Chasing the bur... help me!

[nightowl1]

I have put them to the side for now before I completely lost my mind. I have them to the point that just a couple of passes and i can raise a burr along the entire edge of my blade.

So I guess i just need to be real light back and forth. Every time I feel I'm getting it close and check it. It feels more dull than when I started haha. I am a visual learner so the photos help a lot thank you.

[xtrema312]

I think I am getting a wire edge on my three blade heads because I can feel drag on my fingers full length of both sides of the blades.  So on a three blade head I really need to run a file or stone down the blade vs. working two blades at one time.  Do I have that right?  

I have been stropping two blades at once on the three blade heads.  Should I really be stopping more like a knife and only one blade at a time to bend off the burr or is there something different to stopping a three blade head?  Maybe my problem is I am not stropping correctly or it takes a lot more to bend off the burr doing two blades at a time.

When I use my Gatco sharpener on my knives and two blades I sharpen from the edge back. My edge seems good, but not quite shaving.  It seems to hold up ok, but maybe it doesn’t last as long as it should.  Do I still get a burr with this type of sharpening?  Does it matter which direction I move the blade on the file or stone as it realtes to building the burr?  I have noticed some people sharpen the three blade by going front to back and others back to front.  I am not sure if the burr or lack of one is part of which way to go with the head.  

This is all real interesting to me anyway.  Thanks for the info.

[Kentucky Jeff]

When you strop it helps if you raise the blade just a little more than when you are sharpening.  Just a degree or two.  And remember, LIGHT pressure....

[Sharpster]

nightowl and xtrema,

I have written articles for TBM and Traditional Archer's World mags that address both issues (sharpening 2 blade and three blade BHDs). If either of you would like to give me a call I'll be very happy to help you out and I can email you the articles too. Lots of info on this thread... some good and some not so good. Thanks,

Ron
800 561-4339

[xtrema312]

Sharpster,

I will PM you my e-mail and give you a call after reading the articles.

I pulled out the pocket knife I just sharpened up last week and was able to shave hair no problem. I worked a little wood to make sure I didn't have a wire edge and it still shaved easy and smooth.  Looks like I can at least get my knives sharp.  I must say the edge feels just about like my broadheads.  Broadhead feels a little rougher, but I did use a file vs. a fine diamond stone from the Gatco.  Now I am not so sure my broadhead edge is a wire edge.

[straitera]

N-owl & X, Ron is the man. Call him.

Wish everyone could look at their edge under a 40X scope w/full field of view. No more mystery. Pic above is excellent example. A jig will help make sure your edge stays straight.

[LeeBishop]

Well, I don't sharpen my blades like grandpa showed me when I was a kid.

It's popular for people to shave "away" from the blade and it creates a bur that you have to work off. It's safer and you can do it quickly.

I sharpen in both directions with a very fine Arkansas whetstone with light strokes once I get the angle of the edge that I want with a file and then a more coarse stone.  

I don't worry about burs, because they don't really develop the way I sharpen.

I polish blades, I don't sharpen them.

[Hit-or-Miss]

I use a file 12-15 strokes, then a steel, to get them REAL fine. The lighter the strokes towards the end, the better. The blade will tell you when it's ready to hunt. High carbon Steel, although full of secrets like a dark eyed french Canadian girl at the beach in July, won't lie to you.

[xtrema312]

I read Ron's articles and now I understand this little better.  I always sharpened with strokes into the blade or both directions on knives and two blades.  This doesn't create much of a burr or at least takes it off quickly so I never really get a good one.  Most times I am working down the two bevels to an edge because I flip sides often.  

Now I understand the burr is just a good way to make sure you get one side all the way cut down to meet the other side so you don’t have a flat spot on the edge.   Then sharpen the other side to a burr again so you have them even. Then take off the burr to get the fine edge.  Ron states that to take the burr off you go from edge to the back of the blade with a stroke like cutting a thin layer off the stone.  I now understand he was saying in the post to do this at the same angle you sharpen the blade.  That takes off the burr if the burr is folded to the side.

One of the big things I got from Ron’s articles was that you really do all this with the file or coarse stone. That is what does the sharpening.  All the rest is more polishing the edge. I have probably at times not gotten sharp in the first place and was working down an edge with a little flat because I never got the bevels all the way together.  I was just polishing down not getting sharper.

Now I also think that what I feel is just the edge and not a burr.  I am running my finger across the blades at 90 deg and just feeling the edge.  I think the idea is to feel more the side of the edge to feel the rolled over burr.  

My two blades and knives are sharp with no burr.  Now I just have to figure out the three blade heads.  I have done the marker thing, and I think I have all my edges cut down.  Now I am going to go for a burr before I flip to the next two blades.  Do this three times to make sure I have all the bevels meeting, and then work off the burrs.   I think I have that and it is just the wide angle on the three blade head and the fact I don’t have anything but a file to work the 3 blade heads on.