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My KN100 and PT50
#1
I was the guy that broke the news about the KN100 edge sharpness tester two years ago on a knife forum and that thread ended up with about 20,000 views. I hope to beat that number with this thread because Mike's products deserve it.
 
I read Mike's post here and was glad to see that he's finally beginning to tell the story right. When I first ordered the KN100, all I expected it to do was tell me how sharp my knife was when I finished sharpening. On the very first knife I measured I found out different. It was a very nice carry knife and measured 185 after sharpening  and stropping. Then I wondered "what would happen if I tried this?". Nothing. "So how about this?" Worse. "So what about this?" 165.  What a wonderful tool this is! I've shaved more hair and cut up more paper than anybody in the state of Louisiana and  there is  no comparison. That's not just me talking but all my friends who have purchased these testers as well. I've got a bad habit of ordering sharpening gizmos and compounds that make sense to me. Some of the time they work and most of the time they don't buy me much. I don't have to guess which side of the fence they fall on now because my new PT50 tells me.
 
My new electronic tester spends a fair amount of time over at my son Henry's house and I'm going to post some pictures here that he took. It's a Victorinox knife that he used Norax belts and a leather hone on. The numbers speak for themselves. It's interesting because the PT50 has turned Henry's interest back to knife sharpening again. I really wish we could all start talking BESS numbers. Then we could really learn something from one another. We don't need to pull each other's leg with how low our BESS numbers are. Just tell me you did "this" and it lowered your score by 20 points. That would be fantastic! This ol Louisiana boy is still singing the same tune I did two years ago. Sharpness is now a number! 

   
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#2
I completely agree.  I put off buying my PT50B for something like a year, but it continued to bother me that I didn’t really have any grasp on, or any way to measure how sharp blades actually were.  So, I was doing the typical slicing paper and other similar methods to at least get some sort of idea on what was going on.

Like everybody else, I experimented with and spent a lot of time trying all sorts of different sharpening/honing methods, but I became more and more frustrated not know how well the stuff I was doing was actually working.  Hone more, hone less?  This grit, that grit and on and on.

The very first PT50B test instantly woke me up to what I had been missing.  Finally I could tell not only how sharp the result was, but just as, if not more importantly, also understand what methods were effective and which were not.  No more wondering, no more guessing, no more wasting time experimenting without really understanding the results.

Now I understand that the reason I didn’t get a sharpness tester a long time ago was simply because I didn’t understand the true ramifications of the thing and that it was what I had been missing and longing for all along.  

Now the PT50B and a USB microscope are just part of how I sharpen and I’d feel lost without those tools.
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#3
I also have a KN100 and PT50 (Original). Smile

Personally I use the KN100 more than the PT50, but that's me.

Clean apex is important, stropping on plain leather works well for me. Angel
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#4
Mr. Ankerson -

Welcome to the forum!  Glad to see you here. [Image: smile.png]

I'm familiar with some of the amazing edge retention testing you have done.  A truly impressive body of work!  I'm really looking FW to your posts as I have a great deal to learn.

Interesting you prefer plain leather for stropping.  Smooth or rough side?  Does it make a difference?
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#5
(03-13-2017, 01:53 PM)grepper Wrote: Mr. Ankerson -

Welcome to the forum!  Glad to see you here. [Image: smile.png]

I'm familiar with some of the amazing edge retention testing you have done.  A truly impressive body of work!  I'm really looking FW to your posts as I have a great deal to learn.

Interesting you prefer plain leather for stropping.  Smooth or rough side?  Does it make a difference?

I like the smooth side personally.

Yes it does make a difference, use the rough side if you want to use compounds.

(03-13-2017, 02:20 PM)Ankerson Wrote:
(03-13-2017, 01:53 PM)grepper Wrote: Mr. Ankerson -

Welcome to the forum!  Glad to see you here. [Image: smile.png]

I'm familiar with some of the amazing edge retention testing you have done.  A truly impressive body of work!  I'm really looking FW to your posts as I have a great deal to learn.

Interesting you prefer plain leather for stropping.  Smooth or rough side?  Does it make a difference?

I like the smooth side personally.

Yes it does make a difference, use the rough side if you want to use compounds.

I have a few strops, one double sided loaded with Silicon Carbide on the smooth side and green compound on the rough side.

That and a number of plain leather strops.
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#6
Making a distinction between stropping for burr removal and edge straightening/maintenance, my current thing is complete and fast burr removal, something I'm guessing that you have a great deal of experience with.  Would you mind sharing what you think is a good method?  

Smooth/rough strop?  Compound/no compound?  

I've been using a leather belt on a Kalamazoo 1SM / 1" belt grinder.  It works more or less OK, but it's slow and many times I'll throw the blade under the microscope and still see some remaining burr.  Very frustrating!  I've tried the belt on the smooth and rough side, with/without compound, etc., but I'm never completely satisfied.    Sad
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#7
(03-13-2017, 02:56 PM)grepper Wrote: Making a distinction between stropping for burr removal and edge straightening/maintenance, my current thing is complete and fast burr removal, something I'm guessing that you have a great deal of experience with.  Would you mind sharing what you think is a good method?  

Smooth/rough strop?  Compound/no compound?  

I've been using a leather belt on a Kalamazoo 1SM / 1" belt grinder.  It works more or less OK, but it's slow and many times I'll throw the blade under the microscope and still see some remaining burr.  Very frustrating!  I've tried the belt on the smooth and rough side, with/without compound, etc., but I'm never completely satisfied.    Sad

I sharpen by hand so it might be when using power equipment you are creating a burr.

I use my educated thumb to feel the burr. Big Grin

Never messed with those microscope things.

Normally if I use a strop it's the smooth side.
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#8
(03-13-2017, 02:56 PM)grepper Wrote: Making a distinction between stropping for burr removal and edge straightening/maintenance, my current thing is complete and fast burr removal, something I'm guessing that you have a great deal of experience with.  Would you mind sharing what you think is a good method?  

Smooth/rough strop?  Compound/no compound?  

I've been using a leather belt on a Kalamazoo 1SM / 1" belt grinder.  It works more or less OK, but it's slow and many times I'll throw the blade under the microscope and still see some remaining burr.  Very frustrating!  I've tried the belt on the smooth and rough side, with/without compound, etc., but I'm never completely satisfied.    Sad

Mr. grepper

My go to for final burr removal (several things) that work for us.

Have not kept BESS numbers on any of the following - my promise, I,  will in the future.

Using a Baldor 6" 1/4 HP 1800 RPM

With a Woodcraft https://www.woodcraft.com/products/buffi...6582000b71  with no compound - removes burr in one or two very light passes and WOW! Again no BESS numbers.

With Ace Sharpening wheel on the other shaft http://www.acesharpening.com/Diamond_Wheel_Prices.html Ace's fiber wheel (MDF), with no compound.  Eight inch MDF wheel.

To polish blades sides for our EDC's slicker than OWL $HI$ we use Wolff's https://www.wolffindustries.com/ookami-g...pound.html it is pure magic for us.  Usually applied with a flint hard felt wheel (also works for burr removal without rounding of edges).   The blade sides stay slick for months!  May work with kitchen cutlery?  Have never tried it on kitchen knives.

The Ookami gold compound may work like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-nbSMItlYE Thermal or some magic?

Rupert
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#9
Thanks Mr. Rupert.  I'll give buffing wheels a try.

What I'm trying to do is find something that removes burr but does not smooth a nice, toothy edge.

I know one method is to remove the burr and then hit the edge with a coarse abrasive to restore the toothy edge.  I have not played with doing that.  Possibly that is the best method, I don't know.  Maybe a nice soft buffing wheel will do the trick!

Maybe what I'm looking for is to finish the edge with something really coarse like 150 grit.

It's interesting that when I first started sharpening I had the idea that a perfectly polished edge was the way to go.  Now, many years later I'm chasing the coarsest grit I can get away with!  I love that about sharpening.  There is always more to learn.  It's endless!
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#10
Maybe?

Hope others will join this discussion - THIS IS SHARPENING, again my opinion.

Rupert
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