My cousin sent me his new to him Bradley Alias II. Ghe previous owner stone washed the blade and wasn’t the sharpest knife. So he sent it to me so I can sharpen it for him. I gave it to him this weekend at the family reunion. I removed the thumb stud because the stone was touching it. After I was done I went over to my golden retriever and grabbed a tuff of hair. This is the result.
Wow
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
Yes, yes, yes! Cool beans!
Great idea on the golden retriever hair! I’ve got one of those with an extreme excess of hair 
Great job on the knife.
My roommate just moved way have a Labrador I used her hair often because there was more than enough on the floor!:woohoo:
Great idea for those of us a little thin on top (and what I do have is cut pretty short) :silly: . But the dog and the cat leave plenty of hair everywhere!
Thanks for all the kind words.
My hair is short and hard to grab to pull out. And I didn’t want to risk getting to close with my fingers. His hair is so fine that it really isn’t much thicker than mine. Every is surprised on how soft he is.
I did 50 strokes each side of the grits i have.. The blade is short enough I the length of it with one stroke, always in the same direction.
100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1600. Then the 5 and 3.5 balsa strops.
[quote quote=“limpy88” post=12405]
100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1600. Then the 5 and 3.5 balsa strops.[/quote]
At first I got 14/10 balsa strops and liked them so well I ordered 5/3.5 balsa strops they put a different cutting edge on then leather and roo? But my friends really like it on their steak knives and kitchen tools.
[quote quote=“EamonMcGowan” post=12406][quote quote=“limpy88” post=12405]
100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1600. Then the 5 and 3.5 balsa strops.[/quote]
At first I got 14/10 balsa strops and liked them so well I ordered 5/3.5 balsa strops they put a different cutting edge on then leather and roo? But my friends really like it on their steak knives and kitchen tools.[/quote]
I wouldmlikemto the roo or nano cloth form the 1.5 and .5 strops
[quote quote=“limpy88” post=12438][quote quote=“EamonMcGowan” post=12406][quote quote=“limpy88” post=12405]
100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1600. Then the 5 and 3.5 balsa strops.[/quote]
At first I got 14/10 balsa strops and liked them so well I ordered 5/3.5 balsa strops they put a different cutting edge on then leather and roo? But my friends really like it on their steak knives and kitchen tools.[/quote]
[color color=#0000ff]I wouldmlikemto the roo or nano cloth form the 1.5 and .5 strops[/quote][/color]
???
[quote quote=“EamonMcGowan” post=12447][quote quote=“limpy88” post=12438]
[color color=#0000ff]I wouldmlikemto the roo or nano cloth form the 1.5 and .5 strops[/quote][/color]
???[/quote]
Hahahaha. I should proofread things huh.
I would like to try the kangaroo or nano colth when I get the 1.5 and 0.5 micron strops
this kind of edge just amazes me, really…I am getting some really nice, mirror polished, push cut, hair shaving edges, but have yet to get one that will do this ? What could I be missing ?
I have the Pro Pack II system, and have added the Super Fine ceramics 1200/1600, and the Balsa strops, and go up thorough all grits progressively…maybe it has something to do with the angles as well ? I generally stay around 18 degrees for EDC knives, and around 20-22 on kitchen / chefs knives.
Maybe I am not stropping enough ? I usually strop between 30-50 strokes per side with the leather and the balsa wood.
Any comments or suggestions on how I can get hair " popping " edges ? :unsure:
[quote quote=“DARRELLALLEN”
I have the Pro Pack II system, and have added the Super Fine ceramics 1200/1600, and the Balsa strops, and go up thorough all grits progressively…maybe it has something to do with the angles as well ? I generally stay around 18 degrees for EDC knives, and around 20-22 on kitchen / chefs knives.
Maybe I am not stropping enough ? I usually strop between 30-50 strokes per side with the leather and the balsa wood.
[/quote]
Okay here is my two cents. I do not know if I am right or wrong, but I was in the same boat as you and asked the same questions? First read this article it qualifies what you are trying to do. It turns out there is also some technique to popping a hair.
http://coticule.be/hanging-hair-test.html
Now what I do is I go through the progression of stones making sure I do 50 strokes per side all the way up to 1K Diamond. I then stop with 14/10 balsa (20 strokes combined) then use 5um diamond leather only (20 strokes) it will just jump of the blade! Now I have done it many times ( it becomes addictive :S ) using 100-1K 5/3.5 diamond. But there is something about the 14/10, 5um routine that just makes it JUMP off the blade. B)
You will figure it out don’t worry amd when you do you will be searching everywhere for hair! :woohoo: Here is a clue check hair brushes for samples 
[quote quote=“EamonMcGowan” post=12462][quote quote=“DARRELLALLEN”
Okay here is my two cents. I do not know if I am right or wrong, but I was in the same boat as you and asked the same questions? First read this article it qualifies what you are trying to do. It turns out there is also some technique to popping a hair.
http://coticule.be/hanging-hair-test.html
Now what I do is I go through the progression of stones making sure I do 50 strokes per side all the way up to 1K Diamond. I then stop with 14/10 balsa (20 strokes combined) then use 5um diamond leather only (20 strokes) it will just jump of the blade! Now I have done it many times ( it becomes addictive :S ) using 100-1K 5/3.5 diamond. But there is something about the 14/10, 5um routine that just makes it JUMP off the blade. B)
You will figure it out don’t worry amd when you do you will be searching everywhere for hair! :woohoo: Here is a clue check hair brushes for samples :P[/quote]
Thanks for the info Eamon…so, you even do 50 strokes per side with the 100/200 paddles ? I don’t do the alternating heel to tip single strokes on the lower (100/200 & 400/600 ) paddles until I get above those (600/800 )instead, I use the up and down scrubbing motion like Smokeeater 908 on YouTube does, and then I still do the up / down scrubbing motion, but will finish with the 600/800 and above grits with the heel to tip alternating strokes up through the Micro Fine ceramic, then with the leather and balsa of course, I am only doing the alternating strokes, not scrubbing strokes.
Smokeeater has his methods. If you do this awhile you develop something that works for you. I have not seen him popping hairs with his edges though.
I do not use scrubbing strokes ever if I can remain patient . When I run out of patience when re-profiling at the lowest grits (100 in my case)I will use scrubbing strokes. From then on it is sweeping strokes heel to tip until I go to 2K stones and above.
I believe that scrubbing strokes are counterproductive if the goal is edge refinement. The method allows for faster material removal, but is really unnecessary after you have apexed the edge with a lower grit. You are also sharpening the blade in sections when you think about it. If you watch Clays videos, you will see mostly sweeping strokes. I believe that using sweeping strokes is a significant part of the design rationale for the WEPS.
When I get above 1K, I will alternate 20 to 30 strokes tip to heel with 20 strokes heel to tip. This is entirely for scratch removal form previous grits. Other than adding a directional component to slicing, I am not convinced that the direction of the sweep makes much difference to the ultimate sharpness of the blade.
Try not using the scrubbing strokes after you have pulled your burr at the lowest grit that you use. Also keep in mind that you do not need to draw a burr more than once per side.
Other than that, experiment with you stropping technique. I chose to use very light strokes and decrease my angles by about half a degree. If you get very aggressive with your stropping (like lifting the base up :)) try reducing your angle by a degree or two.
You will get there… Practice and a bit of experimentation will make it happen.
Thank you Phil…what you state makes perfect sense, and I am definitely going to try experimenting with your suggestions of not scrubbing so much…THANKS ! :WOOHOO:
A couple pics of my EDC Kershaw Echelon Model 1880 Speedsafe Assisted opening that I just finished last night…using IE to upload to see if I have any troubles like before when Curtis suggested using another browser like Firefox…this time, I got the Insert tab and I didn’t before when using IE 9…so I guess the WE sight upgrade worked ?
[quote quote=“PhilipPasteur” post=12466]… I do not use scrubbing strokes ever if I can remain patient . When I run out of patience when re-profiling at the lowest grits (100 in my case)I will use scrubbing strokes. From then on it is sweeping strokes heel to tip until I go to 2K stones and above.
I believe that scrubbing strokes are counterproductive if the goal is edge refinement. The method allows for faster material removal, but is really unnecessary after you have apexed the edge with a lower grit. You are also sharpening the blade in sections when you think about it. If you watch Clays videos, you will see mostly sweeping strokes. I believe that using sweeping strokes is a significant part of the design rationale for the WEPS…[/quote]
This.
On the Bradley, once I removed all the marker I alternated strokes back and forth. Never doing the same side twice in a row. It was also very fast doing this. I confirmed the bur before I started the back and forth, full blade sweep motions, but that was the only time I did. The best mirror edge is not ontained but it is still reflective.
It’s a very nice edge on that model 1880. I partially tore a tendon in my wrist, and those pics definately make me wish it would hurry and heal so I could get back at it.
