Thread: Setting a bevel with sandpaper

I'm taking another crack at using sandpaper to set the bevel on my stock of eBay specials, but I've run into the same problem that led me to quit using it last time.

I taped the spine on this 6/8 square point that I'm working on, and got a nice, clean bevel with 800-grit wet-dry sandpaper. (My stock of 1000 was out, but the 800 seemed to work OK in a pinch.)

Then I took the tape off and did about 50 laps on my 4K Norton. Under the microscope I can clearly see two bevels. So I do another 50 laps. Some progress, but not enough.

I thought maybe the electrical tape had thrown the edge geometry off, so I tried some laps on 2000-grit sandpaper without tape. Again, nice, even bevel. But when I get to the Norton, it develops the double bevel again.

I think the sandpaper is rounding the bevel slightly, and it takes forever on the 4K to get it flattened out.

What can I do to prevent this? I soaked my sandpaper and stuck it flat on the 8K side of my Norton. I guess I could glue it down, but I can't imagin glue getting it any flatter than it is right now.

How do all of you guys who use sandpaper avoid this problem?

Josh

You might try something smoother than the Norton, I don't mean flatter. Like Glass or polished stone. When I slap a wet sheet down on my chunk of marble and hone on it I have a hard time getting it back off. I have to either peel it of like a sticker or slide it to the edge and pick it up that way. To get it to stick like this you need a really smooth polished surface though.

I'm so glad this is happening to someone else. I hope this gets a really good reply!! (and answer)

I haven't got a microscope so I thought I could see two bevels but wasn't sure if my eyes were playing tricks or not.

Josh it looks as though your skipping too many grits to get to the 4,000 Hone. When I use the scary sharp method I start off with 600,800,1000,15,00,2,000 and then I go to the micro Paper for finishing. Hope this helps. I'm just telling you what I do. I do have a 4,000 and 8,000 water hone.

I went from 1000 to 4000 with no issues. Just be gentle with the sandpaper in the final stages.

Going from 1k to 4k on the stones is no problem. Going from 800 grit paper to 4k is. That's too big a leap, IMO. Plus, no matter what you put it on, the paper has the tiniest bit of "give", leading to a slightly rounded edge. Either stick with paper throughout the whole process, or use the paper to get the bad metal off, then go to the 1k to really reset the edge. If you're seeing double bevels, it means something is different from one hone to the next, or you're using too much pressure and flexing the edge as you hone.

Guys,

Thanks for the help here. I think I've gotten the problem straightened out.

The pressure really is the key. Finishing with light pressure on the sandpaper seems to prevent some of the rounding I was getting. Every time I think I have this down pat, I realize that I'm still using too much pressure at some stage...

I'd assumed that more pressure would keep the sandpaper flat against the stone, but what it really does is make a tiny ripple in the paper that rides in front of the edge and rounds it a bit.

I also started using my marble slab, which seems to work a little better than my 8K Norton. Further experiments are planned...

Thanks,
Josh

What helps me use sandpaper is constantly worrying about cutting it. I try to go lightly enough by the end that if I were stropping edge first on leather I wouldn't even nick the leather (not that I recommend experimenting this way on a strop).

As I keep experimenting with sandpaper, I'm coming to use it differently than I thought I would. The sandpaper works great for removing nicks and getting the edge nice and straight--two goals that took me forever with my 1000-grit waterstone.

So now I'm starting out on 1000-grit sandpaper, then moving to my 1K stone, which removes the rounding and flattens out the bevel, prepping it nicely for the 4K stone.

I was hoping to eliminate a step in the process, but what I discovered is that this approach saves a lot of time.

So, 1000-grit sandpaper to create an even edge, 1K waterstone to flatten the bevel, then 4K Norton to start the real work of honing.

This process is probably saving me an hour per razor, because my 1K waterstone was slow compared to the sandpaper.

Thanks for all the help,
Josh

I have some 1000 and 2500 grit sandpaper and a 3 x 11 glass plate with adhesive on its way from HandAmerican. I hope this setup won't produce the rounding Josh is talking about.

My plan is to go 1K sandpaper - 2.5K sandpaper, then go to blue & yellow Belgians.