Author: jendereedknife
Date: 2008-10-15 22:30
Dear Claire,
Here are a few possibilities that influence the success or failure of your sharpening:
One, as mentioned by EBH, are the angles at which you are holding the knife as you make passes over the stone. If they are too low, you may not be removing metal from the edge, which means you did not sharpen the blade. If the angles are too high, it makes the geometry at the edge of the knife too obtuse, which makes scraping more difficult.
A second is the consistency at which you are holding those angles. Most people turn their wrist up when pushing away, and down when pulling back. This rounds over the edge, and leaves the angle of the edge too obtuse, also.
Thirdly, the condition of your sharpening equipment plays a major role. If your stone or stones are not kept consistently flat, portions of the blade may not be coming into contact with the stone. Stones dip in the middle- compounding the first 2 reasons above, and wear at the sides- which can form an arc or taper along the blade. A lapping plate is best for keeping stones flat over time.
And lastly, it could be any combination of all of the above.
There is a new book - please email me at jendereedknife@yahoo.com for the title.
(I'm sorry I cannot post it here. As valuable and related to the topic as it is, I'm afraid of the moderators deeming it an advertisement.)
Sincerely,
Tom Blodgett
President,
Jende Industries, LLC
www.jendeindustries.com
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