Thread: Chrome-tanned or Veg-tanned leather?

Ah, it says that it will scratch easily. I would really prefer a leather that would not scratch easily.

My goal is...
1) Best leather for blade sharpening
2) If I need compounds, a leather that will be receptive
3) Attractive leather that is durable & long-lasting

Originally Posted by KnivesFanatic

Ah, it says that it will scratch easily. I would really prefer a leather that would not scratch easily.

My goal is...
1) Best leather for blade sharpening
2) If I need compounds, a leather that will be receptive
3) Attractive leather that is durable & long-lasting

And what blade type are you looking to maintain or 'sharpen' on said leather ? If it is a knife and you want to use compound I would suggest a hard felt hanger with diamond spray. Whatever you get, if you are pulling steel across compound, it will discolor the material fairly quickly.

I'm sharpening carbide steel (the metal found in cartridges)

Originally Posted by KnivesFanatic

I'm sharpening carbide steel (the metal found in cartridges)

How are you planning to remove the polymer coating on top of the steel?

And how are you planning to deal with the burr from removing steel only from one side?

KnivesFanatic, if members replying don't seem enthusiastic about your project consider that 99% of our membership wouldn't shave with a cartridge unless it was an emergency and there was no viable alternative. We found that returning to the ways of our forefathers was much more satisfying and so we've left the 'modern' technology behind.

Would a chromium oxide pasted strop work for this purpose? I don't even possess a cartridge razors with which to test but it doesn't seem a ridiculous proposition... Unless the tight tolerance between he blades prevents this?

Originally Posted by gugi

How are you planning to remove the polymer coating on top of the steel?

And how are you planning to deal with the burr from removing steel only from one side?

Excuse my naivety, but why do I need to remove the polymer coating?

Also, I do not know about the burr. What would you recommend?

Originally Posted by KnivesFanatic

Excuse my naivety, but why do I need to remove the polymer coating?

Also, I do not know about the burr. What would you recommend?

gugi isn't saying you need to remove the polymer coating (not trying to put words in his mouth and than quote him) but that it will be removed when you strop/hone, or whatever it is. The polymer is what makes DE, cartridges, and SE blades more smooth than they would be without it. Remove it through the abrasion of rubbing it on a pasted strop and you're as the Asiatic Fleet sailors of WWII used to say, "Crusin' for a bruisin."

As far as the burr, a knife, as you well know, develops a burr while it is being sharpened. Since the cartridge blades can only be attacked from one side, the other is left unaffected. That is my interpretation anyway.

Originally Posted by KnivesFanatic

Excuse my naivety, but why do I need to remove the polymer coating?

Because that sits on top of the steel - you can not reach the steel without getting that off first. Think of it as something like teflon and you'll probably realize that removing that is not necessarily the same as removing metal. So, the abrasives that we use to hone our straight razors, which work really well on the high carbon steel of those, may not do the same on your cartridge blades until you remove the polymer on top of the steel.

Originally Posted by KnivesFanatic

Also, I do not know about the burr. What would you recommend?

That is a result from honing on one side only. That's why we flip the razor when we hone/strop it.
I don't have recommendation because we do not have this problem and do everything possible to avoid it (edge leading honing, light touch, stop before the burr is developed). Occasionally we have people with little experience show up here and tell us how wrong we are for doing it this way and that the alternative is far better. The last time somebody with very high profile did that it started a mini inter-forum war, which ended with all of his new followers concentrated on another forum silently switching back to the traditional way of honing.

Many of the people who hone knives intentionally develop burr repeatedly and then break it off. It is the lazy/ignorant way of honing - you don't have to know when you've reached the sharpness you'll get at that level and switch to a finer hone at that point. You just keep honing past it until a significant burr is formed, then you break it off and switch hones. You regress the edge by this breaking and then you have to do more work on the finer hone, but it works pretty well for knives where you very rarely get to the level of sharpness of a straight razor.

Anyways, may be somebody smarter/more experienced than me can suggest something, but I am 99.9999% certain there is nobody who produces shave-worthy edges by honing and stropping only one side of the edge.

You don't have to listen to me either, just try it and see what happens - may be it'll all work out and you'll be happy with your honed cartridges.

Originally Posted by gugi

Because that sits on top of the steel - you can not reach the steel without getting that off first. Think of it as something like teflon and you'll probably realize that removing that is not necessarily the same as removing metal. So, the abrasives that we use to hone our straight razors, which work really well on the high carbon steel of those, may not do the same on your cartridge blades until you remove the polymer on top of the steel.


That is a result from honing on one side only. That's why we flip the razor when we hone/strop it.
I don't have recommendation because we do not have this problem and do everything possible to avoid it (edge leading honing, light touch, stop before the burr is developed). Occasionally we have people with little experience show up here and tell us how wrong we are for doing it this way and that the alternative is far better. The last time somebody with very high profile did that it started a mini inter-forum war, which ended with all of his new followers concentrated on another forum silently switching back to the traditional way of honing.

Many of the people who hone knives intentionally develop burr repeatedly and then break it off. It is the lazy/ignorant way of honing - you don't have to know when you've reached the sharpness you'll get at that level and switch to a finer hone at that point. You just keep honing past it until a significant burr is formed, then you break it off and switch hones. You regress the edge by this breaking and then you have to do more work on the finer hone, but it works pretty well for knives where you very rarely get to the level of sharpness of a straight razor.

Anyways, may be somebody smarter/more experienced than me can suggest something, but I am 99.9999% certain there is nobody who produces shave-worthy edges by honing and stropping only one side of the edge.

You don't have to listen to me either, just try it and see what happens - may be it'll all work out and you'll be happy with your honed cartridges.

Thank you very much for your feedback. Would you recommend then only using leather without any sort of abrasive? Perhaps veg-tanned leather? I'm still confused on the type of leather I should use.