Thread: Good Bevel Indications?

I have had some success honing to a shaveable edge, but I think it is not really because I know exactly what I am doing.

Without the thumbnail and Thumpad tests what should I see under magnification that tells me it is now time to polish the edge at higher grits?

Thanks!

I look for a clean single ground bevel to the edge. If you seeing multiple bevels near the edge Your not quite there.

The scratch pattern should be uniform and extend from the top of the bevel all the way down to the edge and for the full length of the blade. It should also be one color which indicates a single angle on the bevel. Two colors, the darkest along the lower edge, indicates two angles on the bevel. Go back to the 4K, redo the bevel and make it one color.

The most common mistakes are the scratch pattern is not the same at one end of the blade or another. This indicates that your honing stroke is not making contact on the non uniform portion. A mixed scartch pattern says that you need to spend more time on the last hone to make the scratch pattern uniform or ....that you have shipped some grit level.

The very edge should be of a unifrom level of smoothness.
If some portions are more ragged or jaggy then more work needs to be done.


Hope this helps,

Thanks Randy.

It takes longer than I thought it would.
I need to spend longer on the lower grits, I think.

You cannot determine, in my inexperienced opinion, sharpness with the microscope. TPT, fingernail and HHT test for altogether different edge attributes than the microscope. You can have a fine looking bevel on an edge that won't shave anything. I personally think of tests such as TPT, fingernail and HHT as sharpness tests and The 'scope as a "bevel quality test." Certainly, the bevel should be in good condition prior to proceeding to higher grits, but if the bevel edges do not meet at that infinitesimally fine edge, it is not going to be sharp no matter what, and you just can't see that on the microscope.

Scott

Check out this guide that I made. You cannot see sharpness by looking at the scratch pattern on the side of the bevel, a microscope will show you how the edge is contacting the stone but not the sharpness.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=31640