Stone’s sequence for sharpening

[matheus]

Hi guys, I just started in the sharpening hobby and I’m trying to assemble a kit of stones and strops, could anyone give me the correct sequence from coarse to polish stropping to use at the blade?
Thank you all

[Josh]

Hi guys, I just started in the sharpening hobby and I’m trying to assemble a kit of stones and strops, could anyone give me the correct sequence from coarse to polish stropping to use at the blade?
Thank you all

Hey man welcome!

There’s a whole bunch of ways to get there… but I will give you some general guide lines =)

1. The key is to make sure you are erasing all the scratches from the previous stone with each progressing finer stone you use. To do this a lot of us alternate the grind direction with each different grit.
2. Never put strops in your sequence in between different grits of stones thinking “that is where the micron rating goes”. the micron rating reacts totally differently on strops than it does on a hard surface like a stone. In fact, if you get down to the 1-2 micron range you will probably need to back up to the 5um range to erase those scratches.
3. there are a lot of ways to get there, but we all start with the diamonds (pretty much, some use waterstones only) through the 1k grit, from there it varies – micro fines and nano fine ceramics then strops (most popular probably), waterstones, lapping film, automotive grit sandpaper (1500-2500) taped to the 1k stones, etc. then finally the strops.

Hope this helps man.

[CliffCurry]

Joshes post about sums up my journey as well in determining a progression to mirror. There are alot of ways to get there!!! 😉

When I was just beginning my sharpening, out of financial necessity I used 1500-3000 grit auto body sandpaper strips taped to a 1000 grit paddle, then 5u/3.5u diamond paste on leather to finish stropping with. Results were pretty good(there is always better tho).

A scope or loupe is almost required to make sure your grind lines are removed from previous grit. I go this way ////////…then I go that way \\\\ like Josh said, checking with scope after every single grit completion for no telltales of previous grit. Its important to hit it until your sure the previous scratch pattern is completely gone(the leftover ghost of a 600 grit scratch will be very noticable when doing final polishing steps, and you realize how far back you much go to remove it!!! 🙁 )

There are different types of lapping films. Diamond last a long time but cost more. Aluminum Oxide are cheap and disposable. They can be found in micron range from 15u – .5u…or lower.

Then there are stropping compounds and substrates. After my original leather paddles I splurged & got the kangaroo paddles that I use with 1.5 & .5 micron diamond spray. Currently playing around with balsa strop & a .25u diamond paste. All of these in one combination or another will really make a mirror edge pop to a chrome like finish.

Maybe more info then you were looking for but hope that helps! 😛

[Mark76]

Welcome to the forum, Matheus! I think Josh and Cliff pretty much answered your question. If you look under the menu item Resources, you’ll find the Wiki, with lots of information for beginners.

And if you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[matheus]

I’d like thank you all for the answers they surely helped a lot!!1
Thank you

Matheus

[Steven N. Bolin]

I go this way ////////…then I go that way \\\\

I still struggle with this when going for polished edges. It seems like when I’m doing \\\\ strokes I’m hitting more of the apex. When I’m doing ///////// strokes I hit more of the shoulder. The result is a bevel with a few facets. No good.

[tcmeyer]

Steven:

Are you saying that you are doing \\\ with one grit, then ////// with the next? And then seeing a difference in the apparent facet?

Is this only happening with a particular pair of grits? If so, I’d infer that the two different stones were working slightly different angles. A change from high on the bevel to low on the same bevel could be a angle difference of only 0.1 to 0.2 degrees. This can be caused by only 0.010 to 0.020″ difference in the thickness of the stones.

Do you have a set of Variable Stone Thickness Adapters?

[Marc H]

I go this way ////////…then I go that way \\\\

I still struggle with this when going for polished edges. It seems like when I’m doing \\\\ strokes I’m hitting more of the apex. When I’m doing ///////// strokes I hit more of the shoulder. The result is a bevel with a few facets. No good.[/quote]

Hi Steven, I get this \\\ scratch pattern with a leading edge (down and in) stroke from heel to tip and this /////// scratch pattern with a trailing edge (up and out) stroke from heal to tip. I find my leading edge \\\ scratch pattern can be more to the tip of the bevel and my trailing edge ////// scratch pattern can be more to the shoulder of the bevel due to the tendency to place weight with the direction of the stroke. I’ve observed this with the microscope and counteract it by raising and lowering where I grip the stone and being careful to maintain even pressure. Also I do check my angle with the angle cube every stone grit change and realize it still can be off by a little bit.

When my \\\ scratch pattern is more at the tip of the bevel I continue the same stroke and concentrate/apply a little more force to the shoulder and/or grip lower on the stones. When my ////// scratch pattern is more at the shoulder of the bevel I continue the same stroke and concentrate/apply a little more force to the tip and/or grip higher on the stones. It doesn’t usually take much to correct it.

I learned from reading Tom’s post how valuable a tool it is to monitor my progress with the microscope.

Marc

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

[Steven N. Bolin]

Steven:

Are you saying that you are doing \\\ with one grit, then ////// with the next? And then seeing a difference in the apparent facet?

Is this only happening with a particular pair of grits? If so, I’d infer that the two different stones were working slightly different angles. A change from high on the bevel to low on the same bevel could be a angle difference of only 0.1 to 0.2 degrees. This can be caused by only 0.010 to 0.020″ difference in the thickness of the stones.

Do you have a set of Variable Stone Thickness Adapters?

Tom,

No, unfortunately, I do not have the VSTAs. I’ve been meaning to order some but things are too tight right now financially.

It really only seems to happen at the 800/1000 grit level, and I’ve long assumed slight +/-variations in the stone thickness and pressure were the culprit(s)… And I’m pretty sure my 800/1000s are toast after only 6 months of use… Which irritates me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tcmeyer]

Hi Steven…

I’d be very surprised if your 800/1000’s were toast already. Mine lasted more than three years. They’re not toast unless you can see areas where the diamond grit has clearly been scraped off. Usually near the mid-point of the stones and along the edges, you’ll see areas where the surface of the steel plates are smooth. And even a worn set of stones wouldn’t cause the angular error you describe.

Measure the thickness of your stones with a micrometer. Thickness differences of 0.020″ or more could cause the error and the VSTA’s could be your solution. But if the thicknesses seem normal, try doing a knife where you are very careful to keep your pressure point at the bottom end of the handles. Then report back with the results.

Tom

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