Deburring

[Peter Nowlan]

I had a lot of questions on how I deburr so I made a video and threw in some talk about the burr and the wire edge and the difference between them. All just my thoughts of course and I’m always open to constructive criticism.

[Ut_ron]

Thanks very informative. My sharpening has gotten oh so much better after watching your videos and then following your advice.

[Drewski]

Interesting video Peter. Thanks for sharing. Always extremely informative! I've learned so much from you over the past while. A couple questions, if you don't mind.

Were you using the suede strop to remove the burr, the wire edge, both?

Why did you de-burr / de-wire edge toward the end of each stone? Wouldn't the burr-forming step on the following stone take care of this (even if the burr / wire edge survived the reduced pressure sharpening and the stropping on the same stone before switching stones)?

You strop on suede but then return to the same stone you were on. Is this because suede/leather is so much softer than a stone, and stropping on the stone will not "grab" the wire edge?

Why did you return to the same grit stone to do a final gentle pass (not strop) after stropping on the suede?

You said you can't see a wire edge? Why not? Just the size of it?

Sorry if these questions are redundant. Thanks!

[Peter Nowlan]

Thank you both so much for watching and Drewski your questions are just what I was hoping for.

I’ll do my best to form a clear reply:

Please keep in mind that everything that I do is driven towards my goal of finishing the sharpening process with as clean an edge as possible. So no detectable burr. With this technique there is no wire edge for me to deal with, it just doesn’t form and I mention it because I wanted to explain the difference between burrs ave a wire edge. This was a grey area for me many years ago so if I did not understand it very well perhaps someone else doesn’t.

The reason I go back to the stone after the suede is further attempts to clean the edge, to remove the burr. I know that many sharpeners wait to move on to finer grit stones to do this but I’ve found that my edges are much better when I start the burr removal right away. I don’t see the role of finer stones as burr removers, I see them as refiners, they reduce the depth of the scratches created by the coarse stone.

You don’t need suede or felt, leather is fine.
So to be clear. I don’t deal with a wire edge because there is no wire edge. The reason you can’t see it under light is because it forms, if and when it does form for some sharpeners, it forms below the primary edge so it doesn’t reflect light like a burr does.

Have I helped you at all ?

Peter

[bruin]

When I sharpen I de-burr by doing light edge trailing strokes just before move up in grit on my progression, as well as running the knife lightly through cork between stones. I strop on diamond paste-loaded leather and bare leather only at the very end of the process and have never done it between stones. Am I missing something by not using the bare leather throughout the whole sharpening process? Have you tested stropping motions on stones as an only de-burring method?

Thanks for lending your expertise, keep the videos coming!

[Peter Nowlan]

Bruin your technique is just fine, no need to adjust anything in my opinion.
I got the idea of stropping on leather after each stone from a sharpener I admire many years ago. I didn’t always do this and often I would remove the burr by adjusting pressure only at the end of each stone. Only recently have I got back to stropping lightly on either bare leather or diamond paste laden leather. Now I do things just like in the video. It may and probably is overkill but I’ve noticed a difference. I used to just strop lightly non a finishing stone at the very end which is good practice as well. Yes I do believe that is a very good method to deburr.

I believe that burr removal is the best way we can influence our edges positively. I picture the tiny fragments of metal that would still be visible at much greater magnification. Those are the little bastards I’m going for

[Jeff B]

Another excellent video and lesson Peter.

I used to just deburr at the end of the sharpening process on the final stone and using a felt block and leather strop. I started to deburr on my coarse stone about a year ago and use felt between each stone and noticed an improvement in my edges. I believe in deburring immediately after raising the burr now regardless of your prefered method of doing it.

[Peter Nowlan]

Jeff thanks. Yes I used to wait as well and I’m fact there was a time I never even spoke the word “deburr”. I must have been a terrible sharpener back then.


Nano Hone is producing videos now with Murray Carter. I don’t like the second one but Chsp 3 is much better. I wish I had their production capacity.

[Jeff B]

...I wish I had their production capacity.

Ah...you do just fine, I like that more personal feel of videos like yours!

[nakneker]

Jeff thanks. Yes I used to wait as well and I’m fact there was a time I never even spoke the word “deburr”. I must have been a terrible sharpener back then.


Nano Hone is producing videos now with Murray Carter. I don’t like the second one but Chsp 3 is much better. I wish I had their production capacity.

I’m with Jeff, your videos are great, I like them!

[Peter Nowlan]

Thank you