# What am I Doing Wrong?



## Julian Nell (Jun 9, 2014)

Hello,

I have gotten pretty turned off by sharpening due to the fact that I can't make a knife sharp. When I sharpen, I am able to raise a pretty even burr I get rid of it by raising the angle to the stone and performing a slicing motion and repeat on the other side. I only have a 1000k stone if that has anything to do with it. Can anyone help me out?

Thanks for reading and any help.


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## jared08 (Jun 9, 2014)

Don't raise the angle. You are rounding the edge.


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## Julian Nell (Jun 9, 2014)

I would like to add that I was following Jon's video when doing that, so it wasn't vertical or anything. Other than that, what is a good way of getting rid of a burr?

Thanks for the help.


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## echerub (Jun 9, 2014)

I agree that it sounds like you're rounding the edge and undoing a lot of your hard work. You can try running the edge through cork or a block of hard felt, or by stropping on hard felt, leather, or even newspaper instead. These are things that will "grab onto" the burr and take it off the edge, leaving you with a clean edge.

The fact that you're getting a nice, even burr in the first place is great! It's a big step already


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## Julian Nell (Jun 9, 2014)

I will try stropping on one of the mentioned items. Thank you both for the help!


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## jared08 (Jun 9, 2014)

I believe the reference to Jon's video you mention is a technique to add a microbevel. That is done using a much higher grit stone.


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## Ruso (Jun 9, 2014)

I suggest you raise a burr, flip the knife raise the burr on another side. Then you repeat same procedure with less force and ultimately with pretty much no force. Burr should become reduced and weakened. Then you can use method described by echerub and ultimately you can try stropping on leather/balsa/newspaper/carboard...


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## Julian Nell (Jun 9, 2014)

I just did a short sharpening session, and I believe I made some progress. I will keep at it using the suggestions from you guys. Thanks everyone for the help.


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## knyfeknerd (Jun 9, 2014)

Good to see you Julian!


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## Julian Nell (Jun 9, 2014)

Thanks, Chris. I haven't been on the forum a whole lot because I have been rather busy, but I have still been making food.


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## Lexington Jim (Jun 9, 2014)

Jon at JKI has recently done a video on stropping and deburring. If you haven't seen it already, it may help. Here is the post http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...Youtube-Videos?p=300220&viewfull=1#post300220


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## Julian Nell (Jun 9, 2014)

Thank you, Jim - I hadn't seen that.


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## LKH9 (Jun 10, 2014)

Just strop the burr on a rough piece of cardboard.


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## Julian Nell (Jun 10, 2014)

I think my best course of action here is to try a couple of the suggestions given and find my favorite. Thanks for another suggestion, LKH9.


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## LKH9 (Jun 10, 2014)

Mind you, when you do the stropping, use only moderate force, gently. Not all kinds of cardboard will work, choose the one that has the roughest surface and the stiffest one.


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## mikemac (Jun 10, 2014)

Personally, i think you'll have better, more consistent results by 'slicing' into hard felt / cork / soft wood (i.e cheap takeout chopsticks or wooden kitchen spoon) / rolled up kitchen towel. Especially if you've flipped that burr back and forth a few times



Julian Nell said:


> I will try stropping on one of the mentioned items. Thank you both for the help!


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## Julian Nell (Jun 10, 2014)

Thanks, Mike. I think I will try that method.


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## Mrmnms (Jun 10, 2014)

curious about what you're sharpening, but I sounds like you're ready for a higher grit stone if you're getting a consistent burr at 1k


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## Julian Nell (Jun 10, 2014)

It's a four star elephant sabatier that Chris gave me.


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## Benuser (Jun 10, 2014)

Julian Nell said:


> It's a four star elephant sabatier that Chris gave me.


Carbon or stainless?


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## Julian Nell (Jun 10, 2014)

Stainless.


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## Benuser (Jun 10, 2014)

The traditional French stainless is very soft, very abrasion resistant and may contain quite large carbides, depending on the care taken with Heat Treatment. High polish makes absolutely no sense with those, carbides will break out. Stick with the 1k. I use an even coarser grit (400) with some serious pressure, and use the 1k only for very light stropping and deburring.
This steel is not the easiest to start with. Especially deburring is difficult. The burr has to get abraded, won't just fall off as with carbons.


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## Julian Nell (Jun 10, 2014)

Thanks for the good information, Benuser.


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## Benuser (Jun 10, 2014)

You're most welcome, Julian. The only thing you did wrong was starting with this soft stainless. Get a basic carbon blade (Old Hickory or so), start again and see that sharpening can be fun.


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## zitangy (Jun 10, 2014)

I believe that if you can successfully raise burrs on both sides... you can sharpen knives as it is all about steel removal

The second part is to remove the burrs so that 2 planes meet and a solution to your quest cld be to* lighten the applied pressure*. When burrs are formed, it means that 2 angles hvea met and crossed over. IT is thus a weak metal and thin and shld be removed. LESS pressure than your regular pressure ( say half or 1/5th) is required

After the burr is broken off, I always assume that that the edge is slightly rounded adn thus a few very light stokes on the stone wld make it more pointy and its done. IF you use your regular pressure.. then the problem will start all over again as you have a new curl!

FInally.. just as much as you cant cook on high heat all the time, you cant successfully sharpen with your normal pressure all the time! For a start.. have High pressure ( normal pressure) medium pressure ( abt half) adn finally just the weight of the knife.

have fun///

rgds
d


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## The Edge (Jun 11, 2014)

I think Zitangy and Benuser have hit the nail on the head. Stainless can be pretty soft, not only making it hard to remove a burr, and also making anything higher grit useless. Adjusting pressure after you've raised the burr can be key to slowly refining the edge to acceptable use. A 10x or better loupe may also help you look at the edge to see exactly what is going on.


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## LKH9 (Jun 11, 2014)

zitangy said:


> I believe that if you can successfully raise burrs on both sides... you can sharpen knives as it is all about steel removal
> 
> The second part is to remove the burrs so that 2 planes meet and a solution to your quest cld be to* lighten the applied pressure*. When burrs are formed, it means that 2 angles hvea met and crossed over. IT is thus a weak metal and thin and shld be removed. LESS pressure than your regular pressure ( say half or 1/5th) is required
> 
> ...



This is the key! Nice cooking theory brought into sharpening knives.


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