Community Sharpening Journal

[PStone]

This coarse edge is unreal. Opening boxes of air filters today. Took the straps to see how many I could slice through. Can’t believe how easily it handled them. One pull. So aggressive. I’m really understanding it now, the toothy edge.

[PStone]

I can't believe how much of my life I've wasted reprofiling everything by hand.



Powered sharpening is so fast and easy.

I was always scared to try it after being hammered over the head with horror stories for years about how easy it is to overheat the blade and ruin the temper, alter blade shapes, ruin tips etc.

It's so simple! Give it a lick on each side using a consistent angle, check your work, then repeat as needed.

Jobs that would take me 20 to 30 minutes, if not longer, are done in 3 minutes and my bevels are coming out cleaner.

I need to build a new light box for photographing edges, they're tricky. I took a short video to try to capture it better:

https://streamable.com/gxnuof

Slices right through ripe tomato, slices circles in printer paper and can scrape shave. Right off my 80 grit belt. Gonna give it 3-5 strokes per side with the medium rods to clean up the burr, then I'll bring it with me to my job and really put it to work.

Do I need to go to HF for a belt sander now? You know I will after what I learned the last 24hrs!

[TkoK83Spy]

Hahaha, you guys are killin me today! Harbor Freight's around the country are going to be out of stock of sharpening stones and belt sanders in a matter of a few days because of this thread.

[pantagana23]

Guys, I need your help.

My new VG10 Delica arrived with somewhat toothy factory edge (I see it in the light) , and I can feel the burr on one side of the edge.

Passed it a couple of times on fine Sharpmaker rods on 30 degrees, but nothing happened.

I remember Sals video where he says to use 40 degrees for sharpening, so I was wondering whether to go through both mendium and fine on 40 to try to remove the burr without guessing whether the angle is really 15 on both sides if I use 30.

Please advise. Keep in mind that I used Sharpmaker only a couple of times to learn on kitchen knives, so ma a complete amateur with it.
Have some more experience on my diamond/ceramic stone.

[prndltech]

I can't believe how much of my life I've wasted reprofiling everything by hand.

Powered sharpening is so fast and easy.

Work sharp? What set up do you use?

I’ve been wanting to get something powered to try...

[Albatross]

...I’ve been wanting to get something powered to try...

All I can think of now...

[Bloke]

This coarse edge is unreal.

I knew you’d like it.

I challenge myself to get the cleanest, sharpest edge from the coarsest stone. I don’t necessarily end up with a scary sharp edge but generally an edge that cuts better than average as you seem to be experiencing.

I’m glad Vivi shared his $2 stone and what it can do. Though personally, I prefer SiC in the coarser grades particularly, because it isn’t as savage on the edge and also for the better feedback a stone relays, which is neither here nor there, but merely a preference.

[Bloke]

Powered sharpening is so fast and easy.

[vivi]

This coarse edge is unreal. Opening boxes of air filters today. Took the straps to see how many I could slice through. Can’t believe how easily it handled them. One pull. So aggressive. I’m really understanding it now, the toothy edge.

Yep, these edges seem to bridge the performance gap between polished PE blades and SE blades. I'm hooked! Edge retention also seems better. Even when they no longer shave they still slice very well. Polished PE knives feel very slick on the slice once they lose that shaving sharp to barely scraping hair sharpness.

[vivi]

Bloke, that picture is perfect!

I can't believe how much of my life I've wasted reprofiling everything by hand.



Powered sharpening is so fast and easy.

I was always scared to try it after being hammered over the head with horror stories for years about how easy it is to overheat the blade and ruin the temper, alter blade shapes, ruin tips etc.

It's so simple! Give it a lick on each side using a consistent angle, check your work, then repeat as needed.

Jobs that would take me 20 to 30 minutes, if not longer, are done in 3 minutes and my bevels are coming out cleaner.

I need to build a new light box for photographing edges, they're tricky. I took a short video to try to capture it better:

https://streamable.com/gxnuof

Slices right through ripe tomato, slices circles in printer paper and can scrape shave. Right off my 80 grit belt. Gonna give it 3-5 strokes per side with the medium rods to clean up the burr, then I'll bring it with me to my job and really put it to work.

Do I need to go to HF for a belt sander now? You know I will after what I learned the last 24hrs!

Haha, you guessed it.

https://www.harborfreight.com/1-in-x-30 ... 61728.html - This is the model I'm using. $50, extra belts are $2 or $3.

So far I've.....

- Modded two pacific salts to straight spines
- Sharpened two Cold Steel Kopis machetes
- Reprofiled a fiskars hatchet to a thinner edge
- Sharpened my beater axe for splitting wood for my fire pit
- Reprofiled two chef knives, one santoku and four paring knives
- Sharpened a few pencils

All on the same belt. Surprised at how long its lasted while still cutting well.

It has saved me so much time.

[Bemo]

I really recommend a leather belt for "power stropping". My first edge doing that actually scared me. You do have to be careful not to strop your edge away though. It will look great but won't cut. A light touch and the belt shouldn't be too slack. Full disclosure, I've not tried it with any of the so called super steels.

[vivi]

I really recommend a leather belt for "power stropping". My first edge doing that actually scared me. You do have to be careful not to strop your edge away though. It will look great but won't cut. A light touch and the belt shouldn't be too slack. Full disclosure, I've not tried it with any of the so called super steels.

I need to try that. Haven't branched out to powered stropping, but I can see it being very effective.

[Bloke]

Hey Vivi I’m a bit of a woose when it comes to power sharpening. Years ago a mate gave me his Ken Onions sharper to try out and six months later I gave it back unused. Ah, hahaha!

[pantagana23]

Guys, I need your help.

My new VG10 Delica arrived with somewhat toothy factory edge (I see it in the light) , and I can feel the burr on one side of the edge.

Passed it a couple of times on fine Sharpmaker rods on 30 degrees, but nothing happened.

I remember Sals video where he says to use 40 degrees for sharpening, so I was wondering whether to go through both mendium and fine on 40 to try to remove the burr without guessing whether the angle is really 15 on both sides if I use 30.

Please advise. Keep in mind that I used Sharpmaker only a couple of times to learn on kitchen knives, so ma a complete amateur with it.
Have some more experience on my diamond/ceramic stone.

Bump

[Albatross]

Guys, I need your help.

My new VG10 Delica arrived with somewhat toothy factory edge (I see it in the light) , and I can feel the burr on one side of the edge.

Passed it a couple of times on fine Sharpmaker rods on 30 degrees, but nothing happened.

I remember Sals video where he says to use 40 degrees for sharpening, so I was wondering whether to go through both mendium and fine on 40 to try to remove the burr without guessing whether the angle is really 15 on both sides if I use 30.

Please advise. Keep in mind that I used Sharpmaker only a couple of times to learn on kitchen knives, so ma a complete amateur with it.
Have some more experience on my diamond/ceramic stone.

Bump

If you haven't already, try the sharpie trick. Mark the entire edge (both sides), so you can see where the stone is making contact. If you had no results trying to remove the burr, you probably weren't hitting it. The white stone should work well enough on VG10, for removing a burr. You could use the medium rods, then fine rods, but I dont think it's necessary.

[pantagana23]

If you haven't already, try the sharpie trick. Mark the entire edge (both sides), so you can see where the stone is making contact. If you had no results trying to remove the burr, you probably weren't hitting it. The white stone should work well enough on VG10, for removing a burr. You could use the medium rods, then fine rods, but I dont think it's necessary.

At 30 degrees?

[TkoK83Spy]

If you haven't already, try the sharpie trick. Mark the entire edge (both sides), so you can see where the stone is making contact. If you had no results trying to remove the burr, you probably weren't hitting it. The white stone should work well enough on VG10, for removing a burr. You could use the medium rods, then fine rods, but I dont think it's necessary.

At 30 degrees?

Sounds like you may need to be using the 40 degree setting if you weren't getting anything from the 30 degree setting. Sharpie you entire edge as Albatross mentioned, maybe do it with the brown rods first since they are slightly grittier and will remove the Sharpie a bit quicker than it would off the whites, just so you can see where you're at. Sometimes neither exactly 40 or 30 is quite right and you may have to make your own adjustment in how you hold the knife. The Sharpie will definitely help you figure out your angle.

[Albatross]

If you haven't already, try the sharpie trick. Mark the entire edge (both sides), so you can see where the stone is making contact. If you had no results trying to remove the burr, you probably weren't hitting it. The white stone should work well enough on VG10, for removing a burr. You could use the medium rods, then fine rods, but I dont think it's necessary.

At 30 degrees?

The factory edge is probably somewhere between 17 and 22 degrees per side, or 34-44 inclusive. Whether you use 30 or 40 inclusive (15 or 20 degrees per side), I don't think it will matter, unless you prefer one over the other. 40 is a stronger edge, that wont stay sharp as long and 30 is less strong, but will cut longer. So, like I said, it will be personal preference. The upside to using 40 in your case, is that it's more likely to hit the burr faster.

[vivi]

Guys, I need your help.

My new VG10 Delica arrived with somewhat toothy factory edge (I see it in the light) , and I can feel the burr on one side of the edge.

Passed it a couple of times on fine Sharpmaker rods on 30 degrees, but nothing happened.

I remember Sals video where he says to use 40 degrees for sharpening, so I was wondering whether to go through both mendium and fine on 40 to try to remove the burr without guessing whether the angle is really 15 on both sides if I use 30.

Please advise. Keep in mind that I used Sharpmaker only a couple of times to learn on kitchen knives, so ma a complete amateur with it.
Have some more experience on my diamond/ceramic stone.

Bump

Sounds like the 15 degree setting isn't hitting the apex.

You should try the medium rods at 20 degrees and see if that does it.

If you want to use the 15 degree setting, which I think is more ideal for most uses with a smaller knife like the Delica, you'll need to reprofile the knife to a thinner angle on your coarsest stone.

[Cambertree]

Also, I recommend getting a decent loupe, as is often advised here, Pantagana23.

Use it to examine your edges frequently while sharpening, and combined with the Sharpie trick, it will save you a lot of time and frustration in analyzing what’s going on with your edges.