Sharpening with too fine a wet stone

[YABBER]

Hello all,

I looked around at all the sharpening threads I could find but could not find one that talked about using a wet stone with too fine a grit. I recently recieved a wet stone set that had a 500 grit, 2000, 8000 and 16000 grit stones. I was able to put a razors edge on both my carbon steel and stainless blades, but when I started on the 8000 and up it almost seemed to dull the blades. Just wondering if I am doing something wrong with the high grits or if anyone else has had problems like this. I hope its me because I would hate to see the other two stones go to waste.

[tennecedar]

The 8000 and 16000 are honing the edge so fine that the drag against edge is gone. The same as a razor blade. The edge feels smooth but any pressure will prove that it will cut better.

[BigHat]

can't remember where, but i read that too fine a grit it's easier to roll the edge. the idea being that with a rough grit if you push hard the blade will have tiny chips, creating a very saw tooth edge. with a finer grit, the blade edge will roll instead of chip as you drag the edge for sharpening. i found this to be true the first few times i tried sandpaper. i learned that with a very fine grit it needed a VERY light touch.

don't throw away good expensive stones. just lighten up your stroke, and it should be fine...

[TheJD]

Once you get to 8k grit or higher, you shouldn't be putting any downward pressure on the blade when you put it across the stone. You should be guiding it forward and letting the weight of the blade be the only thing pushing it down.

[tennecedar]

Once you get to 8k grit or higher, you shouldn't be putting any downward pressure on the blade when you put it across the stone. You should be guiding it forward and letting the weight of the blade be the only thing pushing it down.

:dblthumb: