Personal checklist?

[Drew]

I’m beginning to see that I need a list, written in black permanent marker and taped above my WE. What I have so far are: be sure of the positioning; center your edge; check angle each grit; loupe the bevels at end of each grit; draw a bur each grit; clean blade after each grit; even pressure; watch that tip; and for God’s sake record your positioning.

 

This is after 3 days. I can only imagine the list of a long user.

 

What do you all have to remind yourselves of each time?

[Marc H]

Just a suggestion, maybe turn down or turn off the music so you can concentrate on what you’re doing.  Then as you learn what this is all about and develop the fundamentals and good basic sharpening technique you may not need the list to keep you on track and centered.

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

[Drew]

Doubly noted.

There was a knifesmith that told me, “The hardest part is getting a new smith to stop hammering after the steel cools.”

Much of my problem is wanting to progress, and forcing myself to stop my momentum for the tedious details.

I’ll keep the music, but I’m still interested in your checklist.

[tcmeyer]

I don’t listen to music too much while sharpening, but I’ve never felt distracted by it.  Maybe because I play albums I bought many years ago.  I focus so much on the sharpening that my mind is always processing specific sharpening issues.  I intently focus on placement of the stones at the start and finish of each stroke.  Music is just something to relax me.  Much more annoying when I listen to talk radio or such.

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Drew, David, Marc H

[Organic]

I think your list is off to a good start, but you will find that you don’t need to draw a burr on each grit level. Once should be enough. However, you check to ensure that you’re getting all the way to the apex with each grit. When you look at the bevels with the loupe or microscope you should be able to tell, but I’ll often put down a fresh layer of sharpie on the edge and do a few passes before looking at the bevels under magnification. This will make it very apparent if there is a problem area.

I would add the following to your list: Use light pressure, work at a pace that is safe (slower is often the way to go).

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Drew, DaveG, David, Marc H

[Drew]

tc, same for me. It acts as a filler for the space behind my eyes. Same for a boxfan while I try to sleep. I can’t play Raw Hardstyle dubstep, though, because the energy makes me aggressive with my paddle pressure. Ditto about talkshows, podcasts, or movies: focus takers, probably dangerous. Like texting and driving, but with surgical edges.

 

Organic, that’s good to know about the bur. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t in the habit of using the Cube with each grit, so was most likely drawing a bur to correct for slight angle changes. Discipline discipline…

I’ll Cube it and test with the sharpie. I need several knives to be confident about trusting what the edge is really doing.

I’ll add light and slow to the mix.

Thank you, all.

[tcmeyer]

Drew wrote:

tc, same for me. It acts as a filler for the space behind my eyes. Same for a boxfan while I try to sleep.

When I was becoming a man, I served about three years aboard a Navy ship.  Our sleeping compartments were a few levels lower, down toward the working innards of what was a steam-turbine driven, 14,000 ton ship.  At sea, (just under 100,000 sea miles while I served) we had two large props pounding at the swells to harmonize with the steam and hydraulics works of the ship.  It (the background noise) grew to be a comfort.  I don’t think I’ve ever slept as soundly as when we were underway.  When I came home to civilian life, I had a real problem sleeping simply because things were so quiet.  I’d turn an AM radio off-frequency, just to create a little white noise.

[Author]

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