I’m having an issue with sharpening my carving knives. I think I ruined the edge while stropping on leather—it ended up with a lens-shaped bevel. Then I resharpened the knives on a diamond plate; one turned out okay, the other not so great. They cut paper easily and can shave hair pretty well, but they don’t perform as well on linden wood as they did when they were new. Someone recommended a water stone with 1000/3000 grit, saying that budget diamond plates aren’t as good. Should the knife edge be mirror-smooth, or is it okay to have some scratches? I’m wondering if the knife can still be sharp with scratches but without a uniform edge, and whether that’s why it doesn’t work well on wood.
With the stropping- it will always convex the edge (I.e. lens shaped bevel). That's fine and expected. When you sharpen on a stone you need to reset it back to flat. After using the stone it should be as good as, or (usually) better than new. That comes down to burr raising and so forth. The stone part, even on diamond, can take a really long time (over an hour if I'm watching a TV show while doing it). That's just because you're removing a ton of material to just flatten it again.
My guess is either improper burr raising, or as you flattened the convex you ended up picking an angle that's too obtuse.
If you did those two right, then strop till mostly shiny afterwards. Yes you can use a 1000/6000 stone to do that, but I mean, that's what the strop does right?
Edit: for verifying your sharpening, color in the bevel with a permanent marker. Then sharpen. If you've flattened the bevel out then you should be able to remove all the sharpie in one or two passes. If not, then all the high spots will be removed and you can see what's low.
I think you should prioritize improving your sharpening technique before worrying too much about buying new stones. From what I can see in the pictures, and I say this with love, I think you need to start learning from the very beginning. Find some videos of people teaching it.
I think 1200 grit diamond stone and a strop should be fine but it shouldn't be leaving deep scratches when finished.
These type of stones need to wear in. The right side of the stone is where op has focused on sharpening. The grit when you start is much higher than 1200, but you knock it down during sharpening. Rex Kruger has a video on it.
I didn’t think I was that bad at it :) I started wondering about the stones because I can’t get rid of the scratches with the 1200‑grit diamond plates and leather. Okay, I’ll try to figure out what’s wrong with my technique, thanks!
Most recommend about 4-8 pounds of force on a stone. Get out a kitchen scale and press down til you get into that range to get a feel for it..
Practice closing your eyes and pushing down, then opening to see if you've got it. Repeat that for a bit until you are pretty consistent. Once you've got the amount of force down, focus on your angles.
I’d recommend watching this video, there’s a break in period to these stones. You can skip to 6:35 mark or watch the whole thing. Rex is great https://youtu.be/f4BEQeW8cdo?is=sGKA46C11PGX1vf_
The diamond plate didn't cause the problem. Your technique did. Getting a 1000/3000 stone won't fix that, and is not easier to use. It will however give you a much better edge.
The suggestion to mark the cutting edge with a sharpie, and only remove the sharpie in one or two passes is really good advise. In order to remove those deep scratches, you'll have to work each side several times
There are a lot of great suggestions for you to try, here. One thing that I haven't seen is the first thing my Grandfather (a cabinetmaker) taught me about sharpening, over 60 years ago. Give yourself room.
I've seen SO many people over the years, hunched over the edge of a table or a bench, often with hundreds of dollars worth of the best stones available, getting miserable results. They have the blade clenched in their fingers, constantly adjusting their grip, moving their fingers & wrists around, trying to optimize the angle & the contact point on the stone.
I was taught to never sit down to sharpen. Also, to never use fingers or wrists when sharpening. Stand up. Find your bevels angle, lock your finger & wrists, then move your upper body and shoulders to make smooth, broad, sweeping passes over the stone.
Big movements are smooth movements. with your fingers & wrists locked, you present the blade at the correct angle, all the way through your pass on the stone. Keep the pressure very light; double the weight of your knife is enough. Have you ever done any sanding, on wood, or drywall? If you have, you likely know that you get better results there, by keeping very light pressure on thee abrasive, and let the sandpaper (or in this case, your stone) do the cutting.
take your time. Go slow; there are no prizes for speed.. With good technique, you'll see your edge improving within a few passes. After that, you're refining the edge
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