I did a quick job of re-flattening the bevels with the 800# and 1000# Diamond Stones and the the Micro-Fine Ceramics:

Zoom

Then I widened the angle by 4 degrees per side and stropped it with the 1um Diamond and Leather Strops with 10 very light strokes per side:

Zoom

So much for that theory. Looks pretty rounded.

Thanks!!

cbwx34 wrote:


You bet. I thought the same thing. It was only 10, very light strokes too.

This could also be an opportunity to try balsa and see the results. Less give in the material might result in less rounding of the edge. Just a thought.

I'd like to see balsa too. Get to work Clay!!!

This thread has a ton of interesting info... makes me wonder if I spend too much time with leather. Pretty impressive how clean the edge got with just 10 strokes at a lower angle! I'm also wondering about the burr left with the Micro Fine stones... although I noticed it didn't seem to be as prevalent the 2nd time around (before you did the higher angle stropping). Wonder if an edge leading stroke with the ceramics would eliminate the burr more effectively.

Man, this is good stuff. I'm glad you're doing this!!

I'd be very interested in seeing the balsa results as well, in particular, how much pressure can be used before rounding the edge. My normal progression after sandpaper is 5, 3.5, 1, .5, .125, .05.....all on balsa. Even going as much as 100 passes on each though, I can never fully get rid of the sandpaper scratches with how lightly I contact the blade.

Id also like to see what effect blank cow leather has on an edge, if any.

I can tell you already that kangaroo leather is the way to go if you're interested in getting rid of all the scratches. Somewhere in these forums is a progression I did ending with kangaroo in which the edge is visually perfect at 500x. I've been able to repeat that result many times so I don't believe it's a fluke of camera angles or lighting.

MathewWhaley wrote:

Interesting info on rounding the edge a little. Would it be advisable for some situations to back off the arms a degree or so if you wanted to maintain really sharp geometry? I'm playing with an old Imperial filet knife as I type this and just finished the 1000 grit diamond stones, so it's strop-ready. I'm curious to know if there would be a benefit to backing it off a little or just stropping normally.

I would guess that at a slightly shallower angle the tiny facet from the new profile would blend in better as well, but I haven't toyed with much on my new kit yet

Hi Clay,

Nice!!

Just a couple of questions:
(1) Are these images from your new metallographic microscope?
(2) What is the scale of the images (if you know)?
(3) Are these photos taken as black-and-white?

Looking forward to more of your results.

Sincerely,
--Lagrangian

ApexGS wrote:


One of the things that I found really interesting is that I still experienced rounding with stropping after lowering the angle by two degrees per side. I'll try the experiment again at 3 degrees lower per side and so on until I find the setting that allows me to just reach the edge without rounding.