A light swipe per side at the same angle is all that's needed usually. The 1200 grit rod is really hard stuff and does a great job.

quote:

Originally posted by Pasta:
Cool. When knocking the burr off with the rod, I'm assuming you just do one really light swipe per side at the usual edge straightening angle?

What works for me is, when I'm down to the final stage with the rod, I use very light swipes on the side with the burr until I no longer feel the burr. Then a few very light swipes on both sides; then a few on the strop.

Here is my reasoning: Once you've raised a burr on a blade, you have actually ground its' profile slightly more than the other side. If that weren't true, there would be no burr! Light swipes until that burr is removed evens out the profile of the blade. Somebody please correct me if I am wrong.

And again, the pressure of the blade against the sharpening media has to be very light. As always, TIWWFM, YMMV (this is what works for me, your mileage may vary)

Dont put pressure on the stones (let the stones do the work)
Try to do the same amount of passes on each side of the knife.
Make sure your stones are flat (this makes all the difference in the world)
Be sure to use plenty of water also and wipe grit off stone often.
my 2 cents

quote:

Originally posted by dj:
Make sure your stones are flat (this makes all the difference in the world)

I agree I flattened my stones about a month ago and it made a huge difference in their performance. I tend to dish out the middle lol. I try to do them every 5 or so now uses just so its not super tedious.

quote:

Originally posted by canadianknifenut: I tend to dish out the middle

Your a Canadian , what did you expect
I do too , I try to stroke the full length of the stone , but catch myself short stroking all the time.
I guess its just a habit I picked up

Aside from keeping my stones in water (now WATCH IT DJ...) I rotate them end to end every time so the wear's even.

I'm thinking of going to Home Depot, saw a flat concrete paving stone for, like 83 cents, and sand's really cheap (playground's nearby...), but in the meantime I use a sheet of 80 grit sand paper to flatten the stones and it seems to work OK. With the paper you can instantly see the dishing if there's a lot of it.

quote:

Originally posted by joe_karp:
Aside from keeping my stones in water

Do you seriously do this? Does anyone else do this? Have you noticed a performance increase when sharpening?

I think it makes a difference. About 1/2 an hour before use I soak all the stones I plan on using in an old Pyrex baking dish with a drop or two of dishsoap. They seem to cut better.

That's what I need to do, flatten them. I've done about 8 jobs now and haven't flattened them yet. Also, one of you already told me but I forgot, what kind of glue (hopefully available locally) do I need to glue a stone back onto the stick? Got a little overenthusiastic tightening the 100 grit stick down the first time I used it. Metal flexes, stones don't, but they do pop off lol.

Pasta, here's what EdgePro sent me about attaching stones to the metal plates:


We just came up with a new way to remove the stones that is so easy, you won't believe it. You boil a pan of water on the stove. Remove from the heat and drop in the stones. Wait 2 minutes and stones will slide off of the plates. The old glue remains smooth so you do not have to touch it. Just dry the plates, line them up on a board with the new stones, spray 2 light coats of 3M-77, wait 5 minutes and stick them together. Make sure the stones are lined up when they touch because the glue grabs hard, instantly.

Ben

EDGE PRO INC.