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Welcome To The Edge Retention Forum
#1
Welcome to the Edge Retention Pages! After a great start its time to begin some serious discussion. We have all spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out how to make an edge sharp but here we will swap hats and try to discover what makes them dull. In some ways sharpening knives is like making a living and as my dear Dad used to say "It's not how much money you make, its how much you keep." That's pretty much what we would all like to do with a sharp knife edge, hang on to it as long as we can. Of course, edge retention discussions are not limited to knife edges. All of our woodworking and industrial customers have a stake in this as well so everyone is invited to participate.
 
If you have visited the SHARP PAD pages on this Exchange you may be aware of the fact that we are currently building a test stand that will be capable of standardizing many of the test parameters associated with edge retention testing. This test stand, working in conjunction with our edge sharpness test instrumentation, will make for a powerful  team of discovery. The new test stand will be capable of gradually indexing a sharpened edge across the length of a long cylinder as the cylinder is rotated. Rotational speed and direction, and test duration will be adjustable as will the impingement pressure of the edge on the cylinder surface. The surface of the cylinder can present nearly any surface condition we want it to. Hard or soft, smooth or abrasive. We would very much like to make this project a BESS Exchange member project as opposed to an EOU project so how should this first test cylinder be configured?
 
Most testing begins with a premise. For example, when we apply our pressure gauge to a car tire valve stem we have an expectation that some positive level of air pressure exists inside the tire. The test conclusion we are seeking is simply “how much”? With edge retention testing we will be degrading edges with the expectation that their BESS numbers will rise commensurate with the level of degradation. The question before us now is “how will we choose to degrade the edge?” because at least two very clear and possible paths lay before us. We could simply abrade (widen) the edge apex or we could roll the edge apex to the side. Either method will produce higher BESS scores because the rolled edge will manifest itself as a broadening of the edge apex. The type and nature of the test cylinder we first use will determine if the edge is to be abraded or rolled.
 
There are plenty of other questions to be answered with regard to test subject and test parameters but let’s just start here. What kind of test and, therefore, test results will be most beneficial to us?
 
As we proposed earlier, let’s make these tests a product of the BESS Exchange membership. So please open a new thread, or several threads. The thoughts and guidance of every interested member will be much appreciated. Who knows, perhaps a hundred years from now someone will write about us and our work. Our great grandchildren will be proud.


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