Raising a burr
- This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 04/23/2017 at 9:21 pm by
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So after watching Clay and some other guys on videos, it seems like some guys raise an edge with the initial stone only (usually 100 grit), then just do up and away strokes with 100 through to 1000. Thoughts? Is raising an edge on each grit pointless?
The point of creating and looking for a burr, is to tell you whether or not you’ve reached the apex of the edge (the edge of the edge). 🙂 In theory, you can use a number of ways to determine this… marking the edge with a Sharpie is the other most common… and never specifically create a burr. It’s just the most common, and pretty much guarantees you’ve reached the apex… which, for new sharpeners, is something they often don’t get right away.
Once the “edge of the edge” is reached… the remaining stones should automatically be there (assuming everything stays consistent), so there is no reason to specifically create and/or look for a burr. After the edge is set, you’re just refining it. In reality, each subsequent stone will create a burr anyway, but since you’re alternating strokes, it’s very small, and hard to detect. But, as long as you know you’re at the edge, no need to create/look for another one.
As you gain experience, you’ll find that you might not want to even create a burr with the first stone (which has the advantage of not “roughing up” or chipping the very edge), but save reaching the apex with a finer stone…. say the 400g for example. So when you get to the 400g, at this point you might look for a burr, or complete Sharpie removal, etc. to insure you’ve reached the apex.
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Thanks CB, that’s what I figured, while others have said to be sure and raise a burr with each stone, one side at a time, i think i’m not making the edge as sharp as i could be. So i’ll try with just the 100 then progress up and away through the stones and see how i go.
I understand what you mean about the finer stones, will try that method sometime.
So after watching Clay and some other guys on videos, it seems like some guys raise an edge with the initial stone only (usually 100 grit), then just do up and away strokes with 100 through to 1000. Thoughts? Is raising an edge on each grit pointless?
The point of creating and looking for a burr, is to tell you whether or not you’ve reached the apex of the edge (the edge of the edge). In theory, you can use a number of ways to determine this… marking the edge with a Sharpie is the other most common… and never specifically create a burr. It’s just the most common, and pretty much guarantees you’ve reached the apex… which, for new sharpeners, is something they often don’t get right away. Once the “edge of the edge” is reached… the remaining stones should automatically be there (assuming everything stays consistent), so there is no reason to specifically create and/or look for a burr. After the edge is set, you’re just refining it. In reality, each subsequent stone will create a burr anyway, but since you’re alternating strokes, it’s very small, and hard to detect. But, as long as you know you’re at the edge, no need to create/look for another one. As you gain experience, you’ll find that you might not want to even create a burr with the first stone (which has the advantage of not “roughing up” or chipping the very edge), but save reaching the apex with a finer stone…. say the 400g for example. So when you get to the 400g, at this point you might look for a burr, or complete Sharpie removal, etc. to insure you’ve reached the apex.
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So after a few small changes I’m getting really good results. I thought I was getting a sharp blade but now I’m getting a very sharp blade just going 100-1000 grit.
A colleague bought in a pile of crappy bait knives and I had a couple work knives to sharpen. So I did the best two of his knives then put this post up over the weekend, then came back to work today and I wasn’t happy with the knives I’d done on Friday, so I did the following after a lot of good info from you guys.
100 grit – I scrubbed, circled and did whatever I wanted until I’d raised a nice burr, then I repeated on the other side, then went to up and away strokes, about 60 in total, until the edge felt like it was all smooth (and sounded smooth), nothing catching.
I then did 200-1000 grit up and away, no creating a burr cause it’s already there. I scrubbed in places that I thought needed it but finished with about a total of 60 strokes per stone, again until it felt and sounded good.
I grabbed at the top of the stone and took great care in making sure I was removing all of the marker from the edge.
Scrubbing I used decent pressure as I was trying to remove metal and form a quick burr. Maybe a minute a side? Maybe two? Dunno but not long but probably longer than I was doing 100 grit for before and a ‘better’ burr if that makes sense.
Up and away I used minimal pressure, I let the stones did the work and I just concentrated on technique. I got into a better rhythm than I have before and was knocking over each knife very quickly.
100-200 felt sharper than before, so the more time on 100 definitely helped. At each stone the blade felt sharper than previous attempts, even though I was really putting less effort (pressure) into the up and away strokes.
I did occasional towards and down strokes to change it up and I looked at the edge to make sure each stone removed scratches from the previous stone (can’t wait for that loupe to arrive!)
So that’s it in a nutshell, are guys just using ebay USB microscopes?
Thanks for all the tips, really appreciate it, don’t be scared of the 100 grit newbies. 🙂
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