I hate the final sharpening - Is it just me?

M

Maelstrom78

Joined
Sep 21, 2013
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I dislike the final sharpening of my knives. I use what basically is an upgraded lansky and it does work well.

I just hate it. The process. To me what I would like to know how to do is get the wire edge on my grinder and then buff to completion. I saw Mr. Kramer do it on a video and I could see myself doing that.

I will have to say that since I have started doing the final convex on a slack belt that has helped. Maybe it is something that I will never like?

I can google this, but maybe it has value if someone else is in a similar situation.

Mods delete this if it is useless but how do you all like to do your final sharpening?
 
I'm fairly new but I go freehand on the slack belt at 220 then 400, then refine on wet stones or small diamond bars and I prefer the diamond bars. Fairly stressful for me after putting in all the work making a nice knife and sheath.

ETA: for me the burr usually appears after the stones and bars, I've never really looked after just the belt, maybe I should? Thanks for something to think about but in any event I think the refinement is not avoidable if you want to cut phone book paper (after a good stropping of course). I can cut printer paper easily off the belt but that's leaving a lot of potential on the table.
 
This doesn't need to be stressful. The better you get at it the more you will like it, or at least the less you will hate it. Go slowly until you build up muscle memory and always keep the blade cool. Sharpen on the slack belt until you produce a wire edge. Do this with progressively finer belts until you reach the grit level you prefer. Then, using an old cloth X weight belt turned inside out ( use a fine grit belt. you don't want a coarse belt to chew up your wheels) and loaded with buffing compound, strop the blade. Use slow speeds and do not allow the blade to get hot.
 
Bubble Jig, on the platen. Fast accurate and repeatable. It's nice to be able to deliver a knife to a buyer and be able to tell them what edge angle it's ground to. I give out matching wedges for which ever grind I use. 15 14 18 or whatever is suitable for that particular knife. In this way the new owner can reproduce the edge the knife was built with.
 
another way to look at it is, how thin is your edge?
I don't know what kind of knives you make or the grind....
but in the words of the famous philosopher @Don Hanson III , - I like them sharp before I sharpen them.

so in general my edges are thin, so it takes me about 5-10 min on a 1000 Grit waterstone, and then I goto a loaded leather strop. I use Tormek honing compound, I learned to go to a 6K stone next but the loaded leather strop works better for me in several ways.

you could also learn to embrace sharpening, and enjoy the process.
you might consider also reading (free pdf download) - Experiments on Knife Sharpening. John D. Verhoeven.
There is a whole section on buffing wheel experiments.
Here's the conclusion to whet your appetite to learn more - (in general buffing removes too much of the edge)
Conclusions

1 These results suggest that buffing on cloth or felt wheels is not the best method for finish sharpening of knife blades. It appears that even a light buffing action removes a significant amount of metal near the thin edge of the blades which leads to a bur along the edge that is consistently larger than the bur formed with leather strops or wheels. However, a single experiment with a two step buffing operation, first with a coarse compound and then a fine compound, did produce improved results and further study of that method may indicate that it is equivalent to the final polishing on leather media.
 
I do final sharpening on the tiny unsupported section of belt between the top idler wheel and platten on my grinder. Usually 240 then 400 grit.
 
HSC /// said:
another way to look at it is, how thin is your edge?
I don't know what kind of knives you make or the grind....
but in the words of the famous philosopher @Don Hanson III , - I like them sharp before I sharpen them.

so in general my edges are thin, so it takes me about 5-10 min on a 1000 Grit waterstone, and then I goto a loaded leather strop. I use Tormek honing compound, I learned to go to a 6K stone next but the loaded leather strop works better for me in several ways.

you could also learn to embrace sharpening, and enjoy the process.
you might consider also reading (free pdf download) - Experiments on Knife Sharpening. John D. Verhoeven.
There is a whole section on buffing wheel experiments.
Here's the conclusion to whet your appetite to learn more - (in general buffing removes too much of the edge)
Conclusions

1 These results suggest that buffing on cloth or felt wheels is not the best method for finish sharpening of knife blades. It appears that even a light buffing action removes a significant amount of metal near the thin edge of the blades which leads to a bur along the edge that is consistently larger than the bur formed with leather strops or wheels. However, a single experiment with a two step buffing operation, first with a coarse compound and then a fine compound, did produce improved results and further study of that method may indicate that it is equivalent to the final polishing on leather media.
Click to expand...
An edge should be at a point where it does not need to be stropped, before stropping. If there is a burr or wire edge, you have not sharpened enough. Stropping should be a very slight polishing action. Keep in mind the edge is being shoved from side to side if stropping is done on leather. A very slight pressure is all that should be needed.
 
I think it's easy. First I grind my blades thin so not much metal needs to be removed in sharpening. I use a 1" x 42" slack belt in 320 grit to put on a wire edge. I hold the blade at maybe close to 20 degrees to the belt. When it has a wire edge I use a slack leather belt 1"x42" with buffing compound to take the wire edge off. Finally I stop it on a canvas razor strap. The razor strap I use was my Fathers.
 
Huh, thats funny.. I like the final sharpening. It has never been a problem for me. I just use the 2x72 slack belt to sharpen (normally with a worn 220 grit) to a burr, then do FAST passes on a buffing wheel with green compound just to remove the burr and then strop with green compound on leather for a good bit.
 
I use to hate it but now rather enjoy it.

What I do currently is first put on a 120 belt on the grinder and tilt the platen to the exact angle I want. I the hold the knife perpendicular to the floor and put on the burr with a few passes.

Then I switch to my edge pro system and set it to the exact angle and start with a 150 stone and even out the edge and work my way up to a 600 stone to put on a the final finish and lightly strop the burr and get a perfect edge now, every time.

No more chasing the burr, it is predictable and repeatable.

I plan on upgrading to the hapstone system, that is a real fine sharpener
 
Cole2525 said:
I do final sharpening on the tiny unsupported section of belt between the top idler wheel and platten on my grinder. Usually 240 then 400 grit.
Click to expand...

Ditto, then I go to an MDF wheel dressed with white polishing paste, then a few cuts on thick leather scrap to clean the paste and it shaves...

Pablo
 
I do mine on a hapstone. Basically a Lansky on steroids. At first I was just scared to screw up a finished blade on the grinder so a fixed angle system made sense, but now that I've learned to grind my knives pretty close to sharp before setting the edge, I can get it done really quick, accurate and repeatable.
Since the hapstone can use a variety of different sized stones, I cut a dmt extra coarse diamond plate down to size and use that for the initial edge, then move up the grits. I made a leather strop "stone" to finish it off.
 
When I was a knife collector I loved sharpening.

Now that I'm a knifemaker...its kind of annoying. :eek:
 
I'll offer a tip for those worried about scratching the blade:
Put blue painter's tape on the blade with the edge where the sharpened area will end. Grind/sharpen to the tape line. An accidental slip or finger with stray grit on it won't ruin all the hand sanding and polishing on the bevel.
 
I also use to hate the final sharpening. I got myself a big nubatama 150 grit stone to set my bevels by hand. ended up getting an atoma diamond plate to remove metal even quicker, and then an assortment of shapton pro stones. Now its a peaceful part of the process for me I can do in the kitchen over the sink. I think once you find a way you feel you can do it well, you will start to enjoy it.
 
I use a worn 220 belt behind the top wheel on my platen at really low speed till I get a wire edge, then go straight to the leather strop belt loaded with green chrome.
 
Once removed the ruined steel from the edge area (decarburation & C.) with slow speed, a fresh belt and a water spray, i then stop using power tools. You shouldn't "raise" wire edges from whetstones; the aim should be to avoid them progressing toward a "feather touch", ideally.
I suggest paying a visit to Scienceofsharp's blog to develope a clear mind-picture of what sharpening/honing/stropping is about at micro/nano level.
If the preliminary steps get done well it won't be so time consuming, and in my own opinion it is always worth for a custom knife.
Cheap, ordinary store's knives get 2x72 and strop...without a secondary thought ;)
 
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