02-20-2020, 09:59 PM
Great post Brian. Thanks for sharing.
It’s interesting but probably not surprising since you are using the same equipment as I do and basically the same belts that your process mirrors my own almost exactly.
For me learning to deburr with Scotch-Brite (SB) does indeed require some practice. I’ve become better at it with time, but still every knife is different. A lot of the time after the SB + leather I’ll see some bits of remaining burr and have to work on those areas. But just like you have described eventually the entire burr gets removed and the wonderful toothy edge is preserved.
With the Kallyrest, keeping the blade flat against the rest and keeping the blade in contact with the belt when going around the curve at the tip requires some practice too, but it get much easier with experience. It helps to sharpen the tip at the edge of the belt nearest the tip by tilting the blade up to keep as much of the blade against the rest as possible. In other words, when the tip contacts the belt try to keep the tip at the edge of the belt rather than in the middle of the belt. The bevel angle remains the same, just more of the blade stays in contact with the rest.
As you have seen, getting an even bevel it not difficult and I’m sure that any concerns about cosmetics will soon pass. Sure, you could just jam the blade into the belt and screw things up but with any amount of care it’s a non-issue. With an over abundance of caution I still take a couple of passes with extremely light pressure just to understand what I’m dealing with. That shows what the particular knife requires as belt pressure goes.
For me, the curve at the tip is always the most problematic and shows the greatest variance in BESS numbers to the rest of the blade. As long as an even burr was formed along the curve it’s usually because there is still remaining burr along the curve. In your case with 165 it’s not significant, but I suspect burr is why the numbers are a bit higher.
Like I said, with a 165 reading there is no reason mess around with it, but FWIW here’s a little trick I use that may or may not help depending on if burr is the issue. Hold the blade at almost 90° to the rough side of the leather belt and then just “tickle” the edge against the belt. The reasoning here is that any tiny bits of remaining burr will be bent at a sharp angle and cause them to fracture off. Then flip the blade and do the same. Then a pass or two at sharpening angle at moderate-light pressure around the curve. Many times I’ve seen the sharpness reading drop by 10-20 points.
The cool thing to me is that you have only had this setup/process for a short time and you’ve pretty much got it figured out. Practice make perfect but still every blade is different and there are so many variables such as sharpening angle, burr size, LOW, etc. Then it’s just a matter of applying experience to the blade at hand.
Thanks again for the post and the BESS numbers that tell the story. I always find sharpening stories both informative and enjoyable to read.
It’s interesting but probably not surprising since you are using the same equipment as I do and basically the same belts that your process mirrors my own almost exactly.
For me learning to deburr with Scotch-Brite (SB) does indeed require some practice. I’ve become better at it with time, but still every knife is different. A lot of the time after the SB + leather I’ll see some bits of remaining burr and have to work on those areas. But just like you have described eventually the entire burr gets removed and the wonderful toothy edge is preserved.
With the Kallyrest, keeping the blade flat against the rest and keeping the blade in contact with the belt when going around the curve at the tip requires some practice too, but it get much easier with experience. It helps to sharpen the tip at the edge of the belt nearest the tip by tilting the blade up to keep as much of the blade against the rest as possible. In other words, when the tip contacts the belt try to keep the tip at the edge of the belt rather than in the middle of the belt. The bevel angle remains the same, just more of the blade stays in contact with the rest.
As you have seen, getting an even bevel it not difficult and I’m sure that any concerns about cosmetics will soon pass. Sure, you could just jam the blade into the belt and screw things up but with any amount of care it’s a non-issue. With an over abundance of caution I still take a couple of passes with extremely light pressure just to understand what I’m dealing with. That shows what the particular knife requires as belt pressure goes.
For me, the curve at the tip is always the most problematic and shows the greatest variance in BESS numbers to the rest of the blade. As long as an even burr was formed along the curve it’s usually because there is still remaining burr along the curve. In your case with 165 it’s not significant, but I suspect burr is why the numbers are a bit higher.
Like I said, with a 165 reading there is no reason mess around with it, but FWIW here’s a little trick I use that may or may not help depending on if burr is the issue. Hold the blade at almost 90° to the rough side of the leather belt and then just “tickle” the edge against the belt. The reasoning here is that any tiny bits of remaining burr will be bent at a sharp angle and cause them to fracture off. Then flip the blade and do the same. Then a pass or two at sharpening angle at moderate-light pressure around the curve. Many times I’ve seen the sharpness reading drop by 10-20 points.
The cool thing to me is that you have only had this setup/process for a short time and you’ve pretty much got it figured out. Practice make perfect but still every blade is different and there are so many variables such as sharpening angle, burr size, LOW, etc. Then it’s just a matter of applying experience to the blade at hand.
Thanks again for the post and the BESS numbers that tell the story. I always find sharpening stories both informative and enjoyable to read.