Reply To: Sharpening
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A much delayed reply
Hi Jesper,
Much depends on how much wear an edge has sustained, or how often you touch-up an edge while you work, as the whetting process can tend to become more involved (Involving more grits) and take longer if an edge is allowed to become too dull. I typically (Lightly) re-whet edges as soon as they don’t feel quite as keen as I prefer them to be and this tends to keep honing to the higher grits, until I feel it’s time to slightly adjust a bevel, but that’s my take on it and not necessarily everyone else’s. The convex bevel is normally best maintained using the same grits and in the manner Paul uses, as this helps prevent unnecessary changes in bevel angles.
Try not to worry concerning speed of progress, as speed naturally comes with practise. Simply maintain accuracy and focus until both become a form of habit and you’ll be surprised how soon your pace naturally gathers momentum in all aspects of your work. Time is money when working as a professional in all craft operations and one thing you’re seldom allowed during working hours is time for tool sharpening, so you tend to adopt the fastest means possible of aquiring good quality sharp edges.
The use of primary and secondary bevels is a slower sharpening method than if utilising the convex edge method. An edge doesn’t wear any faster in comparison to convex bevels, but prep time does take longer and (As you rightly said) the primary bevel will need re-grinding occasionally and when the secondary bevel becomes over-sized. Although primary and secondary bevels are in common use within the trade, I’d never come across the phrase “micro-bevel” at any time during my career, or prior to reading about them on the internet.