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Post by LemuelTheLemur on Mar 5, 2013 12:33:25 GMT
So I've brought the edge to a paper cutting sharp with accusharp but every time i try to polish away the secondary bevel I keep dulling the blade despite my best efforts to not sand over the edge. Maybe my technique is wrong, what I did was sand along the edge with a little bit of sandpaper over the edge. I thought this would surely make the blade sharper rather than dull it. any pointers?
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Post by KaOsBlaKbLaDe on Mar 5, 2013 14:54:13 GMT
best pointer is,..........throw away the accusharp
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Post by LastGodslayer on Mar 5, 2013 15:29:07 GMT
Could it be that "paper cutting sharp" is actually a consequence of the unpolished edge left by the accusharp? If you are just blending the bevels, then the angle of the edge itself should not change, but since you are polishing all the burrs and serrations out through the blending of the bevels, maybe you are left with not that acute of an edge? The accusharp forces a specific angle and bevel at the very edge. The way to a sharp blade has to do with the entire edge geometry. Besides, paper cutting isn't really the best way to test a blade. I have a tanto here that doesn't cut paper all that wel, but bites me deep every single time I try to polish it...
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Mar 5, 2013 15:29:53 GMT
ive had the same problem, not with accusharp but i can sharpen and edge to be hair popping sharp and as soon as i "polish it" it wont even cut paper or skin if drug across it. ive found no way to fix this, it seems your either stuck with a razor sharp blade with sanding marks against the grain, or a nice polished blade that wont cut butter if you heated it.
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Post by LemuelTheLemur on Mar 5, 2013 15:41:03 GMT
fair enough :/
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Post by willhart on Mar 5, 2013 19:12:50 GMT
First I think people already said, don't use an accusharp. It puts a really weak edge on. If you're trying to get rid of a secondary bevel, you should use a file or really low grit sand paper. Polishing, which I would say is above 600 grit at least.
Maybe if you can explain how you're sharpening it and what you're actually using might help us. Such as are you using your hands to sand, a sanding block, or holding the sword and pushing it down onto sandpaper?
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Mar 5, 2013 22:05:35 GMT
i follow the tom k method with progressively finer grits of paper. but once sharpening is done and you go to polish out the sanding marks that go against the grain of the steel it makes the blade so dull it could be used as a training blunt
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Post by Lobster Hunter on Mar 5, 2013 22:38:47 GMT
As others have suggested, don't use AS. Use either a ceramic rod or whetstone to sharpen. When you're finishing with sand paper, be sure to use a smooth wooden sanding block. Don't use just your fingers and paper as the softness of your skin will tend to cause the sand paper to wrap around the edge a bit, dulling it.
And sand slightly away from the edge, not straight along or towards the edge.
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Post by MOK on Mar 11, 2013 11:30:32 GMT
In addition to what everyone else has said, once I've got a blade polished as shiny as I want it, I've taken up the habit of going back and lightly touching up the very edge with fine diamond hones and a steel (at the moment I use a two-sided, steel-bodied Dianova lapstone and love it). It makes a real difference, although of course it could just be compensating for flaws in my polishing technique. BTW, IME the steel is important, and the more important the more acute your edge angle is. Sharpening and honing should always end with a half dozen passes of steel on both sides, to smooth out all the imperceptible little nicks and burrs that are too small to be seen yet perceptibly hinder performance. These can also make a blade appear very sharp by tearing up paper like microscopic saw teeth, but when you try to actually cut anything more substantial they just get deformed and rolled back, randomly dulling the very edge and increasing drag.
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Mar 11, 2013 13:05:00 GMT
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