The stock progression is definitely next. For the microscope positioning, I leave the scope in the stand. Then I tape photo paper to the bottom of the stand to add some extra light via reflection. I trace the knife's outline on the paper so I can get it back in the same position every time. As far as smooth/rough on the leather, I like the smooth side out. I did experiment with both styles in this progression and feel that my results with the smooth surface were better. My sense is that the smooth surface, especially when the surface is tacky as with the paste, is able to create enough 'stiction' to draw the metal across surface of the bevel, smoothing the peaks and filling the valleys. So far, it's just a theory, but one I'm working on with some great scientists at the lab. For the time spent, it was about 5 hours total between all the steps and documentation. There were a bunch of calls and emails in the middle of it, so maybe it was a little bit less. All in all, time well spent! I loved doing it and sharing it. As with everyone else on this forum, I love doing little bits here and there to continue learning. There are so many great people here that have taught me a lot! I'm excited to continue exploring this fun world of sharpening with everyone here.

Clay did you sharpen the 'tang' (curve up). If not I am curious to know .

Josh - Clay's progression of pictures shows both cross contamination and revealing scratches.

For example, this 10 micron to 5 micron picture shows 3 distinctly larger scratches in the middle of the edge, which is cross contamination.



But if you watch the .25 to .125 progression, you see a greater contrast of the previous scratches with each finer grit.





The scratches on the left of the .125 could be cross contamination or revelation due to their size. At this point, it's hard to tell.

A little off topic, but cross contamination of strops is the major reason why I personally prefer to progress as far as possible on stones, even though the polishing power of the pastes and sprays on leather is proving to be much less invasive.

jendeindustries wrote:


I agree about contamination between the 10 and 5 micron samples though probably not crossing from one strop to the next, I'm pretty fastidious about the way I handle and store them. Environmental contamination is more likely - those strops traveled with me to the ECCK Show and could have easily picked up some metal filings or a stray diamond in all the melee which is a show environment. Another possible source of contamination is airborne silica - it sounds far fetched but is a reality, more or less so depending on locality.

The .25 and .125 strops were brand new when I started the progression, so contamination there is probably not a factor. One big difference is that I used the split grain side of the leather which seems a lot rougher on the metal. The metal surface was nearly totally smooth when I worked back up to the .25 and .125 grits and the different reference points like the little hole/black dot make it easy to see the new scratches. At this point, I'm inclined to believe that the scratches that appeared with the second pass with the finer grits are a result of the split grain leather. On the first pass with the plain split grain leather, more scratches appeared as well.

Lots more fun being had here today! A customer sent in an Outdoor Edge, Swingblade AUS-8 steel for sharpening. This was a great knife to sharpen for our progression because the softer steel made the work go very quickly and showed up the grit scratches easily. I used the stock Wicked Edge stones for this sharpening progression:


Just 20 passes per side at 20° per side was all it took to re-profile the edge

On the 600 grit stones I made a few errant strokes which showed up immediately.