Sharpening a Knife Under a Microscope

I have used diamond stones very few times my personal favorite is Arkansas stones unless doing a reprofile

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That's astonishing!

Amazing footage my friend!

Diamonds are the knifes best friend 😊 Thanks for this cool Video.

Dude the picture on the top seems to have deeper scratches. It’s difficult to see that the bottom pic used more pressure

When is a diamond stone worn out? My very old stones still work, but very slowly. I have used some sacrifices to wear in my new 1200 stone a bit, but my new 1200 diamond stone leaves about the same pattern as the old 600! I do remember when the 600 was much sharper, could have used too much pressure in the beginning, the 600 is near 10 years old.
Also where should the diamond stones land compared to water/oil stones?

Beautiful Footage!

Super interesting! Would love to see the difference between coarse stones, fine stones, and strops and between hard and soft steels.

I was surprised to see the metal shavings showing colour change from the heat.

Love these closeups. Being able to see the differences side by side makes it tangible in a way that words can't. Thanks again for the crazy amount of work that goes into these images and your videos. It really does contribute to the collective knowledge of edges. 👍

I need more of this! This is probably some of the coolest content for someone who loves sharpening. I wonder if it would be possible to capture the other side of the blade being sharpened through lapping film and with a lot of light.

Altercation of pressure in some cases exceeds altercation of grit size. Proving it's possible to sharpen with single stone methods. Instead
of a progression of stones, try a progression
of pressures. Plus it's budget friendly. 😂

Any chance we could see you do an in-depth look at/review on the Shapton glass stones?

My wife kept me under a microscope for years 🤓
Nice even edge for so coarse a grit.

If you are new and looking for knife sharpening videos and information, stop here. There is no point watching any other channels.

Another awesome video. Love these type of videos I know they take a lot of time and work to create. The best channel for this content. Great work man.

Excellent video! That was so cool to watch.

I'm glad you've started watermarking your photography. It's genuinely amazing & companies shouldn't be able to steal from you regardless of their sharpener's quality.

The difference in the creation of burrs is awesome when there is the edge leading and edge trailling movement. The creation of burr in edge trailling is higher and in large quantities.

So helpful to see what is happening. Thank you

quite sexy watermarks =)

Great images, they have helped take my sharpening skills and understanding to the next level. Thank you for sharing. Hope you are doing better, I know many feel the same. All the best.

Woah cool, That's **really** good work!
I had a mental image of what happens; but seeing it actually happen is fantastic. 100% showing this to my friends.

This is an absolutely brilliant way to record the physics of sharpening! I hope you do more

This type of recording could finally answer the life long question to me. Is sharpening edge leading or edge trailing better? I use both anyway because its faster when the stone allows it.

You Are the best 🎉🎉

At what grit do you start to see diminishing returns on how straight/level you can make the edge at the microscopic scale? Is there an optimal grit to stop at before stropping? Does this grit change if using diamond plates vs traditional whetstone? I’m new to sharpening. My admittedly limited understanding from the videos I’ve seen is that the edge is sharp enough after a course grit stone then fine grit stone then ceramic plate then leather strop.

I don't even have words for how precious this video is

This has got to trend.. amazing

Well done Alex.

Every time I think Alex just shot the best photo of a knife edge I've ever seen, he posts a topper like this! Macro Videography King! 😎👍👌

I still suck.😐

As always interesting and informative

140 grit ssems like WAY too much to begin with unless you're trying to remove a good amount of material ultimately. You of course want to step this down to lower grips to smooth out that cutting edge an overall sharpness -- but I feel like the purpose was to illustrate the effects of pressure. This is a different concern for people grinding knives on belty grinders, especially using the unsupported grind surface. Where no back supports is there to help create a flat grind and the flex allows for a more curved grind, I am sure the pressure here is CRITICAL. As a consumer, I would be PISSED to see that my "custom made or expensive knife" had an edge with THIS level of refinement.

The way you managed to visualise this has made all the previous understanding I have gained from your videos, even clearer. Thanks! That was awesome to see in action.

Been watching your content for years now, and I was worried for you at some points, seemed like you were giving up, or had stuff going on.
Glad to see you persevered, this content is great. I recently bought the diamond plate you recommended and for the first time, got my Shun to shaving sharp, emulating your technique.

Alex I just want to say thank you. You taught me how it sharpen and helped me pick out a nice knife. Absolutely loving the spyderco tenacious in m4.

My advice from a starter in knife sharpening journey. Watching this guy made me want to buy all the stones there is. Buying one stone at a time is the way to stop wasting money. Coarse then finer and finer until you're at the point where you want your knife to be. If you buy too fine stone you will have to spend more bridging the gap.

Fantastic video. I am new to knife sharpening. However, I am legally blind and bought a digital microscope but it has trouble focusing on just the blade and it is not stable. I saw your video with the Sony camera setup. Is this what you still use? After getting content stolen, I understand your hesitation to share. I am willing to sign an NDA so I can sharpen my knives using your setup. My current setup is cumbersome and I have to unclamp the knife to get the best view. Thanks.

@outdoors55 when you dropped an affiliate link the other week for the Sharpal dual sided diamond stone, I jumped on the occasion (I hope my purchase "qualified" for your kickback). It seems indeed there is absolutely no grit contamination. But after sharpening 3 blades, there are already 3 spots on the fine side where the plating (and the diamonds) came off. Is this something to be expected, or should I contact their helpdesk for a replacement? I think for now these spots are small enough that I don't think it impacts the result, but I don't have enough experience to judge this. (Hence my question to you because otherwise any firstliner will be able to send me off into the woods...)

This video must be very difficult to get, since it is what everyone would want to see, but nobody else has managed to get.

As one small thing to pick out, note what happens to the small shreds of a burr as the stone moves in each direction. Two years ago it took you a couple of days to accumulate enough evidence to say that sharpening in both directions was very similar. The major difference in burr was in extent and not direction of sharpening.

Here we can be confident of a fair comparison between alternating direction strokes, but there is a small difference in the burr, even though differences can't accumulate.

Dang, this was a very cool video. You've really cultivated a fantastic presentation style and structure for sharpening content.

Glad you're healthy enough to continue to bring us A+ content! Thanks for your hard work and dedication.

Not sure if this video is the place for this, but here goes.

My biggest struggle sharpening is learning to lighten the pressure

I just can't get that through my head (to my hands), but I am learning and trying. So maybe one of these days, it'll come together!!!!!

Great videos, I always learn something or I am reminded of something I shouldn't forget.

Great content and visuals!!!!!

And Thank You

I think I'm gonna buy a electric whetstone... They seem so good and save you so much time
I just bought a set of skerper stones, and I like em WAY better than diamond
Diamond seems (in my opinion) way weaker at removing than a good whet
And you have more control

Big diamond sharpeners are also very expensive
So I don't own any
Dunno what you guys think

Dear Mr. , You always top your skilled Video shots every time! I am speechless! Best regards from a Laboratory technician that worked with all kinds of Microscopes and loves to sharpen knives! Your afford you put in these videos is incredible and will get appreciated!!!

I would LOVE to see more serious about the different stages of sharpening using your fixed angle sharpener and the microscope. I, too, spent a lot of time messing around with a (cheap) microscope while trying to learn diamond sharpening with a fixed angle system, and it would be neat to see how your findings compare, especially with your unique and consistent content style.

I'm just curious, what grit diamond stone would you recommend stopping at to get a nicely-apexed but "bitey" edge with some teeth? I am sharpening kitchen knives, and I find that when I get to the higher grits, it creates too "polished" of an edge that is plenty sharp, but quickly gets smoothed out from cutting board interaction, and requires more force to get the cut started. I find myself wondering if even 325 grit is too high.