Next stone purchase
- This topic has 11 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 06/10/2017 at 9:17 am by
.
-
Since you said that you’re interested in getting a mirrored edge, I would suggest you purchase the 1500 / glass blank set with some of the 6 micron diamond lapping film. Although the transition from 1000 to 1500 seems like a large jump, Clay has shown that the 1500 grit diamond plate efficiently removes the 1000 grit scratches with ease. The 6 micron diamond film will start to get you into mirrored edge territory and it also produces a very sharp edge.
I don’t have a lot of experience with the strops and I’m still trying to figure them out, so hopefully others will offer their advice on which strops will help you achieve your sharpest edge possible goals.
I will second Organic’s recommendation that you skip the ceramic and go to the 1500 diamond. I’ve been playing with my old 1200/1600 ceramic stones this past weekend and find that the 1500 produces a more refined scratch pattern.
The 6 micron diamond film seems extraordinary in that it has no problems in removing a 1000-grit scratch pattern and leaving a new scratch pattern more like a 2000 – 3000 grit stone. I tried to do the same with a 9-micron film and it seemed to take much longer to remove the 1000-grit scratch pattern. Go figure.
If you go with the 1500 (and 6 micron film on the backside glass), your next step toward a mirror finish would be a pair of the glass platens at $45 or a pair of the aluminum platens at $35. Lap the aluminum platens flat on 1500-2000 grit sandpaper and (in my opinion) it performs just as well as the glass. This extra pair will give you two more steps of film toward a mirror finish. Maybe 3 micron and 1.0 micron? You’ll find that you’ll still have some remaining scratches, but nothing you can see with the unaided eye. It’s really cool when you hold it in the sunlight and watch the reflection on the ceiling.
Kaozer, I use strops as a finishing step after I have achieved the sharpness, in my sharpening progression, I as looking for. I find it smoothes the toothiness of the final cutting edge and leaves it very sharp. I use films as part of my sharpening progression, just like if they were finer and finer stones, when I’m attempting to achieve a mirror polish looking edge.
Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)1 user thanked author for this post.
If you want to see / read about how the strops work, I would highly suggest Mark76’s blog posts on the topic Molecule Polishing. Mark’s blog has good photos and some very interesting experiments.
While you might expect the 14 micron diamond paste on a leather strop would leave similar scratches as a 14 micron diamond plate, that is not the case at all. The abrasives applied to the strops seem to smooth out surface scratches without removing nearly as much material as a diamond plate or lapping film would remove. From what we’ve seen in this thread, the lapping films work much the same way as the diamond plates do. The diamond lapping films very rapidly abrade the previous scratches and leave a very uniform set of new scratches correlating to approximately the micron size rating of the diamond particles on the film that was used.
Okay, so how do you do touch ups with the films? Do you just touch up with them and keep buying more? Sorry if i ask stupid question but i am very very new to this system and i want to learb from those with more experience than me
I think I get 10 – 15 knives per set of films. Hard to say, because I don’t count the knives I sharpen and I don’t use every film. For that matter, I don’t use the same number of strokes every time. Longer blades or deeper scratches call for more strokes. If I’m really working at producing a perfect mirror finish, I might get only 6 or 7 knives from a set of films. Most of my touch-ups are with 800 and 1000 grit stones and a quick polish to 6 or 3 micron. Where the damage is light and the knife had a micro-bevel, a touch up might only need a very few, very light strokes with the 1000 stones.
Non-diamond film (I haven’t used all that much) seems to lose the grit completely in certain areas. You’ll see patches of clear film where it’s obvious that the grit is gone entirely. Diamond film doesn’t seem to do that. Eventually, the diamonds just become dull.
FWIW, I clean the film about every other blade, rubbing a few drops of alcohol with my finger on the face of the film, then wiping it clean with a paper towel. It’s amazing how much black crud is washed away.
3 users thanked author for this post.
I don’t think there is one right answer to your question. I have the leather and balsa strops 14 to .5 mic. with the paste and the leather strops with emulsions 4/2 mic. and the kangaroo leather with the emulsion 1/.5. Also have the 1500 with the 6 mic. lapping film. Have also the 1200/1600 and 1.4/.6 ceramics. With all that I think if you have the 1000’s I would first get the 1500/6mic. and then a set of leather strops. I love the kangaroo leather but they are more expensive. Stropping drove me a little loopy at first but I finish almost all my edges with a strop now. The ceramic edge is a very good one and is still one of my favorite edges and I don’t strop most of the edges that I use the micro ceramics on. It leaves a good amount of tooth depending on the amount of refinement. You will get a very sharp edge with the 1000 stone when your stones are broke in, but if you want mirror finish the lapping films seem to be the preferred method by most. I have 3 or 4 knives of my own with a “mirror” finish using strops but they are not my sharpest knives all though they are very sharp. The sharpest knife I own is a santoku that is sharpened at 10 deg. 1500 diamond/6mic lapping film and stropped 1/.5 emulsion on kangaroo leather. That knife is like a razor blade, but requires care and maintenance. Not a knife for chopping, slicing soft material is it’s forte but it will cut anything if you maintain it properly.
The low angle adapter is a must for me. Before I purchased any more stones I would purchase that. A lot of thin blades can’t be sharpened less than 17-18 deg. without it. Keep in mind with the LAA that the clamping problems that accompany the original WEPS clamp apply to the LAA as well.
I have had the best luck with strops when I back off 1/2 to 1 deg when stropping for sharpness. IE 15 deg. sharpening, strop at 14.5 to 14 deg. Just a few passes and the sharpness of the knife increases quite a bit. For the “mirror finish” back off 2 deg. increase pressure and passes and take your time to make sure to get rid of and stray scratches from the diamond stones before you start to strop.
I have also had very good results with my hand strop after just a little practice. I use a Strop Man Big Boy strop with all 4 of Robert’s compounds and have been able to get knives very sharp with this strop after sharpening on the WEPS.
I’m going to dive into lapping films and wet stones next so …….. WELCOME TO THE QUEST!!! AND GOOD LUCK
1 user thanked author for this post.
Allright i will start with the 1500 grit diamond and the 6 micron films. Thanks for everyone who commented and helped 🙂
1 user thanked author for this post.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.