I'm fairly new to sharpening, and I'm having some issues. I've spent hours reading topics and advice on sharpening. The problem I WAS having, was I'd work my way through the grits on my edge pro, and when I was done with the 1000 stone it would be sharp, but would lose all sharpness after the polishing tapes. Today, I was able to keep it sharp after the polishing tapes, and decided to try out that new leather strop I bought. Now, I've read a buttload just on stropping, and it doesn't seem like brain surgery, but after a while of stropping, my damn edge was gone again! I don't THINK I was rolling the edge... I just don't get it. I put another up-until-now sharp knife on it and dulled that one too. I've watched videos and everything, and I really can't figure out what's going on. I'm not being that aggressive with the angle and am not rolling it... what else can you do wrong when stropping? I'm wondering if I'm not getting rid of the wire edge/burr first and the stropping is breaking it off?

Also, I'm really irritated that I can't seem to get the scratches out of my polished edge.

Pasta, here are just a couple of ideas I would try: As far as not being able to get the scratches out of your polished edge, maybe the scratch was too deep for the polishing tape to remove. If that's the case, make sure the scratches are gone after the 600 stone. If the EF stone won't remove them, then the MF stone is still needed. Go rougher stones on each step until you get to the one that removes the scratches...then work through the smoother stones and tapes.

As far as losing the sharpness after using the tapes, the first question I'd ask is if you are getting a burr all along both sides of the blade with every stone before you switch to the next smoother stone. KCSteve recommends using your little finger to feel for the burr. That has always worked for me too. If you don't get a burr all along both sides of the edge then you are changing stones before the knife is actually sharp. I don't know why the tapes would make the blade dull. Did you get one of the EdgePro's fine ceramic sticks? A couple of light strokes with that will usually wake up an edge that is almost sharp, but not quite.

Now, about stropping: You've probably read lots more about this than me, but I keep reading that a common mistake in stropping is pushing down too hard on the knife. You only want about as much weight as the knife and your hand - some guys say no more weight than just the knife. A polishing compound on your strop helps too. Also, be careful at the end of your stropping stroke to stop the knife and lift it off the strop before you start the return stroke. If you just roll the blade over (edge down - like a barber in an old west movie) you can easily damage your edge. Once again, KCSteve had a good idea here. At the end of his stropping stroke he stops the blade and rolls it over "on the spine side" before starting the return stroke. That way he never damages his nicely stropped edge. Also...don't rub your thumb across a stropped edge to feel for sharpness. That bends over the nice vertical burr you just created. Never touch the edge.

Please let us know if any of this helps.

The most essential thing you can do when you are learning to sharpen, or just putting a new edge on a new blade, is to color the edge with a Sharpie marker. That's the only way to see what part of the edge you are actually working. Once you know you are working the edge, sharpening is easy, like eating.

Excellent thread. This kinda stuff is why I started coming here in the first place.

Thanks, fj and Po.

Good luck, Pasta.

quote:

Originally posted by fastjan:
Now, about stropping: You've probably read lots more about this than me, but I keep reading that a common mistake in stropping is pushing down too hard on the knife. You only want about as much weight as the knife and your hand - some guys say no more weight than just the knife.

This is great advice, fj. And I'm with the "no more weight than just the knife" crowd, too. This is also a habit I had to break with polishing gemstones - the light touch works best. And that's pretty much the same with any tool - let the tool do the work; if you have to force or push hard, etc., there's a problem with either the tool, or the technique.

Also keep the stones wet. A drop of dishsoap in the squeeze bottle helps to make the job easier.

Plus another vote for the Sharpie trick which works so well to get that angle right.

Good stuff guys.

Cool, thanks for the help. Now I know a few things I'm doing wrong. I'm getting all the way to a burr on both sides, I can feel for that. And I'm keeping my stones wet. I actually get a wicked sharp blade after the 1000 stone, so I think I'm ok with those steps, I just want more. I only dulled it once with the tapes, so I probably accidentally held the blade too steep. I'm doing a 930 kulgera and I accidentally let it wiggle a few times. I think my main problem is the stropping. I saw one video where the guy said to use firm pressure, so I've been doing that. Also didn't realize you could mess up the edge with your thumb, I did that a lot. I also might be rolling it a tiny bit. The weird part is I got decent results stropping my 755 MPR and my Microtech LUDT, maybe I just got lucky with those or unlucky with this one.

Another question, when going from one side to the other with the stones, is it possible to weaken the edge or anything by going much past the point of getting a burr? My 745 got wicked sharp but didn't keep it long, and I got a pretty aggressive burr on each side. Should I stop when the burr just starts? The weird part is I can't bring the edge back on either the ceramic rod or the strop, so I'm thinking I might have had a wire edge the whole time? Which reminds me, what is the best way to remove that final burr and keep it scary sharp?

And thanks again for the help guys! I know I get long winded but you guys sifted through the bleh bleh and still helped.

Wait until you're completely done with the sharpening process, down to the last stone or tape, before taking the burr off. I use the 1200 grit rod for the final removal followed by a leather strop.

When I know I've got a decent burr going, I've learned to 'nick' the edge with my thumbnail and if it's consistent all the way across I know I've done it right.

Just takes practice and developing your own style...and IF you just can't get it right, don't kill yourself...I still send stuff to Benchmade when unsure so they can put an edge on the blade to start in fresh with.

Especially with D2, DJ's favorite (maybe not) steel.

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?

And DJ told me he secretly loves 440A, but is afraid to come out.