Sharpening - dealing with the wire edge.

[Jim Koepke]

Don't over think this issue of sharpening. If you had 15 woodworker in a class, there would probably be 15 different
ways of sharpening.

And many of them would have alternate methods they use at times.

jtk

[david charlesworth]

My habit is to get a small wire edge on an 800g stone at say 30 or 33 degrees.

Then make about 4 gentle polishing strokes on a 10,000g stone having raised the angle by about 2 degrees. This just means shortening Eclipse projection by a 2-3mm.

If it is a plane blade, I use ruler trick on back maybe 20 very short strokes (10,000 stone). Chisels of course are kept completely flat. There is a short clip of this on my You Tube channel)

If I see any trace of a wire edge after wiping and drying, something has gone wrong!! (And I might repeat). But this happens very rarely.

Persistent wire edges are a throwback to the bad old days of "coarse and fine oilstones).

Best wishes,

David

[Patrick Chase]

Persistent wire edges are a throwback to the bad old days of "coarse and fine oilstones).

Them's fightin' words in some circles.

Seriously though, you raise an important point: Sharper and cleaner-cutting abrasives generally deform the steel less than ones with more rounded grains (or than softer abrasives with more tendency to go blunt), and leave smaller burrs or wire edges when all else is equal. In my experience alumina as in your waterstones leaves less of a burr than Silica on most steels, and diamond leaves the least of all. This is not to say that one is "better" than the other - sharper-cutting abrasives come with downsides as well (specifically, deeper/sharper scratches which may or may not impact edge life depending on the steel and who you ask).

The steel also matters though, with tougher/softer steels being more prone to deformation and burr formation than harder and more brittle ones. I like my various Narex chisels quite a bit, but that austempered Bainitic steel is tougher and chewier than most martensitic tool steels, and it's definitely more burr-prone. Of course that same toughness also makes it very tolerant of heavy [ab]use.

[steven c newman]

Same here..IF I do see a wire edge flaking away....means I have to keep going, as the edge is now duller than when I started....sometimes a small burr will show up. Used to see them wire edges....not much anymore.

[lowell holmes]

I keep a diamond hone out on the bench along with rawhide on a wood strip of wood. The rawhide is charged with green sharpening compound.
The hone leaves a slight burr which the raw hide strop removes.
I learned to do this from Paul Sellers at Homestead Heritage in Waco Texas.
My edges are razor sharp.

[Warren Mickley]

. Persistent wire edges are a throwback to the bad old days of "coarse and fine oilstones). Best wishes, David

When I read stuff like this it makes me think the writer has little feel for how an oil stone works.

[Patrick Chase]

When I read stuff like this it makes me think the writer has little feel for how an oil stone works.

Can we all just agree that an experienced WWer can get terrific results from any of the aforementioned abrasives and move along?

I don't think it should be a controversial observation that sharper-cutting abrasives cause less plastic deformation than "rounder" ones. Like everything in life it's a tradeoff with both good (potentially cleaner edge off the stone) and bad (sharper/deeper scratches) consequences. It should be no surprise that the very same property that makes natural oilstones "gentler" also causes them to deform the metal more.

IMO reasonable people can disagree as to which is "best".

[Stewie Simpson]

It should be no surprise that the very same property that makes natural oilstones "gentler" also causes them to deform the metal more

.

I will leave that comment for Warren to answer.

[Warren Mickley]

<p>

. IMO reasonable people can disagree as to which is &quot;best&quot;.

I would like to point out that I did not disparage anybody else&#39;s method, but someon did disparage my method. I can&#39;t believe this escaped your notice.&nbsp;</p>

[Prashun Patel]

Everyone:

Let's not further the disparagement debate.

We should all be able to endure criticism of the content of our posts. But be careful that it isn't a veiled attack on a person's ability or knowledge. There are ways to object amicably. You know it when you write it, and we all know it when we read it. So please abide.