How toothy do you leave the finished edge?
I use magnifying loupes whenI sharpen and my finished edge is usually kind of polished grind marks. That is, I am pretty aggressive on the leather wheel and leave a polished bevel that is shiny but not perfectly smooth. The fine marks are polished out.
If I am trying to get a special kind of sharp, I will spend quite a bit of time on the hard strop and get it smooth under 4x magnification. Under 1000x it is probably still a ragged edge. This edge is very sharp for test cutting but is slippery in normal use.
I get a straight razor as smooth and polished as I possibly can. 12000 water stone.
One of the best working edges is a well burnished edge left from proper use of a smooth knife steel. It is a long lived consistent cutter. That has got to be raggedy as anything. I grind my kitchen knives maybe once a year and steel them every time I use them. And they cut.
But I don't understand why. The fine polish is sharper but the toothy edge cuts better.
What do you do?
I use magnifying loupes whenI sharpen and my finished edge is usually kind of polished grind marks. That is, I am pretty aggressive on the leather wheel and leave a polished bevel that is shiny but not perfectly smooth. The fine marks are polished out.
If I am trying to get a special kind of sharp, I will spend quite a bit of time on the hard strop and get it smooth under 4x magnification. Under 1000x it is probably still a ragged edge. This edge is very sharp for test cutting but is slippery in normal use.
I get a straight razor as smooth and polished as I possibly can. 12000 water stone.
One of the best working edges is a well burnished edge left from proper use of a smooth knife steel. It is a long lived consistent cutter. That has got to be raggedy as anything. I grind my kitchen knives maybe once a year and steel them every time I use them. And they cut.
But I don't understand why. The fine polish is sharper but the toothy edge cuts better.
What do you do?