09-07-2017, 10:52 AM
That all sounds about right to me, based on what I've seen so far (i.e., the more acute the angle, the lower the BESS reading), until yesterday, when my theory was apparently shot down by facts. I bought a Spyderco Endura, and measured it right out of the box, with the following four results: 77, 80, 151, 103. It's my understanding that Spyderco ships their blades with a 30-degree (15 dps) grind, which looked about right with visual inspection. I have no idea what to make of the readings; i.e., did a burr lead to the low values? The high value? Or is it just a finer edge in some areas of the blade...
I was thinking that the more obtuse the edge, the more resistance it would present when penetrating the BESS media, but there seems to be more depth to my ignorance than I had hoped.
Ken, I can my A2 blades as sharp as my O1s (takes longer, though) at the same angles, though the A2s don't seem to like the lower angles as much. Also, for the record, I realized after I posted my last message that my plane blades are often at 30 degrees inclusive, not 25 like I stated (I grind everything at 25 on a Tormek, but then I often microbevel at 30 on bench stones). When I go to the bench stones, sometimes I freehand, which leaves the angle at 25, and sometimes I use a jig, which I set at 30 for most blades.
Grepper, I'm not at all surprised you're seeing 100 gf - I'm not a great sharpener and I'm getting it. And my understanding is that the old Stanleys had good steel. Old tools were often/usually sharpened on oilstones, and are much easier to sharpen than the modern steels.
I was thinking that the more obtuse the edge, the more resistance it would present when penetrating the BESS media, but there seems to be more depth to my ignorance than I had hoped.
Ken, I can my A2 blades as sharp as my O1s (takes longer, though) at the same angles, though the A2s don't seem to like the lower angles as much. Also, for the record, I realized after I posted my last message that my plane blades are often at 30 degrees inclusive, not 25 like I stated (I grind everything at 25 on a Tormek, but then I often microbevel at 30 on bench stones). When I go to the bench stones, sometimes I freehand, which leaves the angle at 25, and sometimes I use a jig, which I set at 30 for most blades.
Grepper, I'm not at all surprised you're seeing 100 gf - I'm not a great sharpener and I'm getting it. And my understanding is that the old Stanleys had good steel. Old tools were often/usually sharpened on oilstones, and are much easier to sharpen than the modern steels.