My method of giving a blade a mirror-polish edge

[the count]

For a couple of years now I have been on a quest for extra sharp and/or mirror polish edges. In my arsenal I have (not a full list) Japanese wet stones, diamond files, oil stones, worksharp electric sharpening system, ceramic rod and a apex edge pro.

While I do get my knives pretty darn sharp (easy register tape slicing) with one method or another I have never succeed to get a blade arm hair shaving sharp. Some say to strop after everything else. Stopping usually has the opposite effect with me... no idea why. If I get a blade that is shaving sharp from the factory I do not mess with it.

The edge pro is a good system but tricky with any knife that has a curved blade and/or is not with a full flat grind.

The worksharp with the 20 degree guide is really foolproof. But again, it will not get my knife arm hair shaving sharp. The purple belt gives a nice finish but not even close to mirror polish.

Now to clean up a myth...a mirror polish edge does NOT necessarily mean the blade is razor sharp!

So long story short, this is what I do:

If the knife needs sharpening (really dull) do whatever works for you before you start with the polishing. Then, using blue painters tape cover up as much of the blade so only the portion is visible that you want to get polished. The better you prep the better the result will be. I use a pencil or toothpick to move the tape around a bit if needed.

I have a dremel with those 1" diameter felt wheels. I use one with green compound (somewhat coarse), and the others with white and red (finest).

Holding the wheel at about a 30 degree angle to the blade I give each side about 2 minutes on a slower speed steadily moving along the edge. Take care to hold everything tight. Then wipe clean and switch to the next compound. After the red the edge will be amazingly reflective! It will also probably be pretty dull! This is where I found a ceramic rod to be the ideal instrument to give the edge a good burr. Depending on the steel I might give each side 10-20 strokes. Angle does not seem to be too important here. I am in the 25-30 degree range. Finish off with a few really light strokes on a hong steel rod. And presto, mirror finish and sharp. Test on register tape.

 

[GLOOB]

I dunno, this seems pretty backwards to me. If you are going to mirror polish the edge, you should be reaching the apex, or it's just for show, is it not?

Some say to strop after everything else. Stopping usually has the opposite effect with me... no idea why. If I get a blade that is shaving sharp from the factory I do not mess with it.

It depends on the steel, to some degree. My 440C knife will not shave hair unless I strop it. Even if I give it a light touchup on the stones, I need to strop it pretty aggressively after, to get the edge back. My 440A, 8Cr13, and carbon steel knives will all shave hairs right off the Arkansas stone. On these knives, I only use the strop very lightly after honing to polish the edge bevel and to remove any micro burr I might have raised; then every now and again to realign the edge.

 

[rcmodel]

Well, that's 'different'!

rc

 

[TimboKhan]

I am the least skilled sharpener you can imagine and I have no problem getting hair shaving sharp on a worksharp.

I wonder what you are doing differently? I really have never developed any skill at all sharpening freehand, and even a lansky system beat me, but that worksharp has been a lifesaver...

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Hmmm...I'm not really interested in a mirror finish on any of my knives. If I made knives, I might be interested in that.

But I don't have any problem getting the knives I want to a razor edge, if that's what I want. Usually, I only care about my pocket knife in that aspect. Other knives I don't see a practical advantage to having one sharp enough to shave the hair on my arm. "Receipt paper sharp" is generally good enough.

Got any pictures, though? I'm always a sucker for nice workmanship!

 

[the count]

I am the least skilled sharpener you can imagine and I have no problem getting hair shaving sharp on a worksharp.

I wonder what you are doing differently? I really have never developed any skill at all sharpening freehand, and even a lansky system beat me, but that worksharp has been a lifesaver...

Do you go through all three belts with your worksharp? Using the 20 degree angle guide? And did you actually shave hair off your arm....? Because receipt paper sharp is also pretty darn sharp but just not as much as.....

 

[bikerdoc]

An old timer taught me to smear some mothers mag polish on some cardboard to get a polished edge. Too much elbow grease
I took it one step further and cut a circilar piece of cardboard and mounted it to my drills sanding disk.
30 seconds forward on one side reverse direction for the other.

 

[the count]

Somebody wanted a pic

Not a great pic, I know...Cheap Kershaw but takes a wicked edge.

 

[bikerdoc]

Nice!

 

[TimboKhan]

Count, I rarely need to use anything but the fine belt. In fact I have only put the coarsest belt on once, and that was only so that I could reprofile the edge on a sharp finger I bought for a couple of bucks that was as dull as a butter knife. But yeah, hair shaving sharp is possible and attained easily and fairly quickly.

As a side note, I rarely use the guide anymore except tondo kitchen knives. For everything else, I figured out how to do it without the guides, which is actually easier once you get the knack of it. I only use the guides for sporting/pocket knives now if I am doing an edge that really has gotten bad, but even then I usually only use the fine belts.

With all that being said, there is a local guy who runs a side business sharpening knives and he is cheap and damn good at it. I am going to take him a bunch of my not used so often knives and relegate the worksharp only to use on my little rotation of escape knives.

 

[TimboKhan]

Also, let me restate that I have only used the coarse belt once on knives. I did use it to sharpen a shovel and a hoe. See, I bought it to sharpen, but I also bought it because it is versatile and a useful tool. I have used worn out fine belts to shine sockets and wrenches with good success. Fact is, it's a handy little general use grinder with a lot more uses than just sharpening

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Not a great pic, I know...Cheap Kershaw but takes a wicked edge.

Looks good!

 

[MikeJackmin]

My knives only started to get really sharp once it occurred to me that the last phase of sharpening requires very little pressure. Once you're negotiating that last thousandth of an inch of metal, the weight of the blade alone is usually plenty. When using an edgepro, my last strokes will press no more on the blade than (and sometimes less than) the weight of the stone.

I think of it like smoothing the top of a pile of whipped cream.

That said, I rarely go that sharp any more. A slightly toothy edge cuts ordinary things just as well, and it is much easier to maintain. Razors are for shaving and making sushi.

 

[CZ9shooter]

Spyderco Delica4. Sharpened with the Lansky 5 stone system. Then a pasted strop followed by a bare strop. Removes arm hair with ease. I also gave my face a full with-the-grain pass with little discomfort. Didnt try for cross grain or against though.

For scary sharp, the polished portion needs to extend all the way to the tip of the bevel. I do not sharpen it this well everytime. I use ceramic rods at a slightly wider angle for touchups in between.






I dont know... high speed, handheld tools dont seem like a good thing to have around sharp objects. I once saw a picture of a straight razor blade torn nearly in half by a dremel polishing wheel catching the edge.

 

[JohnKSa]

Some say to strop after everything else. Stopping usually has the opposite effect with me... no idea why

If stropping isn't improving your edge (or if it actually seems to be dulling the edge) then the problem is one or both of the following.

1. Applying too much pressure to the blade while stropping. Strops are usually somewhat "mushy" and if you push too hard, the strop material will "snap" back up as the edge of the blade passes over it and that will tend to dull the edge since it's contacting the edge at an angle steeper than the sharpening angle.

2. Holding the blade at too steep an angle while stropping.

Ideally you want to apply miniminal pressure and hold the blade at the precise angle that was used during sharpening. It's not critical to get the angle perfect because the "mushiness" of the strop gives you a little wiggle room. But you really need to be careful not to strop at a steeper angle than you sharpen.

I have never succeed to get a blade arm hair shaving sharp.

If you are having trouble getting a shaving sharp edge using a system that controls the sharpening angle then there's a real problem somewhere.

Some likely points to start looking for the problem.

1. Applying too much pressure during the final stages of sharpening. That will roll the edge over and can even break it off. The pressure applied should be reduced as the process continues. Towards the end of the process you don't need very much pressure at all to put the final edge on the blade.

2. Failing to sharpen the entire bevel of the edge. If the sharpening process is not continued until the entire bevel is ground into the edge, a dull portion will be left at the very edge of the blade. The easiest method of insuring that you are sharpening the entire bevel is learning to feel for a "burr".

3. Inconsistent sharpening angle during the process. This shouldn't be an issue with a sharpening system that controls the sharpening angle, but it is important enough for a mention even so.

The effective sharpening process can be summed up into the following simple steps.

Edge shaping. Metal removal to create an effective edge bevel. May require coarse, aggressive abrasives and significant pressure. If this step is ended with a few passes made using relatively light pressure and alternating sides with each pass, it will create a very functional edge all by itself but won't usually create a shaving sharp edge.

Edge finishing. Insuring that the edge bevel is uniform at a nearly microscopic level. This may take place at a slightly steeper angle than the edge shaping process to avoid having to smooth the entire bevel surface area. It is most effectively done with fine abrasives and light pressure. It is generally desirable to end this process with some time spent alternating sides with each pass. The edge will be shaving sharp after this step if it is performed correctly.

Edge polishing. Minimizing any remaining marks on the edge bevel. This should take place at the same angle as the previous two processes. It must be done with very fine abrasives and very light pressure.

 

[chameleonbear]

I actually don't like my EDC to be polished completely. I have found I get much better results with a knife if I leave it "toothy". For instance my Ka-Bar knives I've gotten from the factory are shaving sharp, but they are finished on an 80 grit wheel. Not only does the edge last longer with that, it also cuts better (in my humble opinion) since the knife has some tooth to it so it digs in while cutting.

That said I have taken a few knives to a mirrored polished edge, but I don't tend to do that anymore. I use a KME guided rod system, and I will usually start with the 120 grit, and finish with the 320 grit stones. Then 5 quick licks per direction on a my strop loaded with green compound just to finish off the burr. This will remove hair from anywhere you please.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

If you want razor sharp and a mirror polished edge, the Wicked Edge does a nice job, especially with the strops and ultra fine ceramic stones:

 

[Valkman]

The Wicked Edge system does do a great job, I am very happy with it, and there's no way I'm using a power tool next to a sharp edge. One rule of knifemaking - never ever work with a sharp edge on any power equipment.