Sharpening Question ?

[Ray Selinger]

When you read the title , it's a Oh No not another sharpening thread, but please bare with me. I use a Viel sander and a jig to get the basic bevel, then a Veritas Mk II jig and waterstones. Right now, on the sander I use a 120grit belt then jump to my my first waterstone, a 700 grit. The two different jigs always leaves a small discrepancy in angles. Jumping that gap I first tried wet/dry ,when sandpaper loses it's bite I change it, otherwise it takes forever. I next tried a DMT 320 diamond stone, the finish came out finer than a 1000grit Norton, since replaced with a Bester. That to me meant a break down of the plate causing more time and effort. My next plan was a 240grit Sigma . This was a waste of money. The stone dished quickly and deeply requiring much time and effort flattening. I've heard the same compliant of the Norton 220grit. Any suggestions ? I'm quite satisfied with both the sander/grinder and my waterstones.

[Prashun Patel]

I also use a hybrid approach. I set my power grinding (on a worksharp) to be at a slightly lower angle than the stones' angle, which means I'm just honing microbevels on the stone. I often go from 150 to 1000 if I'm lazy, and I don't notice a marked increase in finish quality vs. 'grinding' up to 600 before switching to the 1000 stone.

This is to say, why do you need intermediate grits if you're going from a shallow angle on the Viel to a steeper one on MKII?

[Brian Holcombe]

I concur with Prashun, I would use a microbevel since you're using a grinder to set the bevel.

[Ray Selinger]

Never thought of that, good idea.

[David Eisenhauer]

What Prashun and Brian said. For me, most especially on chisels, a quick three-four-five freehand strokes on my finest water stone to refresh the micro bevel and back to work. If you think about it, I imagine one does lots more "refreshing" than "grinding" unless you are rehabbing old blades. For me, once I have rehabbed an old or chipped blade, I don't drop below my 1,000 grit stone and quite frequently just use my 6,000 and 13,000 (if I go that fine).

[Ray Selinger]

Yes, these are fleamarket finds and a patternmakers estate, William M. Marple & Sons , Erik Anton Berg, and some other Swedish makers. I think I have a chisel hangover with it's next day regrets.

[paul cottingham]

I do exactly what you do. A Viel for grinding/shaping initial honing. And I polish on a 10000 grit Japanese stone for a micro bevel. Get great edges that last. And quickly to boot. I also strop, often between sharpenings before I bother repolishing.