3 Attachment(s)
Figuring out some stones and pasted strops
I started self teaching myself to hone razors prior to joining this forum. Most of my info was cobbled together from some conflicting internet readings and my experience in knife and carving tool sharpening. I had a black Ark and read it was somewhere around 1200-1500 grit, so I discounted its use because the much higher grit 4K/8K Norton seemed to be a well recommended choice. I also had a synthetic ruby stone of unknown grit that I used as a bevel setter. Based on some grit/micron comparison charts (reliability of this information unknown), I added three paddle strops with 7, 3, and 1 mic diamond pastes as a less expensive alternative to the higher grit stones. I went this route because I figured the steel didn't care what was removing the metal. I also didn't want to spend a lot of money to find out it didn't work well. I had a local knife shop hone up a razor I was familiar with for comparison.
Since joining SRP I've upped my skills and get better edges than the local knife shop (that bar may have been a bit low in retrospect). I recently added a shave ready near wedge razor from a member here which confirmed I need to work on my edges. I also learned a black ark may well be a great stone to add into my set. So, I set out to compare striations from my black ark and the ruby stone to get a better idea of where they fit. I decided to add my strops just to see if it would all fit together.
The blade I'm using is a Fredric Reynolds 13/16 near wedge with a smile. I'm about 95% sure this blade will not live again due to pitting along the edge. Some chips are also present. I figured this was a good test subject for practice of several skills moving forward. My goal is not to make this sharp, but to compare striation patterns and see change between the stones/strops. The bevel is not fully set, but set enough to get good contact with the stones and see changes. It has been on the ruby stone through 8K. and through the black ark and strops three times since I came up with a more consistent approach to lighting and photography. Three layers of tape was used on the spine for both honing and stropping to be as consistent as I could. Each stone was freshly flattened and each strop freshly pasted.
My plan is to post images along the way for some feedback. I took images of the ruby stone and 4K/8K but changed my lighting set up while working with the black ark and strops. I'll post those as I work my way back down in grit.
The black ark and strops:
The striae patterns were changed from the black ark to the 7 mic strop, but didn't change on the 3 mic strop. I used around 400 laps on each and added an extra 400 to the 3 mic when I didn't see a change. Still no change. The area I'm looking at is about 1/3 of the way back from the toe on the front side of the blade, so I should be making good contact. I find it hard to believe I missed contact after that many laps. I will occasionally lift the edge on the away stroke, but feel pretty confident of my contact with the pull stroke (front side down for a right hand). So am I wasting my time with the 3 mic paste? Or is it just going to take a crazy amount of stropping? The paste I got is a relatively cheap product from Amazon. Maybe it just doesn't have any actual grit? I'm a bit stumped so any advice is appreciated.
Edges are at the bottom of the images.
Black ark
Attachment 307597
7 micron
Attachment 307595
3 micron
Attachment 307596
Thanks in advance for any help.