Hello everybody- me again. As many of you suggested, I%u2019ve read back through the forums looking for anything about trailing edge honing techniques, and have learned a ton. And yes, I probably have too much free time on my hands... there%u2019s a lot of information out there. I still have some questions, however.
This is what I%u2019ve gleaned thus far. It seems the minimum wallet hurty process that yields better results then my current setup would be:
SG200 @220 %u2014> SG200 @1000 %u2014> SJ250 @4000 %u2014> the KG rock hard felt wheel with the FVB & software using controlled angle honing with the 1u diamond spray.
What a mouthful. In regards to the felt wheel- due to the special qualities of the felt, I think the recommended honing angle is one to one and a half degrees steeper then normal, which removes the burr %u201Cat the source.%u201D I could also be entirely incorrect about all of this.
There are so many different recommendations and techniques bouncing around in my overstuffed brain that I wanted to run this by the experts before taking the plunge.
I%u2019d probably still use the sg200 on the T4 I have now for a bit before getting the SG250, if at all. I find that most of the time, the 220 grit isn%u2019t even necessary. So I%u2019d essentially be using the t4 for rougher grinding up to 1k, and then the t8 for 4k and the felt wheel.
One last note- I keep seeing japanese water stones made by "sun tiger japan." Anybody have any experience with these?
Does this make sense thus far? Any glaringly obvious mistakes/mixups?
My opinion, I would practice and become proficient with the standard SG stone and leather wheel before investing further in a Japanese stone and the felt wheel. I would get the FVB and one of the computer programs. If you are interested in improving your throughput I would get another USB, preferably the US-430. I have invested in a second leather wheel and use 1ยต diamond spray. I have been very pleased with the few knives I have done using the second wheel as a last step.
With the standard stone and leather wheel you can achieve s very high level of sharpness in the BESS sub 100 range. When commercial knives out of the box are in the 250-300 range I have yet to find a customer that is not astounded with the knives I return to them.
Thank you for the info, good to know.