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#11

General Tormek Questions / Re: Burr removal.....the bane ...

Last post by Rossy66 - April 29, 2026, 04:36:30 PM

It may be due to the steel used in some less expensive knives. These knives are extremely hard to sharpen to a fine edge; the burr essentially changes sides when you try and hone it.

Agree. In my experience "cheap knives" often means:
- non-ideal steel chemistry and/or
- non-ideal heat treatment protocols and/or
- non-ideal hardened steel structure at the edge and/or
- lower than ideal hardness (sub 60 HRC).

This all shows up at the burr. These burrs tend to be soft and "gummy", flopping from side-to-side, refusing to cut off cleanly. This results in incomplete deburring, sub-par fine edge and bad edge longevity.

It is striking how easily properly heat treated but hard pocket-knife steels deburr in comparison. Steels like CPM-SPY27 (@62 HRC), CPM-Magnacut (@64 HRC), CPM-15V (@67 HRC) etc. Almost no effort required.

I have noticed that when controlled honing, sometimes I see super fine bits of metal flying off the edge which I assume is part of the burr but I don't see that on all knives I sharpen so I have been relying on pulling the edge across my nail which seems to work most of the time.

#12

General Tormek Questions / Re: Burr removal.....the bane ...

Last post by Rossy66 - April 29, 2026, 04:32:20 PM

In my experience, the composite wheel has less feedback than the leather wheel with the compound. Still, John's advice is excellent advice.

When honing with the composite wheel, I prefer to add a few drops of water or the friction feels too high. Also, to be honest I don't think your edge will roll over due to the angle being (reasonably) too high, or the pressure being a (reasonable) bit too high. What I found is I tended to be apply a more constant pressure and moving more slowly when using a jig, therefore being much more efficient.

You may learn a lot by conducting a few experiments :
- If you hone a knife freehand, test it, then hone it righ afterwards at a controlled angle, then retest it : does sharpness increase ? If yes, you are not dulling the edge freehand, you are not honing efficiently.
- If you do it the other way around, does sharpness decrease ? If yes, you may be misjudging your honing angle *a lot* when freehanding. Using a sharpie might help.

You could also confirm your findings by looking at your edge under a microscope after freehanding : do you see a burr ? Does cutting a taunt nylon wire (BESS or DIY) leave a dent in the edge ? Those would confirm that freehand honing is not efficient, or not enough.


Also, honing with a jig but not honing enough might be just what it takes for the knife to feel sharp when testing it on a sheet of paper. But there will still be a burr. If you don't hone enough freehand, the burr will be there but will not have such a consistent angle, so it will not feel as sharp. I feel that I have to hone for a longer time when using the composite wheel compared to the leather wheel.

Some great points and I will be doing those tests this afternoon. The sharpie idea is fantastic and I can't believe I didn't think of that. I have a microscope in my sharpening van but it was to see any any small chips and at 60 years old, my eyes are not as good as they once were so I will use it to check the findings.

#13

General Tormek Questions / Re: Burr removal.....the bane ...

Last post by Brock O Lee - April 29, 2026, 03:45:56 PM

It may be due to the steel used in some less expensive knives. These knives are extremely hard to sharpen to a fine edge; the burr essentially changes sides when you try and hone it.

Agree. In my experience "cheap knives" often means:
- non-ideal steel chemistry and/or
- non-ideal heat treatment protocols and/or
- non-ideal hardened steel structure at the edge and/or
- lower than ideal hardness (sub 60 HRC).

This all shows up at the burr. These burrs tend to be soft and "gummy", flopping from side-to-side, refusing to cut off cleanly. This results in incomplete deburring, sub-par fine edge and bad edge longevity.

It is striking how easily properly heat treated but hard pocket-knife steels deburr in comparison. Steels like CPM-SPY27 (@62 HRC), CPM-Magnacut (@64 HRC), CPM-15V (@67 HRC) etc. Almost no effort required.

#14

General Tormek Questions / Re: Good Light

Last post by Brock O Lee - April 29, 2026, 03:25:33 PM

Agree, I use a Olight Perun 3 headlamp, on full brightness.

#15

Knife Sharpening / Re: How to achieve less than 1...

Last post by Brock O Lee - April 29, 2026, 02:01:36 PM

This was a good result on our Spyderco kitchen knives the other day. They all scored around 70-80 BESS if I remember correctly.

T8 with SG-250, stropped on Tormek paste on leather wheel.







This Spyderco Temperance fixed blade in CPM-Cruwear got the diamond wheels, up to extra fine. Stropped on a leather wheel with 1 micron diamond spray.





I have found that it is much easier to get low BESS scores when I sharpen at low angles (sub-15 dps). In my experience diamond stones tend to produce lower scores than the SG-250, and higher grit finishes (1000+) produce lower scores than lower grit finishes.

I used to chase BESS scores initially. It is a good tool to measure progress while you develop a technique. After a while I got too lazy to fire up the BESS tester, but I still do occasionally. In my experience you quickly get a feel for a sharp burr-free edge by how effortlessly it glides through phone book or cigarette paper, you don't even need to test.

#16

Knife Sharpening / Re: Knife modification - Spyde...

Last post by Brock O Lee - April 29, 2026, 01:30:18 PM

That regrind looks like a professional job. Respect!

#17

Knife Sharpening / How to sharpen the inline awl ...

Last post by Brock O Lee - April 29, 2026, 12:19:44 PM

This week I found an effective way to sharpen the inline awl on the Victorinox Swiss Army 93mm alox models, like the Pioneer.

I've mangled my fair share of inline awls over the last 25+ years. Both while using them, and while attempting to resharpen them, freehand and with jigs... So this feels like a long overdue victory...

I use a Tormek T8 with:
- multi base (to run the wheel edge trailing)
- extended universal support (to get the steep angle)
- small knife holder jig (to clamp the SAK's body)
- SG-250 grinding wheel, of which I rounded the corners with a cheap diamond plate (rounded corners to match the round termination of the awl's cutting edge near the pivot)



How:
- adjust the grinding angle to match the existing angle of the awl's cutting edge
- run the wheel away from the edge (edge trailing)
- cut a new edge
- I deburred with a Spyderco Ultrafine triangle stone
- finish with a light stropping (I did not use the Tormek here)

The result looks pretty much exactly like the factory edge, in the eye of this beholder...



I've now fixed the awls of several old alox Soldiers and Pioneers. Most were bought second hand, and needed some tender loving care.

#18

General Tormek Questions / Re: Burr removal.....the bane ...

Last post by tgbto - April 29, 2026, 09:52:43 AM

In my experience, the composite wheel has less feedback than the leather wheel with the compound. Still, John's advice is excellent advice.

When honing with the composite wheel, I prefer to add a few drops of water or the friction feels too high. Also, to be honest I don't think your edge will roll over due to the angle being (reasonably) too high, or the pressure being a (reasonable) bit too high. What I found is I tended to be apply a more constant pressure and moving more slowly when using a jig, therefore being much more efficient.

You may learn a lot by conducting a few experiments :
- If you hone a knife freehand, test it, then hone it righ afterwards at a controlled angle, then retest it : does sharpness increase ? If yes, you are not dulling the edge freehand, you are not honing efficiently.
- If you do it the other way around, does sharpness decrease ? If yes, you may be misjudging your honing angle *a lot* when freehanding. Using a sharpie might help.

You could also confirm your findings by looking at your edge under a microscope after freehanding : do you see a burr ? Does cutting a taunt nylon wire (BESS or DIY) leave a dent in the edge ? Those would confirm that freehand honing is not efficient, or not enough.


Also, honing with a jig but not honing enough might be just what it takes for the knife to feel sharp when testing it on a sheet of paper. But there will still be a burr. If you don't hone enough freehand, the burr will be there but will not have such a consistent angle, so it will not feel as sharp. I feel that I have to hone for a longer time when using the composite wheel compared to the leather wheel.

#19

General Tormek Questions / Re: Burr removal.....the bane ...

Last post by Rossy66 - April 29, 2026, 05:25:25 AM

It takes practice. I judge the angle by starting low then raising the angle until I feel it grip. Too high and it will definitely round over.

If you use too little compound then it will stop cutting the steel and just rub it. You only need a small amount but you need to apply it often. Every couple of knives I find is best. The idea is that the compound is just on the surface of the wheel. The particles quickly wear smooth, so you need to re-apply often to keep god sharp particles.

Finally, don't apply too much pressure. If the compound is fresh then it will do the job for you. If it is not then you can be tempted to apply too much pressure thus causing your round over.

Practice these skills and you will go much faster with time.

Thanks, I have the composit wheel so no compound but thanks for the advice

#20

General Tormek Questions / Re: Burr removal.....the bane ...

Last post by John Hancock Sr - April 29, 2026, 03:34:35 AM

It takes practice. I judge the angle by starting low then raising the angle until I feel it grip. Too high and it will definitely round over.

If you use too little compound then it will stop cutting the steel and just rub it. You only need a small amount but you need to apply it often. Every couple of knives I find is best. The idea is that the compound is just on the surface of the wheel. The particles quickly wear smooth, so you need to re-apply often to keep god sharp particles.

Finally, don't apply too much pressure. If the compound is fresh then it will do the job for you. If it is not then you can be tempted to apply too much pressure thus causing your round over.

Practice these skills and you will go much faster with time.