02-05-2019, 10:37 PM
"Even in some sections, I can see burr in the naked eye." It's amazing how reflective and easy burr is to see when you get the light just right.
"So I think this was a failure." Personally, I wouldn't call it a failure. It was an experiment, a test and I'm sure you learned from it. Now you really know that it means to make a 120 grit edge with a Viel and try to remove the burr. Now you've "been there, done that" and have personal experience and even microscope images to back it up. I think your test is cool and made for a great post. For me at least, every time I sharpen a blade it's a learning experience.
I've found the same thing you have insofar as burr removal gets very difficult with coarser than 150 grit. I've found that very light pressure helps when sharpening with very coarse grits.
It was working with big tough burrs that got me to play with using Scotch-Brite (SB) to remove them. From my experience, I would skip medium SB belts. They are too aggressive and can quickly chew up the edge resulting in a dull edge. You might try sticking with extra fine SB belts and playing around with more/less pressure when doing burr removal.
It looks to me that you got a lot of the burr and LOW off the edge but it just got too chewed up from (probably) the medium SB belt. It would probably also help to use something less coarse than 120 grit for the sharpening part.
A couple of hours ago I sharpened an 8" Victorinox chef's knife using 150 Cubitron, deburred with extra fine SB and finished with the rough side of a plain leather belt. Deburring took a few minutes but I got most of it all off. Took 3 sharpness readings from handle to very near the tip. 140, 145, 170. I'm sure I could have played more at the tip as I could see spots where there was still some burr. Getting a bit slopping in my old age I declared it perfect! That blade is plenty sharp and I won't ever notice the 30 point difference or a tiny bit of left over burr whilst slicing some onions.
"So I think this was a failure." Personally, I wouldn't call it a failure. It was an experiment, a test and I'm sure you learned from it. Now you really know that it means to make a 120 grit edge with a Viel and try to remove the burr. Now you've "been there, done that" and have personal experience and even microscope images to back it up. I think your test is cool and made for a great post. For me at least, every time I sharpen a blade it's a learning experience.
I've found the same thing you have insofar as burr removal gets very difficult with coarser than 150 grit. I've found that very light pressure helps when sharpening with very coarse grits.
It was working with big tough burrs that got me to play with using Scotch-Brite (SB) to remove them. From my experience, I would skip medium SB belts. They are too aggressive and can quickly chew up the edge resulting in a dull edge. You might try sticking with extra fine SB belts and playing around with more/less pressure when doing burr removal.
It looks to me that you got a lot of the burr and LOW off the edge but it just got too chewed up from (probably) the medium SB belt. It would probably also help to use something less coarse than 120 grit for the sharpening part.
A couple of hours ago I sharpened an 8" Victorinox chef's knife using 150 Cubitron, deburred with extra fine SB and finished with the rough side of a plain leather belt. Deburring took a few minutes but I got most of it all off. Took 3 sharpness readings from handle to very near the tip. 140, 145, 170. I'm sure I could have played more at the tip as I could see spots where there was still some burr. Getting a bit slopping in my old age I declared it perfect! That blade is plenty sharp and I won't ever notice the 30 point difference or a tiny bit of left over burr whilst slicing some onions.