5 million grit announcement!

[ken123]

Like there is an actual need for an abrasive that fine...

Imagine the mirror polish you could get if your progression ended at 3nm. Looking directly at it would either cause you to go blind or allow you to see into the future!

To be clear, without the skill there is no need. You do need to follow a sequence of grits to achieve finishes at this level. If 3k is your idea of a refined finish this is clearly not for you. 'No soup for you!'

Pd7077, these do leave quite bright mirrors. The scratch oattern is finer than can be seen with a light microscope. It can be deceptive in that the edge is a precise enough mirror to where the edge reflects the surroundings enough to appear invisible.


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Ken

[old onion]

I certainly do not have the skill to appreciate such fine grits but I have seen pictures of knives that display beautiful flowers reflecting off the blades by those individuals with masterful skills to do so.As it is with art painters,fine paints are needed to create such master pieces and so it is with fine grits of the artful knife world.

[Wjhunt]

What progression is necessary to make this new product efficient?

[gladius]

To be clear, without the skill there is no need. You do need to follow a sequence of grits to achieve finishes at this level. If 3k is your idea of a refined finish this is clearly not for you. 'No soup for you!'

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So what is the application for this?
Many consider a 3k edge ideal for many kitchen knives. What ever the sequence it must be time consuming.

[ken123]

What progression is necessary to make this new product efficient?

Great question!

Well it is a new product, so some research is required. At this level clearly other poly diamond products should be used first. and also nanocloth strops should also be used
since nothing else is this fine and non interfering.

Grits available to precede 0.003 microns are 0.1, 0.050 , 0.025 and 0.005 microns. We know that past 0.1 we can jump to 0.025 - a 4x jump, skipping 0.050. From 0.025 the jump to 0.005 is a 5x jump. This is large, but based on many reviews this is a successful jump. Clearly going to 0.003 next would be logical but it may be possible to skip 0.005. This needs to be tested.

Note that this is done using strops, so no soaking is required, no splash and go, just go. It actually goes quite quickly. Of course at these levels care must be taken to not crosscontaminate your strops. They should be kept individually in ziploc baggies.

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Ken

[ken123]

....

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So what is the application for this?
Many consider a 3k edge ideal for many kitchen knives. What ever the sequence it must be time consuming.

Obviously straight razor honing is one application. Many users of pocket knives with abrasion resistant steels. Jewelery gem polishers etc. Certainly kitchen knives would be included. There are many knife sharpeners who far exceed 3k edges using both synthetic and natural stones as well as strops past 1 micron and beyond. There are also a number of sharpeners who believe that more refined edges on 'proper' steels have exceptional longevity. This will be a part of this initial testing. More later on this last point.

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Ken

[Kit Craft]

While probably not for me I think the value is there even if only for someone to experiment and enjoy the process. Nothing wrong with that.

[ken123]

One area of use / experimentation that I did not mention is the use of these compounds on natural stones. Here I find the use of grits finer that the grit level of the stone successful. So using grits from 0.1 to 0.025 microns works quite nicely on polishing stones. I've mentioned this in previous postings and can go into detail about what grits to use. Adding more finer grits choices may prove to be a useful area of research.

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Ken

[Jeff B]

Like very very highly polished edges or not there is no practical use on a kitchen knife for this.

[Jason H]

I understand enjoyment of the process but can't wrap my head around a level of refinement needed by brain surgeons. I'd love to learn more about where such a thing comes into play.

[ken123]

This is one of a number of videos demonstrating edge retention testing using a highly refined edge - actually a final finish at 0.005 microns. Note both the edge performances - hair whittling etc as well as the extended performances levels for sustained push cutting performance demonstrated.

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Ken

[ken123]

...and another video with a final 0.005 micron edge.

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Ken

[ken123]

Latest images at 5 million grit. Steel is cts-xhp.

Further enhancements contemplated plus edge longevity testing.

All work performed by Michsel Christy.

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Ken

[ken123]

0.003 micron or 3 nanometer edge video

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Ken

[old onion]

Nice. I have a Spyderco collection too,also a Benchmade collection as well because they are both great. I like taking my EDC knives to the extreme too.That's one of the reasons I bought the KME sharpener that also contains my Roo strops and CBN compounds.

[Organic]

That is some amazing compound there Ken!

At what grit level do you begin to see the natural abrasive qualities of cow leather starting to interfere with the affects of the stropping compound?

[Jeff B]

The water in my neighborhood is more abrasive than this....

[Jason H]

I’d love to see some photos close enough to show the differences between some of these ultra high grit compounds. Its nothing I need myself, but the geek in me enjoys looking at some serious magnification of steel.

[lsboogy]

You do realize that you have a grit finer than either martensite or austentite (basic forms of steel crystal - I'm a physicist) -

[ken123]

You do realize that you have a grit finer than either martensite or austentite (basic forms of steel crystal - I'm a physicist) -

Oh yes. Completely agree. It does bring up an interesting discussion ... I promise not to pick on you for your profession

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Ken