Thread: Jnat edge- am I even close?

Originally Posted by Aerdvaark

The deepness(jaggies) just helps cut the tomato better. Terrible test for shaving readiness imo.

Funny you say that- for "fun" I took out one our cheap kitchen knives, ran it over the sharpening steel, and achieved the same results on the tomato as I did with the razor! Should not be possible if it only "works" with a razor bevel. I believe you are correct about the "jaggies".

The bevel set is still the hardest part for me- seems like no rhyme or reason why sometimes I nail it and sometimes not.

The bevel set is only difficult because it requires patience and can take some time. Keep the blade flex under control, let the stone do the work, keep the surface of the stone clean, and work the bevel until there is zero light reflecting from the edge. At that point, continue a bit more with light finishing strokes to minimize the stria. Another critical factor is constantly checking for tape wear - bevel setters can be very hard on tape. My Norton 1k eats tape noticeably faster than my King.


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Yep, stay away from pressure on those full hollows... I have a Boker full bellied hollow... the blade is like aluminium foil and is a royal pain to hone. Even just honing in sunlight puts enough photon pressure on the blade to cause it to flex (OK, I'm kidding... but not really). Some blades are just so sensitive to pressure it throws you right off... until you figure out what's going on.

For the record, when honing on slurry and in particular when honing on Jnat slurry, there should be no visible scratches... just that classic hazy or satiny look. If you see stria after honing for a while, look for that satin strip... if it's at the top of the bevel and nearer to the spine, it's either too much pressure or not enough tape. Those paper thin blades need to be honed with just the weight of the blade... no pressure, no torquing at all.... Unless you really know what you are doing... the "honing for dollars" guys probably use a bit of body english when honing these blades too... but after thousands of blades... experience kicks in and they know what they can get away with. For us mere mortals.... zero pressure!

Regards

Christian

Originally Posted by Sdm84

Funny you say that- for "fun" I took out one our cheap kitchen knives, ran it over the sharpening steel, and achieved the same results on the tomato as I did with the razor! Should not be possible if it only "works" with a razor bevel.

I believe that yet another of 'Dr Matt's' ideas has been proven to be worthless.

I posted the same results about the cherry tomato 'test' with a common kitchen knife long ago. Thanks for verifying my conclusion!

Here is something to ponder while we help SDM84. 10X objective @ 10mp. A 1mm edge from a Gold Dollar. The edges are at the top of the pictures... I think I need less pressure.... just a cheap jnat..

And then looks like my trans arky needs a good burnishing.....yuk

Originally Posted by Aerdvaark

The deepness(jaggies) just helps cut the tomato better. Terrible test for shaving readiness imo.
There's a very fine line between tearing and slicing.... literally.

I agree with that assessment to ,, heck my pocketknkife cuts a cherry tomatoe real good with my 300 grit edge Tc

OK here is the latest effort- NO tape (lots of laps) NO pressure circles and x strokes. I think I was actually going the wrong way with adding layers of tape. How does this look?

Now THAT is starting to look like a honed edge

You are getting to a nice even edge, the bevel finish is even, yep looks promising strop and shave see how it goes

One scope user to another, you should do some experimenting with off-axis lighting. Change the angle and position of your razor around as well as the angle and position of the light. You can get better information from your scope if you put some work into it. You should also be cleaning the blade with a small amount of alcohol and a lint free cloth before imaging - those splotches and smears will obscure a lot of fine detail. Your latest edge does look better than your initial one to me - managing pressure is a big key to success.

Great input and advice from all- thank you! I am going to stop here for the night and look forward to shaving tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes. This will be my first Jnat edge!