Thread: My razor is too sharp???? I like a duller edge??

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

I am absolutely disagree who says edge gets it is sharpness on 1k level 4k level.
REST is POLISHING?
Can a good Person explain to me what does polishing do? or meaning of it?
Does it changes thickness of the edge?
or just makes shiny bevel?
My opinion doesn't matter how you guys call darn edge gets sharper as you go all-way (1k,2k,5k,10k, so on)until the end depends where you stop.

Dr. John Verhoeven, Distinguished Emeritus Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Iowa State University

Experiments on Knife Sharpening

He examined the sharpening process using a variety of hones, examining the result under an electron microscope at up to 10,000x magnification. This allowed him to measure the width of the cutting edge to 0.01 micron. The paper at the link includes photos at up to 3,000x. If you haven't read it yet I encourage you to do so, there are some surprising results in there, backed up by photos from the electron microscope, like the width of these edges stopped improving at a surprisingly low grit, and there were no teeth on the edge past I believe about 2000 grit.


I agree the cutting efficiency improves as you go up in grit. But the edge doesn't get any narrower past about 4k - something else is improving the cutting efficiency. Something that can be achieved by either coating the edge in teflon (if you're honing a million blades a day and making them disposable) or by painstakingly polishing the edge (if you're honing say 20 blades a day and making them reusable).