I really appreciate this conversation about toothy edges!
I thought I had found happiness with a 180 grit Deer ceramic belt. It produced a pretty toothy edge but after only a few knives it seemed to really smooth out.
Yesterday I sharpened a blade with a new 80 grit SC belt. It cut the steel great and produced a wonderful, very toothy edge, but was very difficult to get deburred. I tested the blade by pulling it through plastic/nylon bailer twine. I like that stuff to test with because a non-toothy edge, unless it is super sharp, just rides on the plastic. The 80 grit edge dug right in and cut the twine in about ¼ of the blade length as I pulled it through the loop of twine, while a 180 grit finished edge took most of the blade length.
My experience with SC belts is that they cut exceptionally when new, but don’t last long at all and soon get smooth. I was hoping the ceramic Deer belt would last longer and it did, but not that much longer. I notice that Deer makes a ceramic belt for high pressure grinding and they say it takes a lot of pressure to fracture the crystals.
With ceramic belts, is fracturing the crystals good? Does that keep it sharp, or do I want a very hard to fracture tougher ceramic? Will Zirc belts stay sharper longer? I don’t know the difference between ceramic and Zirc. Much to learn still.
Mr. Mark queried, “Mr. Grepper, have you found a balancing point between maximum tooth and minimum refinement for day to day use and maintenance sharpening?”
To answer your question Mr. Mark, basically no. Not yet. But I was really happy with the 80 grit edge! Now I’m thinking maybe about 120-150 grit may be what I’m looking for. I keep going for a coarser and coarser grit. 80 seems a bit rough and 180 grit not really coarse enough. I suspect one reason I like such a coarse abrasive is because I use such light belt pressure when I sharpen.
Your question combining max tooth and minimum refinement for day to day maintenance is a difficult one. It's that day to day maintenance part that makes the question difficult! I'm still just trying to get maximum tooth!
I'll have to figure out the second part later.
What I do know however is that for general use, anything that requires slicing, an edge with good tooth seems to really outperform a smooth edge. If I could only find belts that stayed sharp longer!
I thought I had found happiness with a 180 grit Deer ceramic belt. It produced a pretty toothy edge but after only a few knives it seemed to really smooth out.
Yesterday I sharpened a blade with a new 80 grit SC belt. It cut the steel great and produced a wonderful, very toothy edge, but was very difficult to get deburred. I tested the blade by pulling it through plastic/nylon bailer twine. I like that stuff to test with because a non-toothy edge, unless it is super sharp, just rides on the plastic. The 80 grit edge dug right in and cut the twine in about ¼ of the blade length as I pulled it through the loop of twine, while a 180 grit finished edge took most of the blade length.
My experience with SC belts is that they cut exceptionally when new, but don’t last long at all and soon get smooth. I was hoping the ceramic Deer belt would last longer and it did, but not that much longer. I notice that Deer makes a ceramic belt for high pressure grinding and they say it takes a lot of pressure to fracture the crystals.
With ceramic belts, is fracturing the crystals good? Does that keep it sharp, or do I want a very hard to fracture tougher ceramic? Will Zirc belts stay sharper longer? I don’t know the difference between ceramic and Zirc. Much to learn still.
Mr. Mark queried, “Mr. Grepper, have you found a balancing point between maximum tooth and minimum refinement for day to day use and maintenance sharpening?”
To answer your question Mr. Mark, basically no. Not yet. But I was really happy with the 80 grit edge! Now I’m thinking maybe about 120-150 grit may be what I’m looking for. I keep going for a coarser and coarser grit. 80 seems a bit rough and 180 grit not really coarse enough. I suspect one reason I like such a coarse abrasive is because I use such light belt pressure when I sharpen.
Your question combining max tooth and minimum refinement for day to day maintenance is a difficult one. It's that day to day maintenance part that makes the question difficult! I'm still just trying to get maximum tooth!
I'll have to figure out the second part later.What I do know however is that for general use, anything that requires slicing, an edge with good tooth seems to really outperform a smooth edge. If I could only find belts that stayed sharp longer!