The Seven Secrets Of Sharpening Redux

This is quite honestly one of the best posts I have ever seen on sharpening on the internet. Very well done!

I fully agree with everything you wrote, particularly observation and what coarse stones are capable of.

If I were to write a similar guide, there are only two minor things I would alter:

1. I'd emphasize feather light strokes more. I saw you briefly mention deburring on stones with light strokes. In my opinion learning this skill will give a crisper apex than deburring with other methods like a more obtuse angle, slicing through wood or cork, or using a strop. On my finishing strokes I use less than the weight of the knife, and I use a shorter stroke on the stone.

2. I don't think forming a burr is necessary on a touch-up. I know you were primarily discussing more in-depth sharpening jobs, but I'd still mention this. If I have an edge that has just lost shaving ability but is not dull or reflecting light, I find I save a lot of time by doing one light stroke per side, then alternating, intentionally trying to not raise a burr. Raising one is essential when setting a new bevel or other more involved jobs, but I think we can skip that step for touch-ups.

Truly commendable write up.
 
Like so many others, I too appreciate this excellent post. Thank you.

Among the toughest things for a new sharpener to work out in all of this sharpening information, in my opinion, is pressure.

How much pressure to use along with when and how to apply pressure within a progression of grits is hard to grasp from the text, photos, or videos. Pressure can have a tremendous impact. It can speed things up, it can slow things down, it can accelerate belt or stone wear unnecessarily. Pressure impacts virtually all sharpening methods, from fixed-angle devices to freehand, to wheels, and rods.

I believe that after much experimentation and frustration I finally figured out how to use varying pressure between various steels and abrasive types and sharpening methods. Personally, I use freehand more these days for speed and convenience. But the Edge Pro and the belts still see a fair amount of duty too. Regardless of the method used, or the type of abrasive, pressure is something that needs to be worked out.

For those employing the excellent advice here, and yet still experiencing frustration, keep at it. And, consider thinking about pressure.

If I could click my heels and make a wish, it would be that there was some kind of magic meter that appeared in the corner of every sharpening video that showed a pressure scale relaying how heavy or light-handed in lbs or kg, or even oz and grams, for each stroke on each pass of the blade. From 80 Grit to .5 micron or bare leather strop, how much pressure is being used with this combo of steel and abrasive? I've often wondered if I could rig my whole sharpening set up on a large platform scale and capture this somehow.

K
 
This is some good knowledge. Especially no.7
I'm a member also on a kitchen knife forum. Over there the standard practice and general advice is a 1k and a 6k stone. I feel this advice gave me more troubles learning than anything else. It seems when the knife is meant for the kitchen, all previous sharpening knowledge goes out the window. We were taught from our dads to start with a course stone then switch to a fine stone. Well a 1k Waterstone is the equivalent of a soft Arkansas stone for refinement. That a very fine stone!
It took me forever to sharpen a knife. I'd get tired. But mostly frustrated that nothing was happening! I thought there was something wrong with the stone. Or the knife. Or me. Everything was fine but I was using a polisher instead of a grinder.
I can now go from a dinged up very dull edge to sticky 3 finger sharp in ~5 minutes. Before in an hour it was still dull.
Also less time means less bevel ruining from wobble
And using a coarse stones does not grind a knife away faster. Whether it's 100 grit or 10000, the same amount of steel needs to be removed before the two planes meet
Anyway that's my opinion.
 
bgentry said:
Secret #1: Feeling the bevel on the stone.

This is idea is simple and powerful. Let’s define terms real quick. When I say “bevel” I mean the final bevel leading to the cutting edge. So, the last facet on the side of the blade that touches the edge. This bevel might only be 1/16 of an inch wide on some blades.

Now, if the bevels are flat, we should be able to hold that flat bevel flat against a stone. In fact, we should be able to *feel* when the bevel is touching the stone in a reasonably flat way: Not with edge digging in to the stone. Not with the edge standing WAY off of the stone. But flat.

If you hold a knife with the handle in your hand and you move your wrist to angle the blade up and down against the stone, you can feel when it becomes flat. On some blades it almost seems to “click” into place. Now, if you take your other hand and press down *right* on top of the edge bevel, you can REALLY feel when it becomes flat against the stone. This feeling is so strong in some blades, that you can hold the blade in place on the stone without using the handle. Just your off hand, pressing the bevel flat to the stone. This is just an illustration of how strong the feeling in the off hand can be.

Play with this, using both hands, and you’ll certainly feel when you get the bevel flat on the stone. This is one of the primary and key ways to maintaining a constant angle. If you can feel it, you can maintain it. When I first figured this out, my sharpening consistency immediately increased.

This two handed approach to sharpening naturally leads us to Secret #2.
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Saw a tip on a video these that really helped me identifying the angle of the edge. You gotta have overhead light, but it works like a charm. Put the blade flat on the stone, the edge will cast a very defined shadow. Just lift the blade slowly until the shadow disappears completely.

It was the easiest method I found to check the angle.
 
That was very informative, thanks! I use a leather strop that I made myself for stropping my blades.
 
bgentry said:
Secret #7: The Coarse Stone:

A lot of beginners are told to not use too coarse of a stone to start with. The idea being that they can do less damage to a blade with a finer stone. I think this advice is backwards and flat out wrong. Here’s why:

A coarse stone:
Shows grind lines more easily, thus allowing you to monitor your progress more easily (secret #4).
Allows you to make progress faster, thus preventing fatigue. Fatigue destroys angle holding ability, which makes edges worse.
A feedback loop is formed by grinding flat on a coarse stone: The edge bevels become flatter faster, thus increasing the *feeling* of the bevel on the stone (secret #1), which improves the ability of the sharpener to hold a consistent angle, which makes the overall edge better and flatter.

I think everyone should start any big sharpening job with a very coarse stone. How coarse? I like the DMT XXC, which is 120 micron, or about 100 grit. This is very similar to a Norton Coarse Crystolon (silicon carbide), which also grinds very fast I’m told. Essentially, unless you have a some really exotic super coarse stone, you should start every big sharpening job with the coarsest stone you own.

Let’s define that: A big sharpening job is one where you will significantly grind the bevels. You might be removing nicks, sharpening an abused or neglected blade, or even changing the edge angle to a lower angle. These jobs need a coarse stone. Touchups and minor sharpening don’t qualify.

Here are a few things many people, even experienced sharpeners, don’t know about coarse stones:

1. They can make really sharp edges. Something in the 220 to 350 grit range, like a DMT C, can make edges that pop hair off of your arm. I was totally shocked the first time I made a hair shaving edge from a DMT C. Now I can make an even sharper edge from the DMT C. Sharpness does not equal refinement. In other words, a fine stone is not necessary for a very sharp edge. A fine stone is only necessary for a polished edge.
2. Edges made on coarse stones can cut abrasive materials *better* than highly polished edges. In my experience, the difference between a ~600 grit edge and a ~100 grit edge, when cutting cardboard is about a 2 to 3 times edge holding difference. The 100 grit edge holds it’s edge for much longer when cutting things like cardboard.

In summary: The coarse stone is your friend. It will get you results faster, which actually means you’ll get better results because you don’t get fatigued as fast. It will give you better psychological results as well, promoting your feeling of accomplishment. This is no small task when learning a new skill. Or even practicing an old skill. Coarse stones can make very sharp edges. Coarse edges can last longer for abrasive cutting tasks.

If you don’t have a stone that’s at least ~200 grit, you need one. This is another one of the secrets that dramatically improved my sharpening. I hope it does for you too.
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I know it's been awhile since you posted this.. but thank you. This is wicked helpful and amazing to me.
 
Re tip #2, The Japanese Stroke.
Does it matter if I'm working on Arkansas stones rather than water stones. Is this technique appropriate for "all" surfaces? Thank you.
 
I use the two handed stroke on all bench stones that I own: Aluminum Oxide, Silicon Carbide, Diamond plates, Ceramic, and water stones. I think it's appropriate for just about anything flat. I believe Heavy Handed uses a modified version of this on his washboard system as well.

Brian.
 
bgentry said:
I use the two handed stroke on all bench stones that I own: Aluminum Oxide, Silicon Carbide, Diamond plates, Ceramic, and water stones. I think it's appropriate for just about anything flat. I believe Heavy Handed uses a modified version of this on his washboard system as well.

Brian.
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Thank you. I've been nervous about using back and forth strokes as shown in the video. I feel like I could easily roll the edge on the back stroke.
 
Great information there B bgentry , thanks for the write-up.

I had started out with similar textbook methods outlined in the op, and in a personal effort to reduce expenses (efforts, time, intensity, energy, cost, steel consumption) i slid into my own lazy unorthodox secrets of reaching a successful sharpening result. To me, the best efficient sharpener is someone who:
  1. reaches impressive sharpness, AND
  2. reaches it within a short session time, AND
  3. consumes a minimum of blade steel in the process.
I detailed them in separate threads of interest tl;dr (burr detection, burr removal, 204-freehanding, strops, compounds, ruixin/guided sharpening, PTS method, ceramic stones, etc.) and i'd still add to them when i experience related epiphanies. If i had to conclude all #MyExperience, #PracticalKnowledge, secrets in an abstract, it would all come down to this single comment: properly deburring (and without micro-convexing the apex) is the toughest task in the process imho @wootzblade , and nearly impossible on ductile steels!

Here a youtube counter-example showing what one gets
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if one doesn't check for microburr but simply follows a textbook procedure:
 
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B bgentry - thank you so much for this thread. I've been bumbling around trying to freehand sharpen for a while. I dedicated an afternoon to putting your methods into practice and I now have two sharp knives! I find I have to strop to get that final 'hair popping' edge, but this is the first step on the pathway to sharp edges.
 
Fantastic, B bgentry !!!
VERY informative post! But one thing I noticed is that from all the posts here it looks like most people don't finish up on a strop? I usually go from a 400 to a 1000 stone and then polish the edge with a buffing compound-impregnated strop and then a final pass or two on smooth and plain leather. At least for kitchen knives (Krupp inox) that will leave them laser sharp.
 
bgentry said:
Secret #6: The Burr:

Burr Removal:

Once you’ve raised a burr on one side, switched sides, and then raised a full length burr on the opposite side, you want to remove the burr completely, leaving behind a clean crisp edge. Again, there are many many ways of doing this. Seek out another resource for more complete directions and techniques for burr removal. I’m just going to highlight a few that I like.

A. The double angle technique. Let’s say you’ve been sharpening at roughly 15 degrees per side. You’ve formed the burr twice and you’re ready to remove it. Put the side with the burr down on the stone. Now raise your angle to roughly 30 degrees. It doesn’t need to be exact at all. Just a much higher angle than you were using. Now, do 1 or 2 very, very light strokes. Not even the weight of the blade. Flip the blade over and do 1 very light stroke on that side. If you’ve done it correctly, the burr should be essentially gone from both sides. Check and see. If some burr remains do another single light stroke on the side with the burr and check again. Once it’s gone, lower the angle back down to the original and do one light stroke per side, switching sides after each stroke. Do perhaps 3 to 5 of these original angle strokes and your blade should be done.

B. Drawing through wood, cork, or felt. Just lightly running the length of the blade through end grain of wood, a wine cork, or hard packed felt can rip the burr off. This is most useful when the burr is very small or there are just little burr chunks remaining on the edge. Notice the gray or black residue that’s left on the cork or wood. Experiment with this and see how it works for you.

C. Deburring directly on the stone. If you are very careful with light strokes, you can remove the burr fully, at the original angle, just by using light pressure and checking after each stroke. Ken Schwartz advocates doing sideways strokes, parallel to the stone (not forward, not backwards, but sideways) to grind the burr off. I’ve had limited success with this and I only mention it because Ken is exceptionally skilled. I’ve had my best results removing the burr at the original angle by doing forward strokes only.


Master this and you’ll be well on your way to making outstanding edges.
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A) You teach this wrong because the answer is not ''30 degree angle'' the answer is what kind of blade we are deburring.

B) Drawing through wood cork, or felt. Also wrong because if you google and search microscopic research about deburring you will be surprised.

C) Check A answer and understand why you haven't been succesfull with your ''directly on stone'' master technique.
 
BG thank you for your effort, knowledge and sharing on this subject. It kinda goes back to one of Cliff Stamps often mentioned phrases......teach yourself how to think critical, identify the task and test everything. You are to be commended and you have.
 
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