Newbie needs help
- This topic has 19 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 07/16/2018 at 8:08 pm by
.
-
My suggestion is to take it up to 1500 on the diamonds, then the ceramic stones, followed by the lapping film and the the strops. If polishing is the goal, more grits is better.
It will be important to check the edge carefully with each grit to make sure you have removed all of the previous grit scratches. A magnifier of some kind will be very helpful for this.
I don’t ever count strokes. I look at the results and do more as needed. when everything looks good go ahead and do another 10 or 20 strokes per side before switching grit levels. If you go through all of those grits and work with attention to detail you will get a nice looking polished edge that is also very sharp.
let us know how it turns out.
3 users thanked author for this post.
welcome to the forum Karl, I hope you have great success with your Wicked Edge. If this is your first knife sharpened with the sharpener please start with a knife that you do not mind getting messed up. If CR knife is what In think it is, get that beautiful polished edge on a couple of other knives first. these diamonds can really rip things up. good luck Karl.
Karl, you certainly have a selection of stones that will help you get that polished edge finish. If your stones are broken in, that will surely help. Used in the correct sequence and most importantly with a good technique you have everything you’ll need. There is no magic number of stone strokes that give you the edge you seek. As Organic says, you’ll judge your progress by the results. Use each stone till the bevels on both sides are equal in appearance and you no longer feel or see any improvements. The sound you hear the stone make while sliding across the knife steel is also a tell tale for your progress. The sound will become more even and smoother without the scratchiness. Then do a few more strokes for good measure and move on up a grit.
Do it all over again the same way with this new grit. As you progress through the grits, one after the other you’ll see the edge getting smoother with finer and finer, and closer together scratch markings. You can’t over do it with a stone. There no such thing as too much. It will only go as far as it can go with that grit then you’ll see you have reached a static. You’ll hear the sound of the stones across the steel becomes almost one toned. Then move on to the next grit. When you reach the 1500 grit, the edge should appear less scratched, by then, and start to appear more polished.
At this point you can use the ceramics or skip them, and just go on to the lapping films, either way is OK. With the lapping films you’ll see the polish really becoming clearer. The last step should be to clean your knife blade carefully and thoroughly, of any steel debris and dirt, followed with the use of your leather strops as the very last step.
If your unsure if your Wicked Edge sharpening technique is correct and sound, I’d practice more on another knife or knives you don’t care about and save this CR for when your more comfortable with your skill level. Especially if it’s an expensive knife!
PS: I would expect if you go through the grit progression with good technique in order to achieve a shiny polished knife edge I don’t know how it would be anything other then Wicked Sharp!
Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)4 users thanked author for this post.
I do agree that practicing on a few unimportant knives first is key. It will help you diagnose any issues with your technique and will help the stones break in. The level of polish that you get with the diamond plates will improve in a dramatic way after about 10 knives worth of sharpening. If you haven’t already done this, your future self will thank you for waiting on this one and practicing on some other knives first.
2 users thanked author for this post.
If your bevel full of scratches makes it all the way to the apex.
and if real fine diamond are slow to take those scratches out of the very edge.
then if you touch up the knife often you with those fine diamonds, you will slowly get that beautiful polish and get maximum use of the little bit of toothy from the scratches.
You did every thing right. thank You for the post Karl.
1 user thanked author for this post.
Today I found an old knife to sharpen. Buck 110 (circa 2004). My thought was to get it sharp. So I started with the 80 grit, and used the angle cube to get it at 23 on the left side of the vice and 24 on the right side. I finished it off with my strops at 21 and 22 respectively. It came off the bench screaming sharp. But after push cutting an LL Bean catalog to death, it lost some edge. Probably should of put a micro bevel on it? Not a very good photo, but you can tell a part of the bevel was almost polished… and the bevel was inconsistent. However, I was happy with the results.
1 user thanked author for this post.
Twenty three degrees per side is reasonably obtuse. I don’t know adding a micro bevel will help with edge retention. You might consider putting it back in the clamp and doing a little stropping on it to see if that restores the edge.
1 user thanked author for this post.
oh great, or maybe I should try the 50 and put it back to 25 dps lol
1 user thanked author for this post.
Karl the grit you choose to use should be commensurate to the amount of steel that needs to be removed. I try to use the highest grit, to begin with, that will let me get the job done. If I find I’m having to spend too much time and effort, then I’ll step back to a lower grit to increase the amount of metal removal and save me time. Going back and starting a sharpening job over at a lower grit level does not give you sharper results when finished then you’ll get when you start at a higher grit level. What determines sharpness is proper technique and effort put forth. The one single aspect that determines sharpness I’d say, is if the bevels are drawn up together at the apex and that this intersection is at a precise meeting point, actually precise line. A wider bevel when applied properly may last longer than a narrower more acute bevel. This is the “art” of sharpening. Learning and knowing which bevel angle corresponds best with which blade configuration and type or hardness of steel. There’s no magic angle that will best suit a steel type. There are too many factors. If you find a knife isn’t as durable as you like. That is the edge doesn’t stay sharp. Then I’d change something up the next sharpening.
You may be able to restore the “screaming sharp edge” with re-clamping the knife and re-stropping the edge. (Like Organic said). Push cutting a tough closely compressed paper like a glossy catalog page can be quite tough on an edge. More so than normal everyday use of the knife.
That may be a good test to increase the bevel angle a degree or two reharpen the blade at that setting and restrop again at the new settings and see if the knife handles your push cutting test, better and lasts longer. That way you’ll learn what angle is appropriate for that knife and steel with how you want to use it.
Log all your settings and sharpening experiences and comments so you’l have a record of what works best for that blade.
Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)3 users thanked author for this post.
Clay, please send me a Gen 3 vice and I will gladly pay you on Tuesday.
1 user thanked author for this post.
Wimpy, Wimpy, Wimpy… LOL
I agree with Organic that a microbevel probably doesn’t help edge retention. More important is the “tooth” it adds to the edge. I select the angle based on the cutting qualities desired and the toughness of the steel. A Buck 110 is made with 440C stainless, a steel considering as less than average quality. Given this, I’d avoid angles less than 20 dps. If the material being cut has hard components such as bones, I might go closer to 25 dps, but probably not more. If you want to make the edge less fragile, think about a second or even a tertiary (3rd) bevel, making it much wider than you normally see in a microbevel.
Thicker knives like the Buck 110, would benefit from a convex edge, which is actually a multi-bevel profile. The individual bevel flats are blended together, making them a single, convex bevel. For any knife, the thickness of the blade at the corners of the bevel shoulders has a large effect on cutting efficiency. Making the blade thinner at that point is a huge improvement. The convex profile serves the same purpose, depending on the width of the convex bevel: Distributed over a wider section, the profile becomes less abrupt and the cut seems as if it were made by a more slender blade.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.