Thread: Simple Scratch Pattern Experiment

Hey all,

So I wanted a way to test how some of my different hones affect the scratch pattern on the metal. I used an old stainless steel throwing knife and flattened a section of the handle to see how it looks after different hones. I just used my scanner to take the pictures, so sorry that it couldn't be of higher quality. But I still think useful comparisons can be made. I know the scratch pattern alone doesn't tell you the quality of the stone or how finely it can sharpen a razor, but I still think it's interesting.

The order of the pictures is:

1) DMT 325
2) DMT 600
3) DMT 1200
4) Norton 4000
5) Norton 8000
6) Coticule (used with just water)
7) Yellow/Green Thuringian
8) Nakayama

The changes are pretty obvious in the first few, but from the thuringian to the nakayama there isn't that much of a difference. It looks a bit finer in the scanned pictures as well as in person, but it's not like a night and day thing.

Here they are!

EDIT: Looking at the pictures again I don't think I spent enough time on the naturals....I will look for another flat piece of metal I can test on, but one that isn't such a large area. I think it was too large of an area for the naturals to work on, well without a LOT of strokes that is. I was using a hard coticule, and I know that my nakayama is a slow one. When I try this experiment again I will post the results. Hopefully the progression from the naturals will be more obvious and less residual scratches will be left.

I only see 7 pics...
But an interesting exercise. Someone (Olivia, I think?) recently mentioned looking at scratch patterns using a CD case - it's not steel but it might work.

Yes, but actually the CD itself (the glossy side)
Great experiment, Dave, but whats distracting are the old scratches from the lower grit hones.
You would see each scratch pattern much better on a pristine surface.
If you go for a documentation of efficiency like removing old scratches, yours is the way to go of course.

Among the first 4, I only see a difference in the 4th one.
The first three look identical.
The last three also look identical.

I will indeed have to do another experiment to better show these results. The old scratches are definitely there and are distracting and make them all look pretty similar..... I will look around the house for a better medium to scratch up! Will report back...

Be prepared, LOL
I did it with acrylic squares of about 1 inch
They sucked themselves onto the hones like nothing else
and disrupted my original idea of same strokes with SAME pressure totally.
Better look for something that you can bend a little.