renegade50
What kind of steel and hardness you sharpening on a soft dry stone??????
Already posted about the gist of it all, and about Buck 110,s which take an excellent edge.
Also have a 119 and a gerber dirk.
The 119 takes a razor edge but ya gotta use pressure to get hair.
The gerber dirk is probably super sharp to the average person, it can take a few hairs with alot of pressure.
Whatever they use for metalurgy.
Im sure someone can chime in about the science of the metal.
IDC.
Other answers below to your post which have been hit on previously.
Stone has spit on it when I use it.
It's a medium hard white and black speckled arkansas bought in 1985.
It's all about feel thru the blade.
If your wearing in a stone to where it has a curve into it.
Or see a blade line starting to curve in.
IMO your sanding/ grinding a blade with too much pressure and a really bad angle.
Or have a inferior stone or inferior metal in your knife/stone combo.
When what you should be seeking is a continuous unbroken readable angled edge with no dark spots or light refractions when held up to a light source.
Reading the pool of greyish blackish residue while sharpening will tell you things about the progress of your session also from start to finish.
Black line residue off the blade edge on the stone.
Small C shaped line residue off the edge of the blade on the stone
Transistion from start to finish of session of the color of the residue from dark to very light.
All while being worked.
Stroping a blade to get rid of the micro curl/burr on it from sharpening is important also.
Everyone has their ways of doing things and what works for them.
JMO....
