I've found that 120 grit is just too gnarly. Because I enjoy a toothy edge I've played with down to 40 grit and have found that below 150 becomes problematic. I know you said "well worn" but FWIW that's my experience.
Looking at your images I see obvious LOW which will drastically reduce sharpness where LOW exists. The yellow arrow in the image looks to be free of LOW, but the red arrows show where it exists. See the difference? LOW is present on both your images.
Give the blade a few more light passes on the Scotch-Brite. That's where the SB belt shines. It is can actually remove it. Too much SB will dull the edge so it takes a bit of practice but it does work and if you figure it out it works well. It can grab onto that crap and lift it off the bevel.
Then give it a couple of light passes with the rough side of a leather belt. You may find the sharpness numbers drop by 100 points or more. I haven't taken the time to figure out exactly why the leather works so well, but it can and does. Maybe it's removing existing burr and cleaning the edge or maybe straightening the edge or maybe both.
I am not seeking sub 100 sharpness and anything 100-150 is fine. You know, edges less than 150 are so thin they won't be that way after chopping even a couple of carrots, so anything in that range is fine with me. For me the simple procedure of sharpening with a 150 Cubitron, deburr with Scotch-Brite and finish with a few passes on leather routinely produces edges in that range and generally closer to 100.
While it's interesting and fun, I no longer chase super sharp edges because they don't last with even a little use. I try to make a useful edge. I really like sharp, but super sharp to me is more of a challenge and hobby than sharpening for practical use.
A fun exercise is to get an edge just as sharp as you possible can. Take 4 or 5 sharpness readings and then let the knife sit overnight without using it. Then the next day, take sharpness readings again. Automagically it will be considerable duller. Then let it sit abound for a week and do the same. You will probably be surprised by the results.
Please see: http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?t...84#pid3684
I would be interested in hear your results after finishing the edge with the leather belt and any thoughts you may have on why it works.
Looking at your images I see obvious LOW which will drastically reduce sharpness where LOW exists. The yellow arrow in the image looks to be free of LOW, but the red arrows show where it exists. See the difference? LOW is present on both your images.
Give the blade a few more light passes on the Scotch-Brite. That's where the SB belt shines. It is can actually remove it. Too much SB will dull the edge so it takes a bit of practice but it does work and if you figure it out it works well. It can grab onto that crap and lift it off the bevel.
Then give it a couple of light passes with the rough side of a leather belt. You may find the sharpness numbers drop by 100 points or more. I haven't taken the time to figure out exactly why the leather works so well, but it can and does. Maybe it's removing existing burr and cleaning the edge or maybe straightening the edge or maybe both.
I am not seeking sub 100 sharpness and anything 100-150 is fine. You know, edges less than 150 are so thin they won't be that way after chopping even a couple of carrots, so anything in that range is fine with me. For me the simple procedure of sharpening with a 150 Cubitron, deburr with Scotch-Brite and finish with a few passes on leather routinely produces edges in that range and generally closer to 100.
While it's interesting and fun, I no longer chase super sharp edges because they don't last with even a little use. I try to make a useful edge. I really like sharp, but super sharp to me is more of a challenge and hobby than sharpening for practical use.
A fun exercise is to get an edge just as sharp as you possible can. Take 4 or 5 sharpness readings and then let the knife sit overnight without using it. Then the next day, take sharpness readings again. Automagically it will be considerable duller. Then let it sit abound for a week and do the same. You will probably be surprised by the results.
Please see: http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?t...84#pid3684
I would be interested in hear your results after finishing the edge with the leather belt and any thoughts you may have on why it works.