Sharper than ever

[Rolf Safferthal]

Got a new toy!

An 8000 man made Cerax water stone for honing the blades of my planes and the chisels. Gave it a first try on a smoothing plane.

Currently I'm on a sandpaper-on-trued-stone-plate-trip, using 320-600-1000 grids (European!) for grinding. Until now honing was done with a man made oil stone claimed to have an 6000 grid. Maybe! I use the Veritas Mk. II honing guide.

This is what I experienced:
The blade was treated as every time, 25° bevel angle and a micro bevel of 27° - 1/32 inch wide. I use the Veritas Mk. II Honing Guide.

Grinding on the sandpapers - both sides face and bevel, then honing both sides on the new water stone. The stone cuts very aggressive for such a fine grid, produces a polished surface with only a few strokes.

But the feeling of the edge was wrong - anyhow! Slipping my fingertip from the face over the edge onto the bevel did not produce the usual sense of sharpness! What went wrong?

Back onto the 1000 paper, then the old oil stone. The usual feeling was back! Hm! Again back onto the 1000 paper and then the 8000. Same "smooth but dull" feeling as before.

Tried to cut my forearm's hair and - hey - it was literally flying away. The blade must be quite sharp!

So the blade went into the plane, was set for a light cut and I tried it on European Beech. What a wonderful result! A smooth, silky surface you always only read about in textbooks! Sensational - for me!

For my level of experience this stone is expensive but worth every single Cent!

[Hans Braul]

I think the "sharp" feeling you were expecting is actually caused by a very slight burr. When you get the blade really supersharp, that burr goes away and it doesn't "feel" as sharp. Ask the beech wood if it's sharp, and you get a different answer.

Cheers
Hans

[Hank Knight]

The "sharp" feeling you experience with knives, chisels, etc. comes from the "tooth" or tiny serrations left by a relatively coarse stone. They catch your skin slightly and give the impression that the blade is "sharp." A really sharp edge still has serrations, but they are so small that they don't catch. The edge feels smooth, almost "oily." Your finger is not the best test; you don't realize it's sharp until you start bleeding. Look at the edge under a bright light, or better yet, under light with some magnification. If you see any light reflection off the edge, you're not here yet; go back to the stone.

Cheers,

Hank

[Rolf Safferthal]

The edge feels smooth, almost "oily."

That's it - oily!

Basically I thought in the same direction - the small defiencies along the edge must have decreased in size and I can`t feel them anymore. But at first glance it is surprising - at least a bit.

Thanks for mentioning the bright light - I use it as a test regularly. Taken this as a measure my blades were previously sharp too.

Bye

Rolf