Hey all, Knife Grinders just released a great video on YouTube about common mistakes and I was hoping to get a little bit of clarification on a few of the points. (Remember I am a brand new user)
First is about heel grinding. Here are a couple of quotes.
- "..the heel gets the least grinding time."
- "..the wheel grinding is to spend less time at the middle and tip of the blade, and more at its heel portion."
These seem like conflicting statements to me. Can someone help me better understand what he is saying here? Should I spend more time on the heel or not?
Also, he goes on to seemingly speak out against pivoting at all and only lifting at the very tip of curved blades to ensure even bevels. Unless I misunderstood.
Finally, concerning raising a burr, since we are not to raise a burr on one side before moving to the other side and instead alternate sides every one or two passes, how do we know when it's time to move onto a finer grit or straight to the strop wheel?
I've been watching his other videos recently by the way and they are great. Truly impressive knowledge base and process in that shop.
The "heel getting the least grinding time" was part of the description of the problem.
You really should pay attention to the heel, and not neccessarily grind "longer" there, but as long as needed.
Quote from: mstocker on March 21, 2020, 08:09:28 PM
Finally, concerning raising a burr, since we are not to raise a burr on one side before moving to the other side and instead alternate sides every one or two passes, how do we know when it's time to move onto a finer grit or straight to the strop wheel?
When you make one pass and you can feel the burr with your finger... and make one pass on the other side and you can feel the burr too, is the time to change the wheel to one with higher grit.
If you do not have one wheel with higher grit, is the time to pass the honing wheel.
Rergards
If you are sharpening at the same angle the knife already has it does not take much to raise a burr. You gain nothing by continuing to grind making a larger burr. I use a magnifying loupe to view the burr before I can feel it. This makes honing much easier. This also minimizes metal loss of material with each sharpening. As soon as the burr appears on the second side you are ready for a finer grit and then hone.