Aha sharpening moment

[tibi]

I have been woodworking for three years and my sharpening was always somewhat inconsistent. It did not matter if I used a guide or freehand. Sometimes I got a hair-shaving sharp edge and sometimes it cut wood ok, but it could not shave or cut paper effortlessly. I used a loupe to examine the edge but I did not see anything peculiar. There is a very narrow depth of field and even with a good light, I was not able to see the cause.

These days I have started to frequent some sharpening forums and I saw a guy who used 400 grit diamond stone and 6ym diamond paste and got hair whittling sharp. So I eliminated the cause of not having a fancy stone being an issue.

Then I saw a post about checking the burr with the flashlight. You direct a flashlight against the edge in a manner that casts light on the burr. This way it can be perfectly visible every time (without using a microscope). When the burr is very small, I could not feel it by hand, so I assumed it was removed. Even though I now cannot completely remove the burr (by stropping or cutting into the edge of the softwood), I can minimize it and visually examine it after every stone. So now I finally have the feedback that I needed. Now I will not sharpen or strop over the burr, but over the true cutting edge (with the burr minimized).

 

[shelmo]

There's a business near me that will sharpen your tools for a couple of quid. I opt to do that and save my time to spend on projects

 

[Robbo3]

As Jim Kingshott used to say "Sharpness in nothingness". Thus if light reflects off the cutting edge, you don't need a torch, then it's not sharp.