John Haley

[John Haley]

Talked me into this after I’d been debating for over a month. The 10x loupe is OK, but I want more detail. I should mention that I found that the 3011 is now a discontinued model and the 3111 is the replacement. I ordered this one and an articulating stand from Dino-lite.
http://www.microscope.com/dino-lite-am3111-0-3mp-digital-microscope-1.html?category=227

[John Haley]

Photo of my Hinderer’s S35VN edge using iPhone and BeIOMO Triplet 10x. The edge hasn’t been touched up recently and shows a bit of use… but not bad. This one was done near the factory angle at 22° with a very slight convex.

[John Haley]

I’d already installed all of the mods except the “Thin Blade Support”. Just before vacation I sent the block to Will for the necessary mod, and it was back modded with the necessary Ram components and “V” notched blade support before I returned.

Here it is in action with the first knife since the mod, and it certainly makes sharpening a long thin blade easy. Thanks for thinking of all these mods. It has made my sharpening life a happy one.

[John Haley]

The 1200/1600 ceramics… 🙂

+1… Unless you’re going the Chosera route.

[John Haley]

In my limited experience I decided early on to use slightly different adjustment settings for differing strop materials. Balsa, being fairly ridged I subtract little… usually 0.5°. Kangaroo, being an intermediately flexible material, I subtract 1°. The standard leather strop I use a -1.5°. As this is somewhat of a logical guessing game in my head, and I may eventually find that my idea is not soundly founded… but for now I’ll keep using it. Based upon loupe viewing only, it seems to work. Comments and feedback are welcome.

[John Haley]

I have some minor streaking on my 1200/1600 ceramics, but not to the extent of yours.

[John Haley]

Even with my slow DSL it’s only taking a post about 2 to 3 seconds maximum. Sometimes under a second.

[John Haley]

Working fine. While I’m on here I’ll mention that about five minutes ago finished sharpening my first Warncliff blade… a small pocket knife… AND I’m liking the balsa strops more each time I use them.

[John Haley]

Installed Will’s mods today. Very easy and quick process. I did spend the time to flip the angle bar as Eamon McGowan did, and it makes for a very smooth angle setting process; although the slack adapters included in the mod kit weren’t as effective in this configuration. With the secure lockdowns provided by the mods the indentations are no longer a requirement. I did do something that I hope I don’t regret later… dabbed a tiny amount of super glue on the tips of the micro adjusters and they seem very secure now. I believe that I could get them out if it ever became necessary.

[John Haley]

This has got to be the fastest site I’ve ever used. Even on my relatively slow DSL it’s almost instantaneous.

[John Haley]

I moved to sharpening with the WE only a fairly short time ago, beginning with the PP2 along with a full set of Choseras. If polished edges are your goal, then they can’t be beat. Diamonds and ceramics just can’t do the same job when it comes to fine edge sharpening and micro-polishing. For EDC’s and heavy use knives I usually stick to the diamond and ceramics to keep a somewhat toothy edge. To be more question specific, I no longer use my old bench stones or sandpaper.

[John Haley]

I thought of this thread this morning while sharpening. While trying to reprofile a fairly new, fairly sharp (but later discovered to be an almost chisel edged) Chinese kitchen carving knife, I felt what turned out to be a “Phantom Burr” while using the 100 grit diamonds. After progressing through the 200’s, and working with the 400’s for awhile I wondered why I wasn’t getting any noticeable sharpness. At this point I went to the marker, and after a few stokes used the loupe to find that I wasn’t working even close to the edge of the blade on one side. Back I went to the beginning, and after a very long time with the 100 on that side finally reached the edge, and the beginning of a real burr. In future, especially when reprofiling, I’ll refrain from skipping steps that will, in the end, be counter-productive.

[John Haley]

A slight update to my setup. Based on the hex driver used for the micro adjustment shown earlier in this thread, I bought a fluted dowel, cut it in half, drilled a hole in it, and then inserted and super-glued a cut off 1/8″ hex shaft into it. Wish I’d trimmed the shaft a little shorter, but this is how it will remain. Notice that I now have the foam insulation strip on both the front and back edges of the granite. No more slamming into the edge when the stones fall.

[John Haley]

I have an ultrasonic unit that I use for cleaning my rifle brass, but I’d have second thoughts about using it on diamond plates. Logic would seem to indicate that the plates might be loosened by the process. I like to hear from those who do the actual mounting.

[John Haley]

In my very limited experience using the WE PP2 (diamonds to 1K and a Choseras up to 10K), I’ve found the Roo strops excellent. I use a 1µ and .125µ combination of CBN sprays to finish most blades.

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