

I agree with Clay. I have settled into stoning one side at a time, so I see burrs form on all of my diamond stones, tho I don’t use burrs as an indicator of progress. I use the handheld microscope to check for progress and edge damage I am trying to remove. In fact, burrs tend to obscure my view of the edge, but by then most or all of the damage is gone. When using alternating strokes, burrs don’t really develop into much. For the first year of my use of the WEPS, I used alternating strokes exclusively and wondered what burrs these guys were talking about.

At 58X (the magnification I normally use) and the finer stones (600 – 1000), I’ll see burrs as a thin, bright line along the edge, instead of just a clear demarcation between the two sides. Often the burr is so fine that I can wipe it away with a light touch of my finger, so I don’t doubt that there are burrs too small for me to see at 58X. I use the micro-fine ceramics or film on glass for polishing, so I depend on them to reduce burrs further. I always finish an edge with 5-10 alternating strokes as a last effort to eliminate burrs.

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