Six months into freehand sharpening. On the 1000 I can raise a burr along the whole edge and feel it easily with a thumb. Move to the 6000 and I feel nothing on either side no matter how many passes I do, so I never know when to stop or when to flip. Am I supposed to feel a burr on a finishing stone at all, or am I chasing something that is not there?
You are chasing something that should not be there. The burr is a coarse-stone phenomenon — you raise it once, on the stone that does the actual metal removal, and everything after that is refinement. A 6000 removes so little steel that it cannot build a burr you could feel, and if it could, that would mean you were pressing far too hard.
On finishing stones the stopping cue is different: count strokes, alternate sides, and watch the slurry and the scratch pattern instead. Ten a side, then five, then three, then a couple of feather-light passes. Then check by cutting something rather than by feel.
Counting strokes instead of hunting for a feeling has made the whole finishing stage much less anxious. I was doing about triple the passes I needed.
Same realisation for me. The 6000 is not a sharpening stone in the way the 1000 is, it is a polishing stage.
Use a marker. Colour the bevel before you start on the 6000, do five strokes, look at where the ink has gone. It tells you whether you are actually touching the apex or riding the shoulder, which is the more common reason a finishing stone seems to do nothing.
Tried this and I was hitting the middle of the bevel, not the edge. Explains a lot.
For what it is worth, feeling for a burr with a thumb pad is unreliable past about 3000 grit even for people who have done it for years. I use a magnifier at that point and I would rather admit that than pretend I can feel a micron of steel.
@grinder_gremlin · 8mo ago
One check worth doing anyway: after the 1000, are you fully removing the burr before you move up? If you carry a burr onto the 6000 it gets thinner and floppier rather than disappearing, and then you cannot feel it because it has folded flat rather than because it is gone. Light alternating strokes on the 1000 first, until it stops flipping side to side.
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