PhilipPasteur wrote:


Yep ! that's it! The quote of the day, for sure !

At least when you are talking solutions for "cutting ability" against a particular media that the knife in question is most likely to be used against, then that's a great quote, and it's the real accurate answer.

However when you are talking about the holy grail quest for absolute "point edge sharpness" then maybe not... then you can look to leather to balsa to "nanocloth" to (and here is my latest toy) optically flat float glass sprayed with sub micron diamond.. in the world of sharp edges ( not "cutting ability", there is a difference!) you can make declaratory statements about methods to get to the end objective.. only problem is once you get near your goal you have to have a means to measure the result. Problem is that no one is sure how to do that really..

I think the OP asked about the philosophy of using balsa. I interpretted that as meaning where in the progression and with what abrasives. That could be way off. Unfortuantely I don't hink that he indicated his goal. Mayb he will do that for us so that we can better try to answer his specific questions.

I have a bit of a conflict on the choices. For the most part I sharpen for function. After all I use my knives to cut things. That is what knives are in the final analysis, they are tools for cutting things.
For the 50 some years that I sharpened by hand I developed progressions that would result in the knife doing something that I needed it to do. I sharpened knived for divers with a mill bastard file, because they said my "sharp" blades weren't useful for cutting rope and seaweed. A sharpening regime for a specific outcome.

With my getting into controlled angle "precision" sharpening I am intrigued by trying to get the "perfect" edge. Perfectly straight, perfect geometry to let it hold together at the thinnest apex possible. Oh yeah, and one that is a mirror. I also realize that this is a completely impractical pursuit. Yet I still do it!

Once we get to where the declaratory statements can be backed up by objective testing on a repeatable basis, I can stop treating them as a single persons anecdotal assertion about what works for them. These I find interesting and they give me places to start my own work, but I can't take them as definitive.

I think we are getting closer with the ability to resolve features down to 0.25 microns as Clay's new scope should be able to do. At least this gives us the ability to see what is going on. This, and maybe the sharpness tester that you folks are working on, may get us to the point of eventually having a cookbook for getting the perfect edge, but we aren't there yet.

That is why I advised the OP to play a bit and see what works for him.

Phil

The reason I brought it up was there are so many choices for stopping. Balsa and leather seem to be the most predominate. Was just curious what the general community was doing. I get the give issue that leather affords and the stiffness qualities for balsa. The prevailing theories so far on this forum and a number of others is the balsa affords a better platform for the ultra fine cutting particles. But this can be a personal preferrence based on everyone have different techniques and preferrences. I think all the comments work for either medium based on experience and what that person has in stock to do the job. As some of you have stated, "what is the application?", it is still fun to take it to the max. I make a point with my clients to discuss what kind of edge are they looking for and more importantly what are they willing to pay for. For a lot of them they have little or no working knowledge of what a blade is capable of doing. In most cases they prefer a slight tooth to the edge and so I stop between 800-1000 grit. Those that want it pushed I go to what I have available in grit size. Going to try my first balsa grit at 1 & .5 micron. Should be fun. Thanks for all the feed back.

PhilipPasteur wrote:


I'm glad you brought this back up... I apparently didn't read it close enough before. There's a lot of good info in there.

PhilipPasteur wrote:


...
here in the Sierra National forest we don't do much diving, but we sure sharpen a bunch of chain saws ! It's *all* done with files !

I should have added...
under water... water and the speed attainable moving under it... bring a whole new dimenssion to the discussion...


Anyway, I have a hard time keeping my chain sharp...and I use the saw about 5 times per year...
Hit the dirt or sand one time... you are hosed...
No Chosera 10K need apply !!!