sharpening sharper than ever

Re: sharpening sharper than ever

Keith Tompkins

I buff my carving chisels on a loaded cotton wheel on my 8" high speed grinder to a mirror finish. Make you bleed sharp.

Re: sharpening sharper than ever

Don Evans

I do simular with a hard felt wheel from Lee valley charge first with mineral oil then chromium oxide (the green stuff). This is all I do once the tool is sharp the first time.

Pocket knife, carving tools, etc. don't do turning tools, no need.

Don

Re: sharpening sharper than ever *LINK*

Dick Coers

I've never been a fan of buffing a cutting edge. I've never felt like I can keep a flat bevel. Here's a link to a pack of 3000, 5000, and 7000 grit.


http://www.amazon.com/Precision-Polishing-Sanding-Abrasive-Sandpaper/dp/B013W44ESY/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1455495066&sr=8-2-fkmr2&keywords=3000+and+6000+grit+polishing+sand+paper

Re: sharpening sharper than ever

john Lucas

Keith I'm using the Green compound on a leather wheel on the Tormek and they polish up like a mirror. do you think what your using is better. If so what compound is it.

Re: sharpening sharper than ever

john Lucas

Dick I have some micro grits and was thinking about using them on glass with my Veritis honing jig to step through the grits. The only problem is when you hone on a leather strop ideally you go from side to side bending the microscopic wire edge back and forth until it comes off. If you polish one side up through the grits and then polish the other side are you truly getting rid of this wire edge. the bevel would stay flatter and in theory the points would meet at a sharper peak but that assumes that the metal will sharpen to that peak instead of producing a wire edge.

Re: sharpening sharper than ever

John K Jordan

The adhesive-backed strips of fine sandpaper used with this kit are excellent. I use them wet for my chip-carving knives.

http://mychipcarving.com/product_info.php/sharpening-kit-p-77#.VsEfUOZRKnM

They sell just the sandpaper if you don't need the kit. (I don't like their strop - it has too much nap for me. I use a hard pigskin strop after following the sandpaper with ceramic stones.)

JKJ

John, the logical next step in this.........

JamieDonaldson

...sequence would be to make measured cuts on the same turning blank with each tool, then reshoot the edges for edge holding qualities.

Re: John, the logical next step in this.........

John C Lucas

Jamie. Not interested in that at this stage. All im trying to prove at present is will one steel get sharper than another . There are two many variables to test how long an edge holds. Im just trying to answer tbe question will high speed steel get sharper than particle metal and will high carbo steel get sharper than both. Well ive already proven that for all.practical uses they all get just as sharp. I would like to carry it further a d take micro photographs really see.

Re: John, the logical next step in this.........

John C Lucas

It gets much more complicated than that. There was a presentation a few year ago at an AAW symposium and he discussed edge holding testing. You have a lot of variables. How deep of a cut is made, what angle of presentation,varying densities of the wood, the wood changing shape which changes surface speed a d probably a few more ive forgotten. Beyond mg skills to do that much

Re: John, the logical next step in this.........

Brad Chenoweth

John,

For what it's worth, in metalworking, it's always been said that carbide gets sharper than high speed tool steel. In my experience, this has proven to be true, based on the fact that a newly-sharpened carbide tool will often chatter, where a HSS tool will not. Slightly dulling the carbide tool will usually eliminate the chatter. I realize this isn't empirical proof. It's just based on my many years of experience machining brass and steel. And carbide will maintain a sharp edge much longer, on metal, anyway.

Brad Chenoweth

Re: John, the logical next step in this.........

john Lucas

Brad Well that's what I'm trying to prove. The carbide in the Hunter tools for example is different than the carbide in your average metal tool. The cutters come almost razor sharp right out of the box and stay very sharp for a long time. My older router bits and carbide cutters for my metal lathes never were that sharp. I'm told the particles that make up the carbide in the Hunter tools are much smaller than in the past which allows them to polish the edge to a much sharper edge. In older tools or cheaper carbide the particles are larger and will chip when trying to achieve a really fine edge.

For this test I'm not using carbide but limiting it too the common steels used for skews and gouges.

Re: sharpening sharper than ever

Jorge Castañeda

John,

From my shipyards days, I became a "scary sharp" kind of fellow before the name came into use.

Using a piece of 1/2" plate glass as a base and strips of wet dry sandpaper, holding the sandpaper with one hand and sliding the tool with the other, 220 was the coarse, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1200, 2000, The last 3 grades found in auto shops supplies, It gives you a mirror edge and then hone with a strop and green paste. These days I prefer honing with White Gold Honing Compound.

I think the high carbon steel gets sharper, but it does get dull sooner than particle steels.

I know of the existence of 1 micron paste, for the ultimate edge, but its prize kept me from trying it.

Where do you get the gold honing compound

JKJ- Tormek Jig *LINK*

John Kaner

John, Have you seen the Tormek SVM-00. It holds carving knives for stropping/honing when mounted to the regular knife jig.

Saturday, had a sharpening instructor at carving. His method is a strop with nap side and with smooth on other. Nap gets compound. Smooth doesn't. His method and works. Looking around, plenty use compound on smooth side...

Yours too nappy, can be tamed with belt sander... LOL


http://www.tormek.com/en/jigs/svm00/index.php

FlexCut

Re: sharpening sharper than ever

Keith Tompkins

Hi John, I'm using the gold flexcut stick, but red rouge works ok too.