What's A Good Wheel Progression?

[darita]

I have T8, an SG250, a Fine Diamond wheel, 1K CBN wheel and 2 rock hard felt wheels, along with two OEM leather strops.  My goal is to be able to get an edge that will get Bess readings at least between 50 and 100.  What progression will get me there and please include strops?  Most of my experience has been with WE and TSProf and I regularly get in the 50 to 80 Bess with the latter.  I know there will be a learning curve with technique, but I at least want to be working with the right wheels, grits and strops.  Thanks for the help.

[cbwx34]

I have T8, an SG250, a Fine Diamond wheel, 1K CBN wheel and 2 rock hard felt wheels, along with two OEM leather strops.  My goal is to be able to get an edge that will get Bess readings at least between 50 and 100.  What progression will get me there and please include strops?  Most of my experience has been with WE and TSProf and I regularly get in the 50 to 80 Bess with the latter.  I know there will be a learning curve with technique, but I at least want to be working with the right wheels, grits and strops.  Thanks for the help.

I copied this from a Knifegrinders page (I added the bold print)...

Al from New Zealand sharpens knives by means of Tormek, the stock SG wheel (aluminium oxide) and leather wheel with the Tormek honing paste.
The knife on the photo has been sharpened at 10 dps on the SG wheel, and considering that the steel it is made of produces a burr "in-between" positive and negative, honed on the leather wheel at 11.5 dps, as per our deburring recommendations.
Near razor sharp (Gillette razors score 50 on this sharpness tester), and the apex is cleanly deburred of any wire edge.

You should be able to achieve what you want with just the basic setup?

There's other examples on the page of different methods though...  http://knifegrinders.com.au/insane_sharp.htm ... although many are below 50 BESS.  (That's probably when you need to start adding other equipment).

[Ken S]

I regard Wootz (Vadim of Knife Grinders) very highly. He made some very informative videos. One of my favorites is the one he did sharpening a knife with SG-250 and the Tormek leather wheel. His sharpness was BESS 75, very respectable. The basic Tormek set up should satisfy your 50 to 100 BESS range. Here is a link:

https://youtu.be/UckPmizllk0

Ken

[darita]

I regard Wootz (Vadim of Knife Grinders) very highly. He made some very informative videos. One of my favorites is the one he did sharpening a knife with SG-250 and the Tormek leather wheel. His sharpness was BESS 75, very respectable. The basic Tormek set up should satisfy your 50 to 100 BESS range. Here is a link:

https://youtu.be/UckPmizllk0

Ken

Thanks.  I too have watched several of his videos, even before I decided to go heavily into Tormek.  He is the reason I decided to upgrade from a SG 2K and get set up with a new T8.  I guess I should have said that 50 Bess is my short term goal, however sub-50s is really where I want to be, consistently.  I've only gotten there a couple of times with the TSProf. 

[cbwx34]

Thanks.  I too have watched several of his videos, even before I decided to go heavily into Tormek.  He is the reason I decided to upgrade from a SG 2K and get set up with a new T8.  I guess I should have said that 50 Bess is my short term goal, however sub-50s is really where I want to be, consistently.  I've only gotten there a couple of times with the TSProf.

I'm not a BESS user, but based on this post it looks like your goal will be angle dependent.

[darita]

Thanks.  I too have watched several of his videos, even before I decided to go heavily into Tormek.  He is the reason I decided to upgrade from a SG 2K and get set up with a new T8.  I guess I should have said that 50 Bess is my short term goal, however sub-50s is really where I want to be, consistently.  I've only gotten there a couple of times with the TSProf.

I'm not a BESS user, but based on this post it looks like your goal will be angle dependent.

Thank you so much for pointing out this post.  It helps me to understand and see the limitations of the Bess test.  That said, I do all my folders at 15 dps and have realized edge sharpness down below 50 Bess, on occasion.  I'm sure some of that can be based on the thickness of the blade and how well I was able to remove the burr.  Equipment and grit-wise, I want to make sure I have what I need to get the best edge I can get, burr-free.  That's why I'm asking, what is the wheel and strop progression I need to achieve this, right down to diamond spray or no.  I know how I can get there with my TSProf and it took me a while to realize the equipment I needed, by trial and error.  I'm just trying to avoid a lot of wasted $ spent on stuff that I didn't need and the wasted time it took to know what I did need.  My hope is that I'll be able to tap into the experience and knowledge here, to guide me to the right purchases and help me to avoid a lot of wasted time.

[cbwx34]

Thank you so much for pointing out this post.  It helps me to understand and see the limitations of the Bess test.  That said, I do all my folders at 15 dps and have realized edge sharpness down below 50 Bess, on occasion.  I'm sure some of that can be based on the thickness of the blade and how well I was able to remove the burr.  Equipment and grit-wise, I want to make sure I have what I need to get the best edge I can get, burr-free.  That's why I'm asking, what is the wheel and strop progression I need to achieve this, right down to diamond spray or no.  I know how I can get there with my TSProf and it took me a while to realize the equipment I needed, by trial and error.  I'm just trying to avoid a lot of wasted $ spent on stuff that I didn't need and the wasted time it took to know what I did need.  My hope is that I'll be able to tap into the experience and knowledge here, to guide me to the right purchases and help me to avoid a lot of wasted time.

Just from watching the KG videos, it seems the only thing he adds to what you have already is paper wheels with Chromium Oxide to significantly lower the BESS score (from 70s to 50s).

And you will need a diamond spray(s) for the felt.

(Ok. I'll butt out now).   

[3D Anvil]

I'm not a BESS user, but based on this post it looks like your goal will be angle dependent.

It's definitely easier to achieve lower BESS scores with lower angles, but Wootz himself was able to achieve a BESS result of 22 with a 15 dps angle on a folding knife, demonstrated in his 3-part video series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFHOXdQQwYw

I don't know if his deburring book is still available, after his unfortunate passing, but if it is, that would be the go-to source for achieving these kinds of extremely low BESS scores.  Or start here:
http://knifegrinders.com.au/06Procedures_folder.htm

Deburring protocols are the key to achieving those kinds of scores.

[darita]

I do have the Deburring book, but thanks for mentioning it, as I'll have reread it...several times.  There's so much information in it, the first time I read it, lots of it went over my little head/brain.  In the videos that I watched, everything was done on Tormek, so I really don't want to get into paper wheels.  That would open a whole 'nother can 'O worms.  Maybe some day.