Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on November 21, 2014 at 9:29

I have not tried it John and this is the first time seeing it. Personally I think its a great idea, I am almost certain our friend Jack has looked with a magnifying glass and quite possibly a traditional microscope. I beleive he was looking for burrs.

Permalink Reply by John Bamford on November 21, 2014 at 9:41

I must be getting the sharpening bug cos I have this on my list for the not so distant future. The list is getting rather long though and is interrupting the knife buying somewhat. There are a couple of Queen knives that are demanding my poor depleted finances at the moment but they will just have to wait I guess.

Permalink Reply by Howard P Reynolds on November 21, 2014 at 11:17

John,

I am on the low end of the knowledge curve.  I have a loupe:

but I have few nerd-factor genes, so I use the ole Decision Tree.

You have to click on the decision tree to read it.

Permalink Reply by John Bamford on November 21, 2014 at 11:30

Well  Howard I would have agreed with your knowledge tree till I became a knife collector , or old , not sure which.   I used to have one maybe two knives which I struggled to sharpen but used all the time .  Now that I am a knife collector I have a lot of knives and no great need for any of them . I have just spent more on a sharpening system than I would have believed possible till I was a knife collector, and have plans for adding to it. Strange business innit .

Permalink Reply by Howard P Reynolds on November 21, 2014 at 12:15

John,

Hahahahaha.  I think most of us are in the same position - more knives than we need, and knives we will never use because they are "collector" knives.

Leonard Lee "The Complete Guide To Sharpening" uses a lot of of electron microscope photos of blade edges, which lets you see the effects of various sharpening mediums, but I can't find a practical application in real-life.  That is, I am a fair hand at free-hand sharpening so if a knife is dull, I sharpen it.  If it gets dull too quickly, maybe the knife has the wrong steel for the job or maybe it needs a secondary bevel.  The loupe shows me where the "shiny" parts of the blade are, but I think "scoping" it will tell me what I already know by feel.

Permalink Reply by Thomas Lofvenmark on November 22, 2014 at 13:29

I have used microskope sins the sixties when I study edges. It is a good way to understand grinding and different grits, it is really helpful and I recomend it.

There is also a but. You start with a loupe and you will se that the smoth edge is not smoth att all...then you by a simple microskope and find out that when the loupe tells you that the edge is smoth - it is not...you start to be crasy and you like ro be in control and you by finer and finer grits and you start to polish your edges so they look like mercury...and you by a USB microskope to check them out - and where ghe murcuty edge was is now a skumpy dirtroad with big ditches...

In my opinion, what ever you yo do to an edge - if you magnify it 1 million times - the edge will still be a dirtroad with ditches....

Somewhere in all this magnifying your edge will work fine for you, that is good, stop there. Study how it looks - and keep that look in the future.

If you shall by a USB microskope - hell yes, by it! You leran a lot from it - but do not forget that if your edge looks perfect smoth - it is just a question of magnifying - and it looks like ahit - but it works perfect...

Thomas

Permalink Reply by John Bamford on November 22, 2014 at 13:40

Thanks Thomas I value your opinion," dirt road with ditches" I will remember that .

I don't think my edges are at the looking like mercury stage yet , that will be next week . 

Permalink Reply by Howard P Reynolds on November 22, 2014 at 13:52

Thomas, hahahahaha.  Yes, I can understand the obsession.  I sleep very well at night, probably because I am not obsessed by much of anything, while my partner, Beverly's (PhD/Chemistry) mind is a whirl of activity (Type-A personality).  From Leonard Lee's electron microscope pictures I knew, before going down that path, that it was a dirt road, so I am happy to be blissfully ignorant of what my blades REALLY look like, down deep - as long as they cut, and if they hold an edge well for a while, I figure that I sharpened them correctly.

Permalink Reply by Thomas Lofvenmark on November 22, 2014 at 14:25

Thanks, I se that you guys understood what I tryed to explain :)

Microskope are nice - but use your knowledge of good working edges in first hand.

I have meet people who poish their edges during days and days to make them smoth in microskope - to no use. They thougt that they was bad grinders - they was not, they did a perfect grinding work. I made them happy when I explain for them how it really works.

Look att internet. You can find thousends of pictures on edges made in microscope - and read the comments... Read also the mygnyfying, is it 10 times, 100 times, 500 times or 1000 times or more! It never ends... it will allways be a ditt road...

Trust your gut feeling - and sharpen with your brain!

Thomas

Permalink Reply by John Bamford on November 22, 2014 at 15:16

Well the reason that I am thinking about a microscope is I have bodged around for a lot of years doing not well understood freehand sharpening. Now that I am taking more interest in the subject I would like to see what I am actually achieving . I have been able to get knives sharp eventually by freehand sharpening . Now I have the Edge Pro I can achieve the same result very quickly but due in part to old and weak eyes I can't actually see where the difference lies .  I was going to buy something like a loupe but then I saw the USB microscope and figured with that I could see a little more also it appears I could take images of the edge and retain them or bore other folk with them. Well I guess there are a few other bits and pieces to get for the Edge Pro before making the decision on the microscope.but at that price I am tempted.

Permalink Reply by Thomas Lofvenmark on November 22, 2014 at 16:02

You shall absolutley by a USB microscope John, I strongly recomend it. You will get out a lot of information from it.

But use low magnifying in first hand - and high magnifying just for fun :)

I describe sharpening like this?
Two flat and smoth surfaces that meets eachother an a low angle = sharp.

That sentence tells four important things.

The edge shall be as flat as possible
The edge shall be smoth
The two sides of the edge shall properly
And the angle shall be low.

You have a EdgePro, good, yuur edges will be flat
Now you hopefully shall by. Microscope, good, your edges will be smooth :)
You must check that the edge two edges meet properly your self ( use the microscope)
Your EdgePro give you the low angles you like to have.

You fullfilled the sentence - and you will be in control of your edges - not only in control, you will also understand why you are in control becouse you grind your edges in degrees - and you know what to do to adjust your edges so that they work better.

Perhaps you shall by also. Angle Cube and use it with your EdgePro, then you have a very good control of your edges angles.

Sorry about my English and sorry about my Ipads automatik spelling....it drives me somerimes crasy!

Thomas

Permalink Reply by John Bamford on November 23, 2014 at 1:16

A great definition of knife sharpening Thomas and I will take your advice and get the microscope.

I enjoy the "accent "in your post's so no apologies are needed, language to me is just a means of communicating ideas and I understand completely what you are saying and value your advice .

An Angle Cube is on the " wish list" along with the microscope , it would be helpful if GEC and Queeen would halt production for a little while till I get my finances back in order !!

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