to get the 2000-3000 wets..???

[adam egert]

I have the 100-1600 ceramic. I have the 14u down to .5u leather strops. I get a good mirror but inspection close up still reveal slight scratches. Would the 2000-3000 wet stones help eliminate that or am i not going light enough or long enough with a lower grit. Have an iphone here is an example of what Im talking about
Image link:

[adam egert]

here is the mirror so as to not show the sctatches

Image link:

[wickededge]

Nice looking edge! The main thing I’m seeing are deep scratches left by your coarse stones. You might try using lighter pressure with the coarse stones and spending more time with each progressively finer stone to remove the scratches from the previous stone. Sometimes it helps to change stroke direction with each stone so that you’re creating a crosshatch pattern and knocking down the scratches more quickly. The 2k/3k Choseras are really nice, they do a great job for sure. Maybe try giving the above technique a try first though before purchasing new stones.

-Clay

[Josh]

Nice looking edge! The main thing I’m seeing are deep scratches left by your coarse stones. You might try using lighter pressure with the coarse stones and spending more time with each progressively finer stone to remove the scratches from the previous stone. Sometimes it helps to change stroke direction with each stone so that you’re creating a crosshatch pattern and knocking down the scratches more quickly. The 2k/3k Choseras are really nice, they do a great job for sure. Maybe try giving the above technique a try first though before purchasing new stones.

exactly… also, after you have done as Clay suggests, try taping some 2k and 2500 wet/dry automotive sandpaper to your ceramics and using this. it is a good cheap fix.

[Mark76]

Clay and Josh are spot on. Somewhere along the route you didn’t fully wipe out the scratches of the previous stone.

Another tip for fixing this: change the sharpening direction when you move on to the next stone. That way you can more easily observe whether you really wiped out all scratches with the next stone. Add a cheap 60x loupe to watch your edges more closely (I use this one) and it should work out fine.

[Edit: I think we posted at the same moment. 🙂 ]

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[adam egert]

Thanks guys will do that I had a feeling it was unresolved gouges from previous stones. I have been working pretty light .

1) I have 10x goggles but its tough to see the deeper scratches in the non mirror finishes in the 400-800 range. Is 10x enough?

2) I have a feeling its uneven ware on my stones that are used more in the center 2/3 thirds and an occasional full stroke causes this. I don’t press hard.

3) The edge is bloody sharp. I had screwed up the blade the day I got my new arms by not having the digital angel meter. So I have just made the decision to keep the angle on left to right off by .3deg.. so be it the full angle on this knife is 32deg. it is wholly mortifying. Short blade very aggressive point. can puncture slice and chop well. I am a little concerned I went to steep on the knife for heavy use so the next time I ruin the edge I think I am going to go convex with it and bring it back to the 19-20 range. Before I do this I will pick all of your brains. If anyone has a full vid of going convex I would love to see it a link would be greatly depreciated 😉 I have 3 chris reeves will not touch these until I work this out really well on some test stock. I have a few raw 1/8″ d2 blanks here gonna make a couple of throwing knives/tools and might practice on that for the convex… Been hand con vexing axes for years with files and stones in a vice but you know what a fine knife needs to look like.. This ain’t for hitting dried red oak fro splitting LOL

5) single sided Japanese blue and white steel with RW hardness in the mid 60’s… I have whet stones but never was good at that . The chosera stones might be a good addition fo that but the arrc sweep gets me nervous on very strait edges. I have read the articles but ti stills makes my pants shake. any good vids on that?

6) and MOST IMPORTANTLY!I just want to pass along an extra hardy thanks to you all here. Your responses and care to a newb is refreshing. Have not felt that looking down the nose thing you get on forums of experts here and it speaks volumes for the community I hope to be giving back to in the coming years.. Thanks again!

Adam 🙂

[Zamfir]

Going back to convex edge? Why?
Just curious.
I done useda think the same thing until I read this here:
http://www.wickededgeusa.com/forum/10-advanced-techniques-and-sharpening-strategies/12960-why-convex-isn-t-a-stronger-edge?limitstart=0&start=10

Welcome!

I had the exact same questions you had but had not asked them yet. So thanks for asking! I need to change up my angle between stones and get a stronger loupe. 10x will not cut it unless you have eagle eyes! I have a 30x and it is barely enough for me. I get an edge looking good on that, then I pull out the usb microscope and get disgusted again at what I did..lol.

[Mark76]

Aegert,

Some more answers:

1. If the 10x doesn’t work for you, try the 60x . That should be more than enough and it’s dirt cheap. I wouldn’t recommend a USB microscope for this type of work; it’s not practical.

2. The stones do wear, but you’ll not notice until you’ve sharpened many many knives. I’m not sure, but I replaced my 100/200 stones (which I used the most) after about 400 knives. And even then they were still working, but more like 400/600 stones. Diamond and ceramic are hard, very hard.

3. There’ve been lots of discussions on convex edges here. Try the search function. (The tab at the top of this page, not the search box on this page.) Zamfir pointed you to a nice discussion. The FAQ pays attention to it (here). And I wrote a couple of blog posts on it, which you can find here[/url].

4. Where’s four? 😉

5. Blue steel and white steel are my favourite steels to sharpen. The feel is just awesome. And they get wickedly sharp. However, I’ve never sharpened a single bevel Japanese knife with my WEPS. You need a pretty acute angle (but maybe you can get that with the low angle attachment). And I can imagine it’s pretty hard to match the line where bevel turns into the main part of the blade all across the length of the blade (along the Shinogi line). Is this what you mean by the arc sweep?
But… I recently saw a photograph by Clay of a Takeda knife he’d sharpened. It’s a double bevel knife, but the technique should be the same. So it can be done.

6. Thank you for joining us!

And here is… Clay sharpening a Sebenza:

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Zamfir]

Clay and Josh are spot on. Somewhere along the route you didn’t fully wipe out the scratches of the previous stone.

Another tip for fixing this: change the sharpening direction when you move on to the next stone. That way you can more easily observe whether you really wiped out all scratches with the next stone. Add a cheap 60x loupe to watch your edges more closely (I use this one) and it should work out fine.

[Edit: I think we posted at the same moment. 🙂 ]

I have that loupe on the way! Looks real nice for the money..free shipping too! Thanks for the link!

[adam egert]

Yup four got lost only a minor in math should have gotten the full degree rofl.

You all were spit in the cross hatch made all the difference. Needed more work on easier stones but the gouged lines were probably the issue with the stones being 2/3 worn in over all length so not dead stones just last 1/6 of the ends not broken in well so a long stroke might leave a deeper line.

Tried out the cross hatch in and old bear Damascus half serrated edge and in the non serr portions got full mirror. It’s the knife I’m giving my son this weekend as his first edc. Now will be ubber psyched. I will watch the crk vid. Won’t touch the reall thing until I get it down.

As for the convex to the brous I have been picturing going as steep as I did I don’t want to blow through all the metal to get directly to 20. It’s a work horse for me main bang it out knife. Nit a self Defence blade for me moved to fixed so it would look better as convex that audible bevel I think. I’m up for suggestions. In sure I will dull it this weekend with outdoors wirk this weekend

Again thanks all. The system is amazing. Wil get the 30x and a microscope. Will be way to anal about my new Elmore rat on the way.

https://www.google.com/search?q=sayic+rat&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari#facrc=_&imgrc=A8ToKISzZXoLJM%253A%3Bundefined%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.warriorswaytx.com%252Fuploads%252Feditor%252Fimages%252FRat1.JPG%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.warriorswaytx.com%252Fstore%252F43%252Frat-training-package%252F%3B2352%3B1568

[tcmeyer]

I’ll wave a disagree flag for Mark76, re his negative suggestion about USB scopes. I have an array of loupes, as well as the head-mounted magnifier. None is nearly so convenient or as effective as my USB microscope, which is left on continuously, along with its laptop and wide-screen monitor. The camera sits right next to my rack of stones, next to my AngleCube. Of course, this requires full-time use of a PC/laptop, but at their current rate of obsolescence. they’re quite ubiquitous. Mine is still on Microsoft XP and works perfectly, except that the screen is shot, thus the need for a larger monitor.

For me, using a loupe on a blade that’s locked into the vise is downright awkward. Unless your table is quite low, it can be difficult to look at a part of the blade which is on the opposite end of the vise. With the ‘scope focused at the plane of the forward face, there’s little, if any focusing required. Touching the mouse wakes up the computer and bingo, you have an image! My laptop sits on the bottom shelf of my workstation table, with Bluetooth mouse and keyboard on the other side of the WE base.

An added benefit of having a pc on hand and ready is that you also have the other applications available, like Word, Photoshop and most important, a spreadsheet, where you can keep detailed records of all your sharpening jobs.

[Mark76]

My reason for saying that a USB microscope is not very practical for this purpose, Tom, is not so much the setup time. (Of course, if you have a fixed setup including laptop with microscope, this is not an issue at all.) For me it is mainly that it takes a fair amount of time to get a good picture, i.e. good focus and good light. With the loupe I do this in a second. But I guess our mileages vary…

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Josh]

My reason for saying that a USB microscope is not very practical for this purpose, Tom, is not so much the setup time. (Of course, if you have a fixed setup including laptop with microscope, this is not an issue at all.) For me it is mainly that it takes a fair amount of time to get a good picture, i.e. good focus and good light. With the loupe I do this in a second. But I guess our mileages vary…

What scope are you using? I use the dino and it only takes about 1-2 seconds…. When I bought a veho to try it out I found it to be very finicky and take a while longer to get good pictures, the quality is lacking on the veho for sure

– Josh

[adam egert]

I am probably a bit a way form a micro scope. don’t have a pc to dedicate. The loop will would out fine as my bench has some really good light and I have been using white fill cards to flood the knife evenly with light. At some point I will succumb to GAS and buy one but better get a real functional feel for the system. I’m beginning to see that much of the trick is in feel that only comes from experience. I got a mirror on my first day but look if I sent my knife to a pro and it came back like I did mine I would be disappointed.

I keep getting new tricks with every knife I do. I bet you never stop learning as in everything. The bear folder I did for my son after this conversation proves it. It is really mirrored. Im sure it can be slightly better, but for my purposes at this point as an enthusiast/ hobbyist, non pro sharpener, I am confidently with my results. Now..

If a friend gives me a presentation blade with an extremely high mirror convex re curve I think I would pass fro a while LOL.

[Mark76]

What scope are you using? I use the dino and it only takes about 1-2 seconds…. When I bought a veho to try it out I found it to be very finicky and take a while longer to get good pictures, the quality is lacking on the veho for sure

Yeah, I’ve got the Veho 🙂

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Author]

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