Failure to get sharp

Ok, to keep our terminology straight, I'll call the flat side the "back," too.

Some of this stuff I'm going to say is not strictly necessary, but if you follow all of it, you should achieve success. The not-strictly-necessary stuff can be figured out and eliminated or altered later after you are happy with your results. Also, please forgive me if I'm telling you something you already know or are already doing. I'm just trying not to leave anything out.

First, finish the back all the way to your finest grit before starting on the bevel. Then begin with the coarsest grit on the bevel, and work your way through all the grits. Don't skip any. The ones you have will work ok, although there is a better (faster) sequence. Ideally, the particle size of each level should be about 1/3 the size of the previous level. I can give you details on that if you're interested.

Stay with a grit until all the scratches from the previous grit are gone and you have a uniform pattern of new, smaller scratches from the current grit all over the surface, or whatever portion of it that you are working. Keep the pressure firm, but not heavy. Make the final five or six strokes for a grit lighter.

Alternate the stroke angle slightly for each grit to make it easier to tell when the coarser scratches of the previous grit are gone. For example, if you line up the edge at one o'clock for one grit, line it up at eleven o'clock for the next one.

Keep the paper clean and it will cut better. An occasional blast of compressed air will clear it quickly (please wear safety glasses if you do this).

When working the back, make your strokes approximately parallel with the edge. The strokes of the final grit should be really close to parallel. You only need to hone about 1/2" to 1" back from the edge; there's no need to do the whole back. Also, you can stop as soon as the uniform pattern of scratches touches the edge everywhere. If you've followed Ed's advice on quenching, you'll probably notice that the edge is dished just a bit; I.e., the back is slightly concave. This is good; it makes the back go much faster.

When doing the bevel, make your strokes approximately perpendicular to the edge. Stay with the coarsest grit until you have raised a burr along the whole edge. It will probably start coming up in the middle, so keep working until it reaches the ends. Do not bend or break the burr. It will form much easier and faster if you stroke only away from the edge (as you described above for the first part of your stroke), especially given the abrasives you are using. This is because the paper backing has a little "give" and the blade sinks into it a bit.

As you progress through the grits, the burr will shrink, and pieces may break off. Clear them from the paper, but do nothing to the edge. When you are finished with the finest grit, the burr may be quite small, but it should still be detectable by the edge your fingernail.

The proper way to remove this burr is with one or two light strokes on the back with the finest grit. Resist the temptation to raise the blade during this stroke; keep it flat on the abrasive.

If the burr is heavy, it may bend over to the bevel side before being ground completely away. If so, you'll be able to feel it with your fingernail. Remove it by repeating: four or five strokes on the bevel, followed by one or two strokes on the back. When your fingernail can no longer detect the burr on either side of the edge, you're done.

By the way, 600 is really the lowest grit you can stop at for a decently sharp edge. I assume that your 400 and 600 grits are silicon carbide paper. You would do better to go at least to 1000, and many folks go a good bit higher. 2000 SiC paper has about the same particle size as an

8000 grit Japanese waterstone, and although the particle geometry, hardness, and friability are different, either can produce a hair- splitting edge.

There are other ways to get a good edge using the SS system. Brent Beach is a proponent of microbevels, and has developed a good method of quickly getting the type of edge that he likes. You might have a look at his site:

Please also check Ed Huntress's suggestion that grain growth could be a problem. You might be overheating the tool during hardening. If the process above doesn't work, then grain growth could be the culprit. In that case, your best bet might be to start over with new steel, although with care (and, unfortunately, either experience or luck), the old steel could very well be salvageable.

My pleasure, and good luck.

Jim