Community Sharpening Journal, Part 2

[cabfrank]

I wish I could experience that level of sharpness. I've never had anything that sharp. What is in the lanyard hole?

[Guts]

I wish I could experience that level of sharpness. I've never had anything that sharp. What is in the lanyard hole?

What's your sharpening process like?

As I got obsessed with sharpening I was always chasing higher and higher sharpness. Somewhere along the way I settled on being able to slice a free hanging paper towel. In the past I had edges that could slice regular paper no problem, but couldn't slice paper towel or other fibrous material, so being able to do the latter just became my standard.



As for the lanyard hole, it's a screw post holding a wire clip adapter I made. Works ok on the Lil Temp 3 but not the favorite one I've made. Bolster made a post about one I made for him on the Goddard 4V exclusive a year or two back if you were curious, though that one is much nicer than the one on my LT3.

[cabfrank]

Got it. Yeah, my process is not going to get that done, but I don't need it anyway. It would just be fun to do for the heck of it. Just the Sharpmaker works for me. I've tried free hand, and would need much more practice.

[vivi]

Got it. Yeah, my process is not going to get that done, but I don't need it anyway. It would just be fun to do for the heck of it. Just the Sharpmaker works for me. I've tried free hand, and would need much more practice.

sharpmaker is enough to get those results.

brown rods are sufficient for catching arm hairs above the skin / cutting free hanging paper towels / push cutting thin receipt paper. white rods can make it even easier.

[cabfrank]

Really? Well then I guess I need to spend more time with one knife on a Sharpmaker. I'll start with my current sharpest and go from there. The nice thing about the Sharpmaker is that it doesn't take the skill or practice of bench stones.

[vivi]

Really? Well then I guess I need to spend more time with one knife on a Sharpmaker. I'll start with my current sharpest and go from there. The nice thing about the Sharpmaker is that it doesn't take the skill or practice of bench stones.

for me there's a couple of things that help me get really sharp edges off the sharpmaker.

1. clean stones work best. if you can see bits of steel on your SM rods, performance is less than 100%.

2. sharpening the knife to a lower angle than I'll be using the sharpmaker at. 12 degrees per side or so if I plan on using the 15 degree slots, 15 degrees per side or so if I plan to use the 20 degree slots. this means when you use the sharpmaker you're always working the apex, which saves time and means less frequent cleaning of your stones.

3. I get the sharpest edges when I do a full sharpening, i.e. remove any microbevel before applying a new one. this means for a 12dps/15dps micro bevel knife I take it to my plate, grind off the microbevel using a 12 degree angle, then apply a new one on the knife with the sharpmaker.

4. Using light pressure is key. I use light enough strokes with the sharpmaker that I ro not need to secure the base with my off hand or a clamp or screws. If you're pushing hard enough on your finishing strokes you slide it around without holding it with your off hand,you're using too much pressure.

5. I always finish plain edged knives on the flats, never the corners.

Using those tips I'm able to get shaving edges off the diamond rods, mediums give me edges that catch hairs without touching my skin, and fine rods give me hair whittling sharpness.

best of luck!

[cabfrank]

Thanks. I've read your tips before, and I will keep at it. These are good reminders.

[Brock O Lee]

New M1, circa 2014. Bye-bye factory bevel.



Check out my dual function strop / paint stirrer!

[Brock O Lee]

New 15 dps bevel for the Temperance. I'm pretty pleased with that.

The progression was Tormek diamond wheels (coarse 360, fine 600, extra fine 1200), black composite honing wheel (30 micron), leather wheel (1 micron diamond).

I used the "small knife" jig to clamp the handle instead of the spine. Clamping the blade was not secure because of the distal taper. It's a good jig to have around for pocket knives or tapered blades.



I get similar BESS scores with the Edge Pro. 80g is about my average for a 1000 grit burr-free edge. Interesting, because these are two completely different sharpening and deburring methods.



It glides through cigarette paper as if it's not there, so satisfying!



A few thoughts on the Tormek: It's trivial to mess up a knife bevel on the Tormek, especially the tip and the heel. These diamond wheels cut so aggressively and the corners are not radiused, so there is very little margin for error. It becomes easier when you develop the correct technique and muscle memory, but there is a definite learning curve. The stone wheel is easier to learn on, because it does not cut so aggressively. You can radius the corners with a SiC or coarse diamond plate to make them more forgiving.

The Tormek shines with long fixed blades and woodworking tools, especially when you have to remove a lot of metal and want to cut precise repeatable angles. I still prefer the Edge Pro for reprofiling pocket knives because I have more control.

[Guts]

Honed my bumblebee PM2 in Magnacut this time with the 400gr Naniwa resin bonded diamond stone. I think I used 1um tech diamond tools paste on this one. Bevel was already set previously on the first sharpening so honing it was quick and easy.

[vivi]

slapped a quick 5,000 grit edge on my temperance 2. gonna need to go back down to coarse stones at some point and take it a little thinner and even out some spots towards the tip.






That said it's a pretty mean edge. Can't run it over arm hair without touching the skin, it just sticks. Effortlessly whittles arm hair. I'm so used to chasing clean shaving sharpness off 200-400 grit stones that this felt like cheating.

Used a DMT Coarse, DMT Fine, then a shapton kuromaku enzi

[Ow!Icutmyself!]

Hi Vivi, it’s funny - I just tried to blow the hair off my phone screen! Wiping it didn’t work either!
Just got my new Sharpmaker today - on my birthday no less.
My personal learning curve begins.