Thread: Less pressure = razor sharp

Jimbo....whats yah Smokin brother....LOL.....I did enjoy the read !!!!

Ok. I just stropped on balsa with chromium oxide green on one side (10 laps) and red iron oxide (15 laps) on the other side and then stropped on leather. HOLY <edited for Christmas>!!!! I AM SOLD!! Brought that edge up to a HHT-4 popping hairs as soon as they hit the blade! Amazing. So now what are some tips to keep edge from rounding from using a paste?

Will the balsa help? How about 20-30 laps on the guangxi stone every time?

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Yes, I did a funded study (ASRRC, grant no. SR0002) on this a little while ago. The main result can be shown in the following graph:

Attachment 150475

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Shave tests were conducted on hemispherical ballistics gel moulds impregnated with beard hair, randomly selected from over 15,000 barber shops worldwide.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
James.

I was actually believing this & trying to learn,,,until the da%n "gel moulds impregnated with beard hair" line,,,,give me back the last 15 minutes of my life Jimbo,,,,

Originally Posted by sharptonn

This is something noteworthy. As you develop and polish a fine edge, very little pressure is needed to flex the blade and take the edge off of the finishing hones. If pressure of any sort is applied, the work is for naught. Let it lay and do proper strokes, weight of the blade.
JMO!

I have had many discussions about that, and I agree with you. The flex rides the edge upward with the top of the bevel as the fulcrum. Then it is resetting that bevel on a very fine stone. Proved it to my satisfaction with a 60X loupe and a 100x mic.
YMMV of course!
~Richard
PS. Thanks Jimbo and HNSB for the photos and input!

Jimbo got it all right except nowadays we don't use the Sturmey-Archer gaussian random field Newtrometer anymore but the Campagnolo-Shimano gaussian non-random field Fuzzymeter.

Fuzzy-logic solves anything!



As others already said some light handed strokes at the end can do miracles but the main problem I've found with beginner honers is they are to light handed on their way to the end.
When they ask if the edge is done I go all Churchill on them, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning".

Originally Posted by Lemur

Jimbo got it all right except nowadays we don't use the Sturmey-Archer gaussian random field Newtrometer anymore but the Campagnolo-Shimano gaussian non-random field Fuzzymeter.
...

CSGNRFFs only show differences as you approach the speed of light in a vacuum. I've used them in the LHC (large hone collider) in some dorko matter experiments, and once when searching for the Higgs Boker, but I think they are overkill for simple desktop experiments like this one.

YMMV.

James.

Originally Posted by Lemur

As others already said some light handed strokes at the end can do miracles but the main problem I've found with beginner honers is they are to light handed on their way to the end.
When they ask if the edge is done I go all Churchill on them, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning".

Ugh.. I so wish there were a better way to quantify 'too much' and 'too little'.

Feather light and, weight of the blade only are easy to translate. But everything else becomes entirely nebulous... and Fuzzy.

I read through the whole "JaNorton" thread this week. It's a lot to plow through, but I remember that several members talked about making mental breakthroughs regarding honing pressure. In many cases it boiled down to: going heavier-than-expected for bevel-setting, then moderate pressure on 4k, light on 4k, ultra-light on 4k, moderate on 8k, light on 8k, ultra-light on 8k. In any case, it was interesting to see so many light bulbs going off on the subject of "pressure."

Ultimately it's about lessening the pressure as you go. One process is to simply set the bevel with enough pressure to contact the bevel (on each stone), then lighten the pressure in order to contact the edge (on each stone).

The super-colliders are entirely optional.

This post (humor aside) has been very beneficial to me. The concept of lessening pressure makes perfect sense. If I'm understanding correctly, the heavier pressure flexes the blade slightly and removes material from the spine side of the bevel. As the pressure decreases, blade flex lessens and material is removed closer to the cutting edge of the bevel until the slightest pressure allows material to be removed from the very cutting edge. Seems so simple when imagining what happens to the blade as it flexes.

As a new honer...this seems to make the most sense in helping me understand what is happening.

If I'm confused, let me know.