Sharpening...
Dec 25, 2008 8:44:35 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2008 8:44:35 GMT
Thought this was the best place to ask about sharpening methods.
I just got into it. I'm more of a trial and error/self taught guy, so I picked up my old hanwei nami iaito (stainless steel) and just started to file it down with 2 different grits. That was last night, tonight I stripped enough metal away to start stone work, so I picked up the only grinding stone I have in my house, a 1000/4000 2 sided rectangle stone. Did some basic tests such as running cloth along the blade, stabbing water bottles and cutting, and paper cutting tests, not that clean of cuts but still able and passed every test. There are nicks here and there from the lowest file grit but I got the technique down as I progressed.
I figure I'm ready for the wet sanding stage with 400-2000 grit or up. I'm not interested in polishing it right now, more concerned with getting good enough sharpness for tatami.
Anyways, questions about sanding. Does going up in grits help the sharpness, or does it not matter after certain grit? I watched a video on youtube with a guy going all the way to 12,000 grit and considered that to be crazy sharp. Then I read on the forums somewhere that 400-2000 is enough for cutting performance. Could anyone shed some light on this?
And any other suggestions, concerns, or leads to give for reading or watching would be awesome. I'm really digging this stuff, if I get good enough with sharpening/polish I might wanna start to learn forging.
I just got into it. I'm more of a trial and error/self taught guy, so I picked up my old hanwei nami iaito (stainless steel) and just started to file it down with 2 different grits. That was last night, tonight I stripped enough metal away to start stone work, so I picked up the only grinding stone I have in my house, a 1000/4000 2 sided rectangle stone. Did some basic tests such as running cloth along the blade, stabbing water bottles and cutting, and paper cutting tests, not that clean of cuts but still able and passed every test. There are nicks here and there from the lowest file grit but I got the technique down as I progressed.
I figure I'm ready for the wet sanding stage with 400-2000 grit or up. I'm not interested in polishing it right now, more concerned with getting good enough sharpness for tatami.
Anyways, questions about sanding. Does going up in grits help the sharpness, or does it not matter after certain grit? I watched a video on youtube with a guy going all the way to 12,000 grit and considered that to be crazy sharp. Then I read on the forums somewhere that 400-2000 is enough for cutting performance. Could anyone shed some light on this?
And any other suggestions, concerns, or leads to give for reading or watching would be awesome. I'm really digging this stuff, if I get good enough with sharpening/polish I might wanna start to learn forging.