Started with my first two knifes after receiving my Gen 3. I’m having a heck of a time getting a burr even with the 100 grit. Used the marker to get the angle set. Wonder what I’m missing? Could it just be the cheap stainless knives I’m willing to damage? The knives turned out jagged and sharp like a serrated knife, but not finished or able to slice paper even after going through to the 1400 silicon stones. Is this just part of the break in on the stones?
Aloha Kkola, cheaper knives often will burr up even more then others harder steels. Do you have a loupe or magnifying glass to examine the edge closely? A burr will catch your thumbnail on one side or you could try a cotton ball method I saw on youtube…
Welcome to the forum and good luck. You’ll get it!
KKOLA: If it’s your first few knives, please be aware that the diamond stones need to be “broken-in” before you can expect best results. The diamond particles are attached to their substrate in a plating process. To assure full coverage, there is a substantial excess of particles laid on. Those particles not actually touching the substrate will have to be knocked off. Eventually, the particles will uniformly cover 100% of the surface area. Until then, you can expect rough surfaces and less than hoped-for results. Since each stone is an individual, the time required to complete the breaking in process is variable. It could be ten knives or fifty, depending on your technique and pressure applied. Generally, the guys here recommend sticking to less expensive knives during this period. Some of us go out to thrift shops and buy a few knives to practice on and to move the break-in process along. I had an 800 grit stone once that had a few really bad spots that refused to break off. I eventually chucked up a section of plate glass and within a dozen or so strokes the surface of the stone was beautiful.
After five years, I’m on my third 400/600 and 800/1000 stones. When I start with a new stone, I dig out some old, cheap knives and my glass plate. When they’re well broken in, I’ll put them in my lineup and remove the old stones.
A stone not yet broken-in will feel and sound scratchy and rough. A well broken-in stone will feel smooth - like a fine grit sandpaper.
You will probably not notice a burr with the coarser grits, or when using alternating strokes. Maybe not during the break-in period either as the high-sitting grit will tend to rip the burrs off. When you transition up to 400 grit, use alternating strokes until you think you’re close to the apex, then try ten strokes on one side, then feel for a continuous burr on the other side. Once you have a burr full-length, switch to the other side and repeat.
We all have our preferred technique for using the burr as an indicator that you’ve reached the apex this one is mine and certainly not the consensus, but I thought it would give you a start. A burr tells you that it’s OK to move on to the next grit. If you haven’t reached the apex, moving on to a higher grit will be a waste of time and effort.
All the above is good advice… my .02… from your description it sounds like you reached the edge, like tcmeyer said, if you’re alternating strokes, you’ll probably never feel a burr. And because the stones are new, they’re a bit “rough”.
If you’re sure you’re at the edge, I’d go try just the finer stones again… say start at 400g and go up from there. Spend enough time at each level to insure that it’s smoothed out the previous grit. Test the edge at 600g, it should be able to easily slice paper at that point, and no longer feel 'jagged". If you’re not sure you’re at the edge, recheck using what EvilTwin posted.
Thanks everyone..I do believe that I may have been a bit too acute, as EvilTwin noted, and may have had to remove more steel than necessary and never getting to a burr, but rather a jagged edge. This forum is going to be a great tool if just a few guys are willing to step up as I saw here. I was also not aware that the break in for these stones was as extensive as tcmeyer stated. That is a bit discouraging, but I hope the broken in stones will be fine performers for some time after break in. Thanks again for your help.
Welcome to the forum, Kkola! Enjoy your WEPS. And don’t be discouraged your diamond stones need a little break-in. Actually they’ll work (a tiny bit) faster now than in the future. It’s just that your edges will also be (a bit) rougher, too.
Getting a “jagged edge” should mean you were at the edge, so while it never hurts to double check, I think it’s more likely it just needs to be refined.
Also, should have mentioned before… use light pressure… that will alleviate some of the roughness issue, especially during the “break-in” period. Diamonds in particular, don’t need a lot of pressure to get the job done.