Sharpening mediums

[Chris the Fish]

Can anyone shed any light on the 'grit' rating of these mediums

Autosol
Smurf poo (blue)
Tormek paste

I usually go from 1500 grit to smurf poo on a strop but wonder if tormek or autosol will take it further?


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[woof]

I've only ever used autosol & it works well for me.

Rob

 

[mick91]

Tormek is 8000 I know. Probably unnecessary though, you hone straight razors with less

 

[John Fenna]

I use the red stuff you get with Aldi "Dremel Clone" replacement bits sets ... no idea of the grit but I can (no exaggeration) get my edges sharp enough so cut the ink off newspaper....
How sharp do you want to get your edges?

 

[rorymax]

but I can (no exaggeration) get my edges sharp enough so cut the ink off newspaper...

What's the smallest font size can you get down to ?

 

[Robson Valley]

There are 3 different grit grading scales (American, European & Japanese.) When you figure them out, throw them away.
The only significant scale is a measure of the nominal/average particle size in micrometers.
In the Lee Valley catalog, you will find the 3M Wet&Dry sandpapers listed by both grit # and actual nominal particle size.
Worth a look, if nothing else.

All of the so-called "polishing pastes" or "honing compounds" have grit particle sizes in the same range.
If the color is honest, you can make a guess as to the composition.
Chromium Oxide is a green color and runs about 0.5 micrometers.
Iron oxides are usually rust colored (I wonder why?) and run 0.3- 0.5 micrometers
Copper Oxides are usually yellows through browns to blacks, and run 0.25 - 0.5 micrometers.
Aluminum Oxide is white, running about 0.25 micrometers.

Then you get the idiotic companies who lace their products with colored dyes (eg purple).
Not clever.

For honing all of my wood carving tools, I use a mix of CrOx & AlOx, sold by Lee Valley.
It's every bit as good as anything else.

The simple fact is that you cannot sharpen any steel to the same edge as a glass, a diamond or a ceramic.
Scanning Electron Microscope imagery proves this point.

 

[Chris the Fish]

Cheers guys, mine can do the paper test but could do with a touch more to shave hair. Paper test is fine for my bushcraft knife but I like my find tools and gouges/carving chisels to be sharper


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[MarkinLondon]

I'm a bit of a sharpening geek, and have a disturbed collection of stones and pastes and strops to deal with everything from an axe to a cutthroat razor, and everything in-between. I'm also a freakish knife snob, with an unhealthy need to have razor sharp tools. So...

They're all the same. All the damn pastes; all the damn stones; all the damn steels. They all respond to all the stones, pastes and methods, and they all get really damn sharp all the damn time. Fetishising what you use and how you use them is fun for oddball people like me, but if you want something sharp, it's a pretty straightforward process.

I'm going to use your question as a discursive marker which reveals your place in the "I Want My Stuff Sharp" world. You want to use the paper test to judge sharpness (which is a damn fine idea), and have tried either a series of stones or a mousepad/micromesh. Your knife has failed the paper test. Bummer. That happens. Do not fret. Depending on the blade's grind, go back to the stones (scandi or flat or secondary bevel) or the mousepad (convex grind) and spend more time. Blacken your edge with a magic marker to check your progress and technique. Get on up to 1000 grit and watch the paper slice itself away Watch a ton of youtube videos for more help.

Now it's time for your inner freak to come out; it's strop time. All of those pastes will do. Find a piece of leather, anything with a suede side will do. Glue this leather to something, suede side up; anything will do. Spread your choice of pastes on the leather and begin the stropping process. Spend 15 minutes total. Wipe one side a few times, with varying pressure, then turn it over and do the other. After 15 minutes, your blade will actually seek out paper to slice on its own. It will need no help from you. Soon the word will travel in your house along the Paper Grapevine, and stacks of paper will simply slice themselves in anticipation, knowing full well that once you come along, they will quickly be dissected into the sorts of little strips that fall on the floor and are found by SWMBO a month later.

Trust me on this.

 

[Robbi]

I'm a bit of a sharpening geek, and have a disturbed collection of stones and pastes and strops to deal with everything from an axe to a cutthroat razor, and everything in-between. I'm also a freakish knife snob, with an unhealthy need to have razor sharp tools. So...

They're all the same. All the damn pastes; all the damn stones; all the damn steels. They all respond to all the stones, pastes and methods, and they all get really damn sharp all the damn time. Fetishising what you use and how you use them is fun for oddball people like me, but if you want something sharp, it's a pretty straightforward process.

I'm going to use your question as a discursive marker which reveals your place in the "I Want My Stuff Sharp" world. You want to use the paper test to judge sharpness (which is a damn fine idea), and have tried either a series of stones or a mousepad/micromesh. Your knife has failed the paper test. Bummer. That happens. Do not fret. Depending on the blade's grind, go back to the stones (scandi or flat or secondary bevel) or the mousepad (convex grind) and spend more time. Blacken your edge with a magic marker to check you progress and technique. Get on up to 1000 grit and watch the paper slice itself away Watch a ton of youtube videos for more help.

Now it's time for your inner freak to come out; it's strop time. All of those pastes will do. Find a piece of leather, anything with a suede side will do. Glue this leather to something, suede side up; anything will do. Spread your choice of pastes on the leather and being the stropping process. Spend 15 minutes total. Wipe one side a few times, with varying pressure, then turn it over and do the other. After 15 minutes, your blade will actually seek out paper to slice on its own. It will need no help from you. Soon the word will travel in your house along the Paper Grapevine, and stacks of paper will simply slice themselves in anticipation, knowing full well that once you come along, they will quickly be dissected into the sorts of little strips that fall on the floor and are found by SWMBO a month later.

Trust me on this.

beautiful

 

[Chiseller]

poetry

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[MarkinLondon]

beautiful

Right on, baby; right on. I feel like the Marvin Gaye of sharpening.

 

[MarkinLondon]

poetry

My blades are Tom Waits's and Charles Bukowski's ugly sister.

 

[Robbi]

Right on, baby; right on. I feel like the Marvin Gaye of sharpening.

Oh,....Mercy mercy me,.... Whats going on ?

you must have the Inner city blues and be a Troubled man !

 

[Chris the Fish]

😂 cheers guys


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