I was really curious about using a Scotch-Brite belt for deburring, so I just did the following on the Kally a few minutes ago:
Sharpened using a Cubitron 150 grit belt and created a burr. Here you can see the burr. The black line at the right is a marker line so the same area of the blade could be observed each time:
Did 3 light pressure passes, alternating sides each pass with a blue 3M Scotch-Brite belt. After the Scotch-Brite belt there was still burr, and the blade was not sharp. It would not hang on my fingernail, and it did not feel sharp to my fingers. I didn’t bother to take a sharpness reading.
I examined the edge using a 10X loupe under a good light being careful to shine the light from different angles. Even though there was still remaining bur, I was not able to see with it the loupe. It looked clean. Here is a picture of the blade. The marker line is not visible in the image, but it is just out of frame below and it is the same are of the blade. There is still burr:
So I finished with a leather belt. The leather belt removed the burr. The blade felt sharp, hung on my nail, and final sharpness was 150 gf on the PT50B. I was a little surprised that the Scotch-Brite belt did not dull the edge. While it did not dull it, it did not remove the entire burr either. Here is the final edge with the burr removed using the leather belt:
Conclusions:
The Scotch-Brite belt did diminish the burr.
The Scotch-Brite belt did not remove the entire burr.
The Scotch-Brite belt did not seem to dull the edge.
Interestingly, after the Scotch-Brite belt, I could not see the burr with a 10X loupe. Maybe I should have spent more time at it and looked more carefully.
The blade was obviously sharper after the burr was completely removed using the leather belt.
Unanswered question:
While the Scotch-Brite belt did diminish the burr, I don’t know if it really helped or if it was just an unnecessary step. I could have accomplished the same degree of burr removal by just skipping the Scotch-Brite belt and going straight to the leather belt.
Disclaimer:
This was just one test. It is neither extensive nor conclusive. Nonetheless, that is what happened and what I observed. I guess it's another take from it what you will kind of thing.
Sharpened using a Cubitron 150 grit belt and created a burr. Here you can see the burr. The black line at the right is a marker line so the same area of the blade could be observed each time:
Did 3 light pressure passes, alternating sides each pass with a blue 3M Scotch-Brite belt. After the Scotch-Brite belt there was still burr, and the blade was not sharp. It would not hang on my fingernail, and it did not feel sharp to my fingers. I didn’t bother to take a sharpness reading.
I examined the edge using a 10X loupe under a good light being careful to shine the light from different angles. Even though there was still remaining bur, I was not able to see with it the loupe. It looked clean. Here is a picture of the blade. The marker line is not visible in the image, but it is just out of frame below and it is the same are of the blade. There is still burr:
So I finished with a leather belt. The leather belt removed the burr. The blade felt sharp, hung on my nail, and final sharpness was 150 gf on the PT50B. I was a little surprised that the Scotch-Brite belt did not dull the edge. While it did not dull it, it did not remove the entire burr either. Here is the final edge with the burr removed using the leather belt:
Conclusions:
The Scotch-Brite belt did diminish the burr.
The Scotch-Brite belt did not remove the entire burr.
The Scotch-Brite belt did not seem to dull the edge.
Interestingly, after the Scotch-Brite belt, I could not see the burr with a 10X loupe. Maybe I should have spent more time at it and looked more carefully.
The blade was obviously sharper after the burr was completely removed using the leather belt.
Unanswered question:
While the Scotch-Brite belt did diminish the burr, I don’t know if it really helped or if it was just an unnecessary step. I could have accomplished the same degree of burr removal by just skipping the Scotch-Brite belt and going straight to the leather belt.
Disclaimer:
This was just one test. It is neither extensive nor conclusive. Nonetheless, that is what happened and what I observed. I guess it's another take from it what you will kind of thing.