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Old 11-10-2017, 07:52 AM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: ny
Posts: 1,438
Ok well first if you can gets a steel rod it MIGHT be better just cause aluminum is soft and might give a lil but then again so is brass so it might be ok... I do know some guys that have said they did this test by feel rather than sight...me personally I always made sure I could see that deflection....However if you sharpen the knife and check and double check that there is NO BURR on the blades edge now deflection is similar to burr so if you make sure there is absolutely no burr first then run this test and now there is what looks like a burr that would be the same as seeing the deflection but it NOT spinging back so that would say its a lil on the soft side IF you see lil chips then a lil on the hard side....but in my mind here is where the problem lies ideally what you want is the blade to deflect and spring back to its original position so if you ran this test and see no burr afterward now how do you know IF yes the knife is good and it sprang back OR I didn't put enough pressure on it for it to deflect anyway .......do you see where I am going IF you could see that deflection you would know hands down yes it deflected and yes it must have sprang back....so in your case if you saw that lil shiny line down the edge and it looked kinda like a burr AND your sure that burr was not there to start then I would say the blade is a lil on the soft side but when you do get it right and you don't see that deflection how do you know if it wasn't enough pressure or if you really did get it right on....I would sugest sharpen it again get rid of the but and get a smaller rod......I even used a small bolt once you know the long ones that only have threads on the end I cut the head and threads off of that and used that. IF you cant see the deflection with a smaller rod there has to be something else going on maybe you left that edge a lil to thick before you put the secondary bevel on or yyour angle could be a lil off from what you think and its too wide (the wider it is the more pressure it takes) or maybe you don't have the best of eyes ....when my father was alive and I first started making knives (this was when I was in my mirror polish stage I polished EVERYTHING LOL) but I would show my father lil mistakes and scratches in the mirror polish he nevr could see them I even made him use a magnifine glass and even with that he couldn't see them I realized I take my good vision for granted...OR honestly if a smaller rod doesn't work its probilly not all one thing it may be a small combination of things....I would say re test when you can get a smaller rod and let us know how you did and take it from there..... Oh if you use a smaller rod where you hold your knife to push down your nuckes may get in the way if so lay it on the corner of the table so your hands aren't in the way and you can use more pressure ((that is a super simple thing and it may be obvious to you but it took me a couple times to figure that out....ask ray my brain does not work on simple only complicated so simple answers come hardest to me LOL)
Oh by the way your correct about the renaissance wax it is very good stuff I even use it on my stainless blades when I probilly don't need it and some wood and other handle materials too it is real good stuf...I do mostly stainless but I do collaborate with another maker that he used carbon so o those blades I use baracaid spray and spray them down when I get them and every day I work on one at the end of the day it gets a heavy coat I only use that while the knives are in my shop once they are done and ready to leave I ues the Ren. wzx.....some guys substitute wd40 for the baracaid spray when its in the shop but wd40 can get messy the baracaid spray dries up pretty good even with a heavy coat but still leaves a nices coat on the steel
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