02-06-2020, 04:01 PM
Hi back Brian. 
Good job! It sounds like your sharpening technique is good too as evidenced by consistent readings along the edge. A 5 point variance is extremely good. I’m always happy with a 150 edge. IMHO, 150 is about perfect for a general purpose blade. It’s my feeling that much sharper doesn’t buy much because the edge is so thin that it will roll more easily.
I have little doubt that the ridge you described is indeed what has been here described was indeed LOW. And, you are correct that leather won’t remove it. Once I saw it under the microscope I did a LOT of experimenting on the best way to remove it. That LOW pile of crud metal is well stuck to the bevel and most materials just ride over it. Scotch-Brite and its ilk was the only material that reliably grabbed on to it and lifted if from the edge.
http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?t...an#pid4341
FWIW, LOW can be worn away with fine abrasives, but that will remove the toothy edge under it. More importantly, fine abrasives can actually sharpen the LOW to a very sharp edge. The problem with that is that LOW is crap for metal and the edge will dull immediately with little effort. Even if the desired end result is a polished edge, it’s important to remove the LOW before finishing with the fine abrasive polishing operation.
“I deburred with a VF scotchbrite (blue) and then bare rough leather. Edge seemed pretty good. Sliced phonebook decently. But I decided to take it to the BESS. I knew half way through I had a problem. Too much force was required. Sure enough, it scored a 500! Jeez...”
LOW can be deceptive, but checking the sharpness told the story. Unless the LOW has been polished it has a rough surface and will cut paper well because it can grab and tear the paper fibers when the paper is sliced. LOW is weak junk metal and the edge won’t last and but I’ve been fooled by paper slicing too.
“Apparently I need to spend more time with the VFSB and less with the leather. This steel is pretty soft, so I'll keep that in mind in the future. Harder steels will probably behave differently.”
Every knife is seems to be a different beast when it comes to deburring. Bevel angle, size of the burr and hardness will all effect deburring. I never know exactly what to expect and just take it one knife at a time.
I’ve found that deburring with S-B is a bit of an art form and takes some practice. It’s easy to dull the edge with it, but once mastered it works extremely well and consistently even where other methods fail and/or take longer.
Just guessing Mr. Brian, but a couple of passes on each side with the leather at sharpening angel may have turned that 150 edge to 130. I always finish with a couple passes with leather at sharpening angle and then a few firm swipes on my jeans against my thigh. More often than not the edge gets a bit sharper. I think what’s going on is that it cleans things up a bit and straightens the edge after the S-B.
Really happy to hear the tools and methods are working well for you! Once you see it work and get the hang of it the process makes more sense and becomes easier and quicker. Very cool.
Good job! It sounds like your sharpening technique is good too as evidenced by consistent readings along the edge. A 5 point variance is extremely good. I’m always happy with a 150 edge. IMHO, 150 is about perfect for a general purpose blade. It’s my feeling that much sharper doesn’t buy much because the edge is so thin that it will roll more easily. I have little doubt that the ridge you described is indeed what has been here described was indeed LOW. And, you are correct that leather won’t remove it. Once I saw it under the microscope I did a LOT of experimenting on the best way to remove it. That LOW pile of crud metal is well stuck to the bevel and most materials just ride over it. Scotch-Brite and its ilk was the only material that reliably grabbed on to it and lifted if from the edge.
http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?t...an#pid4341
FWIW, LOW can be worn away with fine abrasives, but that will remove the toothy edge under it. More importantly, fine abrasives can actually sharpen the LOW to a very sharp edge. The problem with that is that LOW is crap for metal and the edge will dull immediately with little effort. Even if the desired end result is a polished edge, it’s important to remove the LOW before finishing with the fine abrasive polishing operation.
“I deburred with a VF scotchbrite (blue) and then bare rough leather. Edge seemed pretty good. Sliced phonebook decently. But I decided to take it to the BESS. I knew half way through I had a problem. Too much force was required. Sure enough, it scored a 500! Jeez...”
LOW can be deceptive, but checking the sharpness told the story. Unless the LOW has been polished it has a rough surface and will cut paper well because it can grab and tear the paper fibers when the paper is sliced. LOW is weak junk metal and the edge won’t last and but I’ve been fooled by paper slicing too.
“Apparently I need to spend more time with the VFSB and less with the leather. This steel is pretty soft, so I'll keep that in mind in the future. Harder steels will probably behave differently.”
Every knife is seems to be a different beast when it comes to deburring. Bevel angle, size of the burr and hardness will all effect deburring. I never know exactly what to expect and just take it one knife at a time.
I’ve found that deburring with S-B is a bit of an art form and takes some practice. It’s easy to dull the edge with it, but once mastered it works extremely well and consistently even where other methods fail and/or take longer.
Just guessing Mr. Brian, but a couple of passes on each side with the leather at sharpening angel may have turned that 150 edge to 130. I always finish with a couple passes with leather at sharpening angle and then a few firm swipes on my jeans against my thigh. More often than not the edge gets a bit sharper. I think what’s going on is that it cleans things up a bit and straightens the edge after the S-B.
Really happy to hear the tools and methods are working well for you! Once you see it work and get the hang of it the process makes more sense and becomes easier and quicker. Very cool.