Mr. Dan, I never sharpen against the platen. There is no need to. Always about 2" above it. I've had good luck using this belt. I really like the Cubitrons:
https://www.rshughes.com/p/3M-Cubitron-7...111_67951/
It's YF weight, so not too wimpy and not overly stiff either. I use light pressure when sharpening so even with the YF belt there is little, if any belt deflection and very little if any heat generated.
Not only is against the platen way more aggressive than I need, but also due to the type of knife rest I use when attempting to sharpen against the platen it's easy to suck the blade down between the rest and blade. No fun when that happens! Once it caused me to suffer epidermal leakage.
About 2" above the platen provides a plenty stiff belt, but it also has a little forgiveness to the belt and produces a very nice, even bevel and edge.
With a 150 grit belt very little pressure is needed which reduces the burr and makes burr removal much easier and quicker.
The 120 grit Cubitron II's work OK too, but they are a little gnarly and I seem to favor the 150 grit currently. In my quest for toothy I've even tried 40 grit Zirc belt. It worked and was sharp, but the edge was more like a saw than a knife.
Grinding the edge is really not that difficult. The most difficult and important part, as Mr. EOU eruditely states, is complete burr removal. For a smooth and polished edge there is nothing to it. But for a toothy edge, it becomes trickier when trying to not remove the "toothy" during the process.
I would like to add that I am far from an expert knife sharpener. I do what I do because it seems to work for me, but I have no idea if what I do will work for someone else. Maybe some of the stuff I mention will be helpful, or not, who knows. Hopefully there are some useful ideas, but it certainly isn't the only, or even the best way to do things.
Whatever I suggest, I'm sure that you will end up doing whatever works best for you anyway.
https://www.rshughes.com/p/3M-Cubitron-7...111_67951/
It's YF weight, so not too wimpy and not overly stiff either. I use light pressure when sharpening so even with the YF belt there is little, if any belt deflection and very little if any heat generated.
Not only is against the platen way more aggressive than I need, but also due to the type of knife rest I use when attempting to sharpen against the platen it's easy to suck the blade down between the rest and blade. No fun when that happens! Once it caused me to suffer epidermal leakage.
About 2" above the platen provides a plenty stiff belt, but it also has a little forgiveness to the belt and produces a very nice, even bevel and edge.
With a 150 grit belt very little pressure is needed which reduces the burr and makes burr removal much easier and quicker.
The 120 grit Cubitron II's work OK too, but they are a little gnarly and I seem to favor the 150 grit currently. In my quest for toothy I've even tried 40 grit Zirc belt. It worked and was sharp, but the edge was more like a saw than a knife.
Grinding the edge is really not that difficult. The most difficult and important part, as Mr. EOU eruditely states, is complete burr removal. For a smooth and polished edge there is nothing to it. But for a toothy edge, it becomes trickier when trying to not remove the "toothy" during the process.
I would like to add that I am far from an expert knife sharpener. I do what I do because it seems to work for me, but I have no idea if what I do will work for someone else. Maybe some of the stuff I mention will be helpful, or not, who knows. Hopefully there are some useful ideas, but it certainly isn't the only, or even the best way to do things.
Whatever I suggest, I'm sure that you will end up doing whatever works best for you anyway.