Deburring SE knives

[JoviAl]

I am finding I am getting foil burrs on my VG10 and to a lesser extent LC200N SE blades when sharpening them. I’m sharpening them with the brown, fine and extra fine Sharpmaker rods, then on the corner edge of a Shapton 220 mesh glass plate, followed by stropping them on a chopstick loaded with magnesium polish or 1 micro diamond paste.

How does everyone else deal with these annoying little foil burrs? I am experimenting with a higher grit finish on my SE, and only since going to higher grits has this become an issue for me (I know - there’s an obvious answer in there somewhere).

[Bill1170]

Lighter force on the rods will help, as will staying on the coarse rods longer to completely finish their job. I de-burr the back side at about 5 degrees to the primary grind of the back, using edge-leading strokes.

Pressing too hard, especially on fine/UF rods, will cause plastic deformation at the apex, yielding a weakened edge and a stubborn burr.

[JoviAl]

Lighter force on the rods will help, as will staying on the coarse rods longer to completely finish their job. I de-burr the back side at about 5 degrees to the primary grind of the back, using edge-leading strokes.

Pressing too hard, especially on fine/UF rods, will cause plastic deformation at the apex, yielding a weakened edge and a stubborn burr.

Thanks! That’s exactly the kind of info I was hoping for I don’t put much pressure on as it is, but I’ll try going even lighter on the higher grits.

[vivi]

yep, light pressure is key. with PE knives I tell people their finishing strokes should be light enough to not move the sharpmaker base around, without it being secured in any way. no clamps or holding it with your off hand. Harder to do with SE but still possible.

another thing to keep in mind is the stroke on the back side tends to form a burr faster than grinding the show side. So I don't recommend finishing SE with 1:1 stroke ratio, show side to back side, the way I do PE knives. I like to finish sharpening SE doing 2 or 3 show side strokes to every back side stroke. Then for my very last strokes I do one back side then one show side, then double check the edge to make sure its good to go. I always have a worse burr if my last stroke is on the back side.

good luck!

[JoviAl]

yep, light pressure is key. with PE knives I tell people their finishing strokes should be light enough to not move the sharpmaker base around, without it being secured in any way. no clamps or holding it with your off hand. Harder to do with SE but still possible.

another thing to keep in mind is the stroke on the back side tends to form a burr faster than grinding the show side. So I don't recommend finishing SE with 1:1 stroke ratio, show side to back side, the way I do PE knives. I like to finish sharpening SE doing 2 or 3 show side strokes to every back side stroke. Then for my very last strokes I do one back side then one show side, then double check the edge to make sure its good to go. I always have a worse burr if my last stroke is on the back side.

good luck!

Thanks Vivi, that is useful info

I have only been getting this phenomenon since I started adding in the higher grits. Reflecting on my processes with the new info from you guys I think a large part of it is not having deburred fully on the brown rod before I switch to my fine rods. I’ve been sharpening with the same light pressure all the way to the end, but I’ve been noticing a very fine foil burr develop on the fine stones and remain until stropping. Also noted regarding the back side causing more of a burr to show up - I usually do about a 5:1 ratio of show to back side strokes, tapering off to 1:1 for the very last few strokes.

I’ll give your tips a try at work this afternoon and see how it goes.

*edited for typos

[cabfrank]

Compared to most, I am a sharpening novice. That said, isn't it recommended to use only the white stones on SE? It's really easy that way.

[JoviAl]

Compared to most, I am a sharpening novice. That said, isn't it recommended to use only the white stones on SE? It's really easy that way.

I find that the amount of edge damage sustained in a day’s work requires at the very least brown rods to rectify in a timely fashion (if not CBN), plus I normally prefer a coarse finish on my blades. I have tried using just the fine rods but it takes an eternity to get the edge sharp again

[Bill1170]

Compared to most, I am a sharpening novice. That said, isn't it recommended to use only the white stones on SE? It's really easy that way.

That only works if your edge never sees damage.

[cabfrank]

I suppose so. That makes sense.