Toothiness

[B Sharp]

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?

[cbwx34]

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?

May want to take a look at these threads...

Kitchen Knives:  Toothy Edge vs. Polished Edge

Coarse vs. Fine Grind and Edge Retention

... for a starting point.