Barmaley's Aggregated Questions Thread

You've had a few people tell you that there is no easy test. You really aren't going to talk your way around that. We're not holding out, there is not "gotcha".
Spectrometer - that's what that hand held device is.
But to test the hardness of steel, they do sell hardness testing file sets.
Sharpness and slow wear of the edge are different things. White steel gets extremely keen, but for a given HRC it doesn't keep its edge well. D2 takes a long time to take and edge, loses that "fresh off the stones" feel fast enough, but doesn't get really dull for a while.

While I'm fine with VG-10 for multiple uses, I hardly think it's the best steel.
 
Barmaley said:
In Wikipedia table only green and black compounds are listed as applicable for stainless steel. However, white and gray compounds suppose to be harder than green? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polishing_(metalworking) Am I missing something?
Click to expand...

White & Grey aluminum oxide will be roughly 50% harder than green (chromium oxide). These days, black compounds can be either of silicon carbide (SiC; about 1/3rd harder than aluminum oxide) or 'emery', which was originally another name for black or very dark grey aluminum oxide.

For stainless steels, I actually believe the aluminum oxide compounds are better than green. Much quicker to cut, refine and polish, with less heat issues as when used on powered buffing tools. Green is at it's best on simpler carbon steels, especially, like 1095 or CV.
 
Thank you David,

Will it be accurate to say that if I got white compound I would not need green at all? Since I am shopping for white one are all white compound the same or different brands are better than others? Are they the same size in microns? My paradigm at the moment that I would need two compounds: white for regular knives and diamond for harder steels. I prefer to buy once larger supply of the proper stuff which I should get use to to stick to it for several years, thus I would need good stuff.
 
I am trying to figure out which is the best shape of sharpening stone I need to use? I just received Green Elephant sharpening rod and it did wonders to my knives. I finally get them as sharp as I want them to be after just few strokes of the rod and few strokes on white compound leather strop. It looks to me that I got better results with the rod than with stones and I an trying to decide: what is the fact that the rod was round and sharpen faster, that wet stones are flat or it was easier to keep proper angle with the rod? I know that Lansky uses triangle shape rods. Which is the optimal shape of the sharpening surface if I need to choose only one to always keep it close to my knives for regular maintenance?
 
If the rod gives you better results and you are happy with the outcome, stay with it. Seems to work the best for you. Everyone here has their favorite way to get the edge on the type of steel they are sharpening. On a different steel you could get different results. I use different methods for different knives.
 
Barmaley said:
Thank you David,

Will it be accurate to say that if I got white compound I would not need green at all? Since I am shopping for white one are all white compound the same or different brands are better than others? Are they the same size in microns? My paradigm at the moment that I would need two compounds: white for regular knives and diamond for harder steels. I prefer to buy once larger supply of the proper stuff which I should get use to to stick to it for several years, thus I would need good stuff.
Click to expand...

Generally speaking, most white stick-type compounds labelled for 'hard metals' or 'stainless steel' will all work pretty well. They tend to bring up a polish fast on most mainstream stainless steels. I wouldn't worry too much about exact micron size in these.

Don't necessarily need green, if you find you like the white. White will do anything the green will, only much faster, and with a wider range of steels.

For very wear-resistant steels containing more vanadium (> 3% or so), diamond will do better. Since diamond compound is much more expensive as compared to the white or green compounds, I'd suggest saving the diamond for steels actually needing it. If most of your knives aren't so wear-resistant, the less-expensive stick compounds will be plenty for them and the compound itself will last you a very long time, in stick form.
 
rpttrsn said:
If the rod gives you better results and you are happy with the outcome, stay with it. Seems to work the best for you. Everyone here has their favorite way to get the edge on the type of steel they are sharpening. On a different steel you could get different results. I use different methods for different knives.
Click to expand...
I never tried Triangle shape sharpeners. Are they even better?
 
"I never tried Triangle shape sharpeners. Are they even better?"
Better then any other? NO! Allot of the limitations are a result of the user. IMO
 
Barmaley said:
I am trying to figure out which is the best shape of sharpening stone I need to use? I just received Green Elephant sharpening rod and it did wonders to my knives. I finally get them as sharp as I want them to be after just few strokes of the rod and few strokes on white compound leather strop. It looks to me that I got better results with the rod than with stones and I an trying to decide: what is the fact that the rod was round and sharpen faster, that wet stones are flat or it was easier to keep proper angle with the rod? I know that Lansky uses triangle shape rods. Which is the optimal shape of the sharpening surface if I need to choose only one to always keep it close to my knives for regular maintenance?
Click to expand...
Hi,
What equipment exactly?
What knife exactly?
What steps exactly?

What could it be about one abrasive that it sharpens every one of your knives in a few strokes?
After being followed by a few strokes with a second abrasive?

I always start my sharpening with a stick of butter,
as long as I finish on another abrasive,
the butter is the speed king of sharpening :eek:o_O




Barmaley said:
Which is the optimal shape of the sharpening surface if I need to choose only one to always keep it close to my knives for regular maintenance?
Click to expand...
Hi,
Its like golf clubs or tennis rackets or pool cues,
the best shape is proprietary
and is not something you can buy
...
:p
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Generally speaking, most white stick-type compounds labelled for 'hard metals' or 'stainless steel' will all work pretty well. They tend to bring up a polish fast on most mainstream stainless steels. I wouldn't worry too much about exact micron size in these.

Don't necessarily need green, if you find you like the white. White will do anything the green will, only much faster, and with a wider range of steels.

For very wear-resistant steels containing more vanadium (> 3% or so), diamond will do better. Since diamond compound is much more expensive as compared to the white or green compounds, I'd suggest saving the diamond for steels actually needing it. If most of your knives aren't so wear-resistant, the less-expensive stick compounds will be plenty for them and the compound itself will last you a very long time, in stick form.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot!
 
Barmaley said:
White compound is equivalent of about that grit wetstone?
Click to expand...

That's difficult to nail down, due to the way these compounds are generally used (on buffing wheels or softish strops of leather or fabric). Even relatively coarse-sized compound on a strop will tend to polish more than a stone in equivalent grit, because of the way the grit is more softly supported by the substrate.

In terms of finish, white compound used on a strop of denim will bring up a bright mirror finish on most stainless steels. So, the equivalent in a stone would be something very, very fine, like an ultrafine ceramic or finer.
 
My guess would be that your rod is significantly finer than any stones that you own. That coupled with the strip is allowing you to effectively remove the burr from your knives - something that can be tricky on just the stones
 
Sharpening rods or stones can either work well, or not, depending on any number of combined factors. Sometimes the shape will be ideal to a given task, but maybe the quality of the abrasive used won't be so good. Maybe it'll tend to clog too fast or the abrasive tends to glaze too easily, or it flakes off and/or wears too fast. I mention these things, because I've seen all of them get in the way at one time or another, between the many examples of ceramic rods I've tried.

Sometimes it just comes down to luck, in finding one that seems to do exactly what we hope it will. And sometimes the true working quality won't represent the apparent quality implied by the purchase price - it can go either way, good or bad. Some of my favorite rods and stones have also luckily been some of the least expensive. But there's really no way to know which it'll be, until you try it out.
 
I did some research on polishing compounds and found two major complains so far: A) some companies use a lot of wax in their compound so no actual grinding power from such product. B) Some companies use dust of mixed grit which is bad for stropping. Somebody mentioned that it possible to buy Silicon Carbide Powder or Diamond dust on-line and make your own compound. It is a good idea? Are there any health issues with that? I never thought about health issues with sharpening so are there any other health concerns related to sharpening of knives?
Can I load Silicon Carbide Powder or Diamond dust on a leather of denim strop?
 
Last edited:
I buy from the Stropman.com. Don't know what they are made of but the white and green work great1
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top