Knife sharpening is not just about tools and technique.
It's got some art and science in it, too.
Greg
It's got some art and science in it, too.
Greg
Understanding how to get that knife sharp.
- Thread starter Greg Langelius *
- Start date
Its diamonds. Unless you already know how to sharpen a knife, a diamond hone is THE quickest way to ruin a knife edge. It is also the most likely to leave you beating your head in frustration.
Here:
Far superior products.
Here:
Far superior products.
I use a cheapo edgepro knockoff with whetstones up to 10k, then strop with the tiniest bit of 14k diamond paste. Keep the stones flat and the angle consistent and you're good to go. alternating the direction of strokes as you move up in grit with the occasional glance with a jewelers loupe makes sharpening virtually fool proof. I can dry shave with a single pass with most fine grained steels.
I think steel choice is a big factor too. After messing around with exotic stuff like maximet and 3v I've gone back to simple carbon steels like 52100 and more recently, 26c3. They're way easier and faster to sharpen and the steel is cheap enough that I can give them out to friends and family.
I made my wife a paper thin ~10" gyuto with a $15 piece of 26c3 from alphaknifesupply.com that cuts light a lightsaber. I'd have zero problems shaving with it regularly if it weren't so damn big.
I think steel choice is a big factor too. After messing around with exotic stuff like maximet and 3v I've gone back to simple carbon steels like 52100 and more recently, 26c3. They're way easier and faster to sharpen and the steel is cheap enough that I can give them out to friends and family.
I made my wife a paper thin ~10" gyuto with a $15 piece of 26c3 from alphaknifesupply.com that cuts light a lightsaber. I'd have zero problems shaving with it regularly if it weren't so damn big.
It is, but it's dependent on dedicated equipment. And no, I haven't used it much except t try it out. It works superbly, but it's for folks with more disposable income than what I have.
I use Smith products, for my knife sharpening. The are both effective and affordable, and I have several methods for different tools based on several of their tools.
I learned how to sharpen knives and axes in the Scouts, from my Elder Brothers, back in the 1950's. The gear was primitive, but the goods got cut and that was the beginning and end of the discussion.
Over the next four decades, I stayed on as a Volunteer Scout Leader and became what they call a Woods Tools Instructor. Over that time, I found the Smith tools and they nested in nicely with what I was accomplishing. I use my Smith tools for a lot more things, and consider them to be less dedicated and more acceptable.
One of my Smith tools is a diamond sharpening bar, coarse and fine, and it come with a case/handle. I do all my kitchen knives with it except the wavy edges. I use the ceramic sticks for them.
Greg
I use Smith products, for my knife sharpening. The are both effective and affordable, and I have several methods for different tools based on several of their tools.
I learned how to sharpen knives and axes in the Scouts, from my Elder Brothers, back in the 1950's. The gear was primitive, but the goods got cut and that was the beginning and end of the discussion.
Over the next four decades, I stayed on as a Volunteer Scout Leader and became what they call a Woods Tools Instructor. Over that time, I found the Smith tools and they nested in nicely with what I was accomplishing. I use my Smith tools for a lot more things, and consider them to be less dedicated and more acceptable.
One of my Smith tools is a diamond sharpening bar, coarse and fine, and it come with a case/handle. I do all my kitchen knives with it except the wavy edges. I use the ceramic sticks for them.
Greg
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I picked up sharpening on a stone when I was deployed the first time, and ended up sharpening knives for all of my buddies. Here's the equipment I use, mostly for sharpening a really nice set of Wusthoff Kitchen knives:
Atoma Diamond Sharpener plate with #140 on one side and #400 on the other. These are course enough to reshape a damaged knife, if necessary, and supposedly last for a very long time. Then a Naniwa Japanese "Chosera" wet stone #800 (P-308). The same type of Naniwa wet stone in #3000 (P-330). Finally, a Rolled Buffalo Premium Leather Strop - 10 inch on Tempered Glass, which looks very nice in front of the knife set, and gives it that final, extremely sharp finish. You can go to some of the even finer pastes if it's an art to you, but for practical purposes, the 3000 + strop is as much as a chef needs and well more than razor sharp. The only down side is that wet stones are for straight edge knives only. Over a long period of time, I'm not sure you can beat the value/quality of wet stones. I'm fairly sure they'll last my lifetime. Total invested in this setup is probably $350. I've sent knives off for companies to sharpen and return (cutco/wusthoff), and never get as quality an edge back, compared to what I can do by my own hand.
In my opinion, this is as fine a stone as is necessary, and these stones tend to act more quickly than other stones I've used and yet seem to produce an edge equivalent to even finer grit stones. Can't explain it, but do the research on 'em if your interested and/or get one, and you'll see what I mean.
This cheap thing off of amazon is pretty nice to lock in the stones over a sink. I had to tweak mine a bit out of the box to fit my stones, but got it to work and it's nice to have a sink with water right under a firmly held stone.
Atoma Diamond Sharpener plate with #140 on one side and #400 on the other. These are course enough to reshape a damaged knife, if necessary, and supposedly last for a very long time. Then a Naniwa Japanese "Chosera" wet stone #800 (P-308). The same type of Naniwa wet stone in #3000 (P-330). Finally, a Rolled Buffalo Premium Leather Strop - 10 inch on Tempered Glass, which looks very nice in front of the knife set, and gives it that final, extremely sharp finish. You can go to some of the even finer pastes if it's an art to you, but for practical purposes, the 3000 + strop is as much as a chef needs and well more than razor sharp. The only down side is that wet stones are for straight edge knives only. Over a long period of time, I'm not sure you can beat the value/quality of wet stones. I'm fairly sure they'll last my lifetime. Total invested in this setup is probably $350. I've sent knives off for companies to sharpen and return (cutco/wusthoff), and never get as quality an edge back, compared to what I can do by my own hand.
In my opinion, this is as fine a stone as is necessary, and these stones tend to act more quickly than other stones I've used and yet seem to produce an edge equivalent to even finer grit stones. Can't explain it, but do the research on 'em if your interested and/or get one, and you'll see what I mean.
This cheap thing off of amazon is pretty nice to lock in the stones over a sink. I had to tweak mine a bit out of the box to fit my stones, but got it to work and it's nice to have a sink with water right under a firmly held stone.
