Here is another shot of the blade as I left it last night after the 20 edge-leading strokes:



I cleaned up the edge again with the .25um kangaroo strops, 20 strokes per side. Again I'm impressed by how well it works. Here is that picture:



I then went on to edge-leading with the .6um Micro-Fine Stones using ultra-light pressure. My technique was to just rest the stone on the blade and let gravity pull it down and using my hand to guide the direction and speed so I wasn't applying any force in the direction of the blade. Here it is after 5 strokes:



Here it is after 20 strokes with ultralight pressure:



and another 20 strokes with firm pressure:

wickededge wrote:


Haha... I do forget the magnification we're looking at these sometimes...

I'm looking at them this a.m. on a big screen tv. (god bless modern technology).

Now I'm wondering if it's possible, to take a shot of the edge looking straight down... to see if that shows any differences between the edge trailing vs. edge leading edges?

cbwx34 wrote:


Funny you should mention that - I was just working on it this morning and modified my jig to allow the blade to sit up vertically under the scope. It's hard to find the edge but once I do, I can focus on it fairly well. I did some measurements and got and edge thickness of between .45um and .29um with the Mirco-Fine .6 stones at 28 degrees.

Clay, What angle did you use to clean up the edge with the 'roo and then what angle did you use with the 0.6um micro-fine ceramics?

Thanks,

Ralph

wickededge wrote:

wickededge wrote:


Cool. These would be interesting to see as well.

It might be worth mentioning... this may be old news to those who have been involved in sharpening for a while, but if you're new you might not know this... that there is some debate over which method leaves a better edge, trailing or leading. There is differences in the type of burr formed, how the burr is removed and the edge it leaves, whether or not edge leading "smashes" the edge into the abrasive particles preventing it from ever getting sharp, and other factors. Many sharpeners base their whole method on these ideas, and while most seem to make common sense (on either side of the issue), little has been done to actually prove or disprove the "facts". So, while it's hard to draw conclusions from just a few photos, over time, this could prove to be very beneficial.

Hey Ralph,

I have the sharpener set at 25 degrees for the .6um and 30 for the for the roo strops.

RalphHoneycutt wrote:

Clay, For some reason I was expecting the opposite. With the roo strops at 30 deg, would it not roll the edge over? ... and with the 0.6um at 25 deg, I would have expected it to cut somewhere on the shoulder and not the edge. I think I am missing something.

Thanks,

Ralph

Ralph, you're right I just goofed up my answer. I stropped with the roo at 25 and used the .6 ceramics at 30! Thanks for catching it.

RalphHoneycutt wrote:

Bumping this up. Have some questions here (actually searched the forum rather than starting a new thread).

1.) Does anyone have feedback on best performance (sharpness, edge quality) of leading vs. trailing.

2.) Does anyone do both leading and trailing? I was trying 5 each, then finishing 1 each way. After looking at Clay's photos, would alternating leading/trailing stokes clean up the burr on the bevel and the edge?

3.) Feedback on direction - tip to heel or vice versa? Do you roll the tip less by going tip to heel? (or do I just need more practice?) I did find the mixing tip => heel and heel => tip seems very rough, like going against the grain. Or is this good? Does switching directions get the scratches out or just make more/worse?