Here are some of my opinions at the moment. They may change over time as they have in the past. The primary goal of this post is to put an emphasis on
PRACTICE.
An edge should be the meeting point (apex) of the bevels on opposite sides of a knife blade. It should be smooth on both sides until they meet.
A burr is unwanted steel on one side of the apex or the other. This steel needs to be removed. The result of removing a burr may depend on how big the burr is. The key to removing a burr is to ABRADE the burr until it is gone. The alternative to ABRADING a burr is to fold it out straight or to create a new burr on the other side.
Methods to remove a burr;
1.
Using very light pressure glide the edge along the corner of a piece of soft wood or hard felt.
While a lot of expert knife sharpeners use and teach this method I am not a fan of it. First of all, I don’t like the fact that the last step in the sharpening process is to perform a motion like you were cutting into something. But mainly, it seems this method may snap a burr off instead of removing it by abrasion. If a burr snaps off the edge would be left uneven and the sharpness and cutting performance won’t be consistent.
2.
Use a strop using trailing strokes.
I like this method as long as the amount of pressure is light enough to ABRADE the burr down to the apex without forming a burr on the other side of the edge apex. People can use any number of things to use as a strop. Some are very soft and some are harder. The key to this method is to use very light pressure. The reason is if you use too much pressure you could remove the burr but also create a new one on the other side. Use very light pressure so the burr (unwanted steel) is ABRADED down until you have a nice smooth edge apex.
3.
Use a sharpening steel with trailing strokes.
I have never used these. I’ve heard several people mention the idea when using a steel is to “straighten the edge”. I think that means they want to fold out straight any steel that has rolled over during use or any burr that may be on the edge. If you actually do have a burr and fold it out straight the edge will be very sharp. But the folded steel will be very weak and may snap off very quickly during use. This will leave the edge (probably) not cutting as well as it should. Have you ever had a Coke can and bent the opening tab back and forth until it snaps off? The more you bend or fold the steel back and forth the weaker it gets until finally it snaps off. This is very similar to what happens when we “straighten the edge”. The edge apex needs to be comprised of good, hard steel that has never been bent of folded.
4.
Just use EXTREMELY light strokes on the stones you are using to sharpen the knife. Push strokes or trailing strokes is simply a matter of preference IMO.
This is the method I prefer over the others. I’m not saying the other methods don’t work. That is dependent on how skilled each of us is in the method we choose to use. Over the past few years I’ve learned and tried the different methods and I have been pretty successful at all of them except using a sharpening steel. During these few years I’ve been reading lots of opinions on forums, watching videos, etc. Over time I got a picture in my head of a burr on the edge and also a perfectly formed edge apex. When I picture a burr on the edge I can envision folding it out straight or even possibly FOLDING it over to the other side. I don’t know if “folding it to the other side” really happens or if the new burr is new steel after the original burr was removed. We all have probably seen the drawing of a knife edge which shows a view as looking at the tip of a knife and seeing both sides of the edge. This shows a nice clean edge. The micro-bevel along with another bevel above it and then the rest of the blade. Here is the only picture I do have to show.
A burr would be unwanted steel on either side of this pictured knife edge. IMO, the perfect way to get rid of a burr is to ABRADE the burr down with the same stone I have been using until the edge bevel (or micro-bevel) is smooth and even from the top of the bevel to the edge apex. BUT, don’t abrade any more than this. More abrasion can create a new burr on the other side. Then you have THAT burr to deal with. You can see how it looks like a burr can be flopped back and forth. But if removing a burr properly on the side of the edge where it is you won’t need to remove another burr from the other side.
I think that’s enough about the “intellect” of removing a burr. We’ve all heard, read and watched how this is accomplished. A burr is unwanted steel that needs to be removed. It’s very simple and not hard to grasp.
However, the difficult part is accomplished in the minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years a person puts forth the effort to accomplish this. Depending on how sharp you want to get a knife will determine how much practice you need. If you want to be able to get a knife sharp enough to shave your arm hair and have a bald spot after 2 or 3 passes, that may not take too much time. 30 minutes per day for 30 days (for example). Even before that you will be getting your knives sharp enough to open mail, boxes, do some whittling, etc. But, if you want really sharp, hair whittling, face shaving edges be ready to not get those edges for a year or so. Maybe two years. Maybe three. I compare learning how to get edges this sharp to learning to play guitar. In a little while you can play guitar well enough for friends to know what song you are “trying” to play. But NO ONE would ever pay to hear you play.
But if you keep practicing (with focus) you will get better and better. Same thing when learning to remove burrs and sharpening a knife as a whole.
My point is we need to understand what a burr is and we need to have a plan on removing it with a particular method and/or tool. The intellectual understanding comes fast, almost immediately if it’s explained well. However, the “understanding” you have after lots and lots of time and practice will then become an “understanding” and ability you have that can’t be explained to other people. It’s more of a “feeling” you develop when learning to do something. Another thing is as you learn to sharpen, make sure you buy good quality tools (stones and/or strops). Then when you have tools that have been recommended by lots of people who are very good at sharpening don’t go buying any more. Wait a few months. When you are successful with those tools it’s a good time to try other types of stones or strops or whatever. But, once you have developed the skill to use the first set of stones you may decide you don’t need anything else. Buying another stone will not improve your ability. It never did mine anyway. Now I have three different set “type” stones and they all work.
There are lots of books, videos and forum posts about light pressure, too much pressure, low angle, high angle, stones, strops, ect. etc. etc. That’s all good but also we need to spend a lot of time practicing. If you want to keep getting better even after your knives are pretty sharp you need to keep practicing. Sharpen your knife as sharp as you can get it. Then try to cut your stone in half (in an area not used for sharpening). The goal here is to dull the knife so you can practice sharpening it again. Then do it again. Again. Again. I don’t work anymore and there isn’t much to hinder me having the time to practice learning to get my knives sharper and sharper. In the past 5 years I have on many days put in 2 hours per day. I’ve literally spent 6 hours in a single day on a few occasions just sitting there sharpening and dulling the same knife over and over. Also, trying to put lower and higher angles on the edge. It didn’t take long for me to learn you need a few really cheap knives for this amount of practicing so you don’t sharpen your nice knives until the blade is much smaller. Another thing about this practice time. Use the higher grit stones. This way you will need to perform LOTS more strokes than you would normally use. Performing LOTS more strokes in this “practicing” situation is all you want anyway. Lots and lots of strokes without removing much steel. Keep the angle as consistent as you can and just keep repeating the process. If you opt to get a sharpening system (EP, WE, Lansky, etc.) you will have more control of the edge angle and you will probably be getting edges super sharp much faster. Still, like any tool it takes a while to master the use of these sharpening systems. Whatever success you get at first will be better after you learn the little tricks that help the performance of any different tool.
I’ve spent some time writing this and if you are still here you spent some time reading it. I hope it has been of help BUT, I bet you didn’t read anything you haven’t already read at least once. The journey to being able to get knives to the level of sharpness that is above average is a fairly long one. It takes a lot of time practicing. This is not a problem though. If you really want to be able to get knives super scary sharp the practice time won’t be a burden. It will be part of the joy. If it is a burden don’t worry about it. Spend that time doing something that brings joy to your life. We already have enough burdens. :)
When you can feel the abrasion occurring you will see how it can't be explained effectively for someone else to do it without also putting in a bunch of practice time. After enough practice and improvement I finally understand what I have been reading all along. And I'm still learning as time goes on.
Jack