• July 2025 Turning Challenge: Turn a Multi-axis Weed Pot! (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to James Seyfried for "NE Red Oak II" being selected as Turning of the Week for July 21, 2025 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

website Science of Sharp

Joined
Oct 25, 2020
Messages
966
Likes
820
Location
Minneapolis, MN
After spending about 7 seconds to see if this website has been mentioned here, and not finding anything, I give you Science of Sharp.
https://scienceofsharp.com/

I'm not sure what kind of scientist this person is, but he uses an electron microscope in his sharp stuff storytelling. So, if nothing else, enjoy the neat pictures of carbides and alloys and grinding surfaces along with the text.
 
An excellent website for knife nerds, but not quite so relevant for us woodturners.

But I do recommend that turners at least have a look at their cutting edges under at least low magnification from time to time to see what is happening where the action is taking place.
 
Well, I didn't mean for it to be relevant just to woodturners, I meant for it to be of general interest to anyone who puts steel to grinding media for the purpose of edge making.

If any turners are using slip stones for edge touch-up between trips to the grinding wheel, there may be some relevance for them- diamond vs. stone vs. ceramic.

And, I know there are plenty of folks here who have woodshops that are used for more than just spinning wood on a lathe. Personally, I have chisels, plane irons, and other general sharp things that will benefit from this information.
 
I haven't read it all yet. I have done electron microscope comparison of different steels all sharpened to 2000 grit and then honed. Carbon steel. M2 hss and A11 particle metal all sharpened to the same level visually and using a commercial sharpness tester cut tge same.
In my most recent test I sharpened the same tools on a 36 grit wheel and then a 350 grit cbn. Turned more than 15 different projects in 15 different woods and there was no difference in the quality of cut. Amazed me but I did enough tests to feel my results were accurate.
 
Back
Top