Thread: Pyramid (Scheme) Sharpening..Why it just might work

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

It is a very light breadknifing to remove any anomalies (microscopic) on the cutting edge. Harrelson does it on the DVD that Howard did where the side sharpening technique is demonstrated.

Okay, thanks. I knew the technique, but never heard it called that.

Originally Posted by loueedacat

and what is side sharpening?

It is a technique that Harrelson Stanley of Shapton USA uses for plane irons. He adapted it to straight razors in a DVD put out by Howard of The Perfect Edge. I describe my limited experience with it in this post here.

Howard,

I was talking with Harrelson a couple of years ago and he said he got a microscope and looked at the scratches left by the different grits. He said that they got wider and shallower. I have never looked for myself.

I too believe that sharpening is progressive, especially with Shapton stones. I admit that I still am not totally convinced about the pyramid method, although I hold the strong belief that if it works, the ends justify the means.

The concepts of my personally discovery yesterday will need to be put to the test. As I said above, I need to adjust the pressure I use, as that can be causing unnecesary grooving.

I can think of a horrible mathematical explanation. If you add up a sequence of sine waves in the right way, you can approximate a square wave - i.e. flat top:



This is a bit like what you are doing when you are adding up rough and smooth scratch patterns. Not sure you can read too much into this - if you add them in the wrong proportions you end up with a sawtooth pattern instead.

Jimmy,

Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. In my quest for knowledge, I have tried many different kinds of sharpening equipment. I am more of a sharpener than a knife user or maker, and I hope to have a wonderful sharing of knowledge experience here.

I have a Belgium Blue/cotecule dual stone that I bought from the best sharpening stones.com I actually went to the guy's house, he lives in NJ, and took my pick from a fresh batch he had just received.

This was my first natural stone, and I was impressed with the action of it, but I got a better result from the blue side than the yellow. It is my understanding that the blue is supposed to be coarser than the yellow. Is that right?

I didn't know Taiwan was near NJ.

Originally Posted by Rajagra

I can think of a horrible mathematical explanation. If you add up a sequence of sine waves in the right way, you can approximate a square wave - i.e. flat top:

This is a bit like what you are doing when you are adding up rough and smooth scratch patterns. Not sure you can read too much into this - if you add them in the wrong proportions you end up with a sawtooth pattern instead.

I LOVE it! I'm a math nerd, so I appreciate a good math analogy.

Originally Posted by jendeindustries

Jimmy,

Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. In my quest for knowledge, I have tried many different kinds of sharpening equipment. I am more of a sharpener than a knife user or maker, and I hope to have a wonderful sharing of knowledge experience here.

I have a Belgium Blue/cotecule dual stone that I bought from the best sharpening stones.com I actually went to the guy's house, he lives in NJ, and took my pick from a fresh batch he had just received.

This was my first natural stone, and I was impressed with the action of it, but I got a better result from the blue side than the yellow. It is my understanding that the blue is supposed to be coarser than the yellow. Is that right?

Glad to see another hone aficionado coming to the forum, especially a coticule user. According to Bart, a forum member who has researched the coticule to the maximum, the garnet in the blue is larger than in the yellow. The blue with slurry will leave the edge sharper/keener than the yellow while the latter will polish the edge. Here is an SRP Wiki entry on the topic by Bart. Later, after further research he posted other threads on honing with the coticule and here is another, and here is one more. The last thread is on honing with the yellow only.

There was some controversy generated as a result of some of Bart's conclusions particularly regarding setting a bevel with a coticule. So you'll find differing opinions within the threads but there is a lot of good info in these threads and each of use can try the methods presented and draw our own conclusions.

I'm originally from NJ (but don't tell anyone), only about a 20+ hour commute from Taiwan!

Thanks for the links Jimmy! I like my Belgium stone, there is an undescribable connection between a natural stone and the person who owns it.

I will admit, that as unique as the stone is, I always get drawn back to my Shaptons because of the speed and consistency, and I don't like sharpening until a paste forms. I think that defeats the purpose of the stone itself. For straight razors, however, the more I am thinking about it the more it makes sense to use the paste for this application. That is one of the reasons why I joined this forum!

As I analyze what I do, I will be posting my rantings here and on my blog.

One thing that was mentioned is very important for us old guys who have been into knife collecting and sharpening for a long time and that's pressure!
When I first started honing I used way more pressure than I should have because I was used to sharpening knives for so many years. So, just a word for any other knife collectors don't press down let the blade and hone do the work it will save a lot of headaches that I went through at first.