One trick that has saved me many hrs sharpening is to mark the edge of the knife with a sharpie. This way you can see with a light pass of the stone if you’re matching the factory edge thus accelerating the process because you’re not creating a whole new edge. This can make a 10 minute job a 3hr job on some of the modern super steels in pocket knives if you get it wrong. The idea is to remove the sharpie along the whole edge with the focus being right at the cutting edge.
-
-
That is a great tip. I have started doing that and it makes a huge difference. -
Similar to smoking a bullet when handloading to see if it touches the rifling. Good idea. Wonder if anyone other than Mr. Bones knows what I am talking about... -
texastweeter There are a few more of us who know too. The smoking technique was originally developed by medieval locksmiths to cut keys when the original keys were lost.
-
-
I wish I was at the level of noticing burrs and edges and angles and all that. I tend to have a caveman mindset of 'knife not sharp, make sharper, now it's sharper, good'. Thanks for this insightful post! Years worth of experience here.Comment
-
Awesome share. Much appreciated!Comment
-
Fascinating! I have a set of Wusthof Ikon knives we got 14 years ago and I've been wondering what to do about sharpening them. I do have an electric sharpener but it seems like that's not good to keep using. I'm thinking after 14 years, it'd probably be good to have them sharpened by a professional
Would you recommend sending them back to Wusthof or finding a local business to do it? Any suggestions on how to find somebody who knows wha the heck they're doing?Comment
-
Thanks ILMsmoke! I don't mind learning a new craft at all - my hesitation would be "how bad can I screw this thing up if I do it wrong?" Would you guess with something like the Apex, common sense, and patience, it's fairly idiot proof?
Looks like based on what you suggested the Apex 2 kit would be the one to get?
Comment
-
Here's a sale at Amazon:
for a ZWILLING Pro 7-inch Rocking Santoku Knife, 7" 45% off for $90
Does anyone have one of these I'm thinking about ordering one.
Comment
-
Better price here: https://www.cutleryandmore.com/zwill...-knife-p137863
-
Great post with lots of good information! Thank you.Comment
-
I'm in the camp with Huskee. I had a KME Precision kit (similar idea to Edge Pro, Wicked Edge, Apec, Lansky, etc.) with ALL the stones. They all allow variable fixed angle sharpening, very precise, keeping each stone from coarse to stropping grits at the same angle. As recommended, used a sharpie to paint the bezel/edge to set the angle to how the knife was made. It was very, very tedious work and my poor arthritic hands could never get the feel of the burr.
So, even though I know electric sharpeners take off too much metal, I've surrendered happily to my Worksharp E-5. If needed, I'll take my better knives to a pro.
Comment
-
I enjoyed reading your post, thank you
I just picked up a Riuxin Pro (RX008) on Amazon and look forward at honing my sharpening skills!
Do you have suggestions on the best grit to use start and finish with?
Thanks again for the info!Comment
-
I have both a lansky set and a ken onion worksharp I guess I'll stick to the lanky or go back to sending them outComment
-
so I'm starting to look more at this DIY option. One stupid question I have is blade angle. I believe my Wusthof Ikon's are 28 degree blades. I'm assuming it's important to get a sharpener that matches this angle? the reason I ask is that I looked at the Edge Pro Apex and it looks like the angle ranges from 10-24 and recommends a 21 degree angle for most knives.
Am I interpreting all this right?
Attached FilesComment
-
As I understand it, you can have a narrow (smaller) angle if the steel is hard enough as softer steel won't maintain a high acute angle and you'd need to sharpen it quite a lot.
However, I don't think the difference between 28 and 24 is enough to matter to a home cook. Resetting the angle will take a bit more work upfront but after its done, its done.
according to this https://allknives.co/wusthof-ikon-knife-set/ the Ikons are 58 HRC which is relatively soft, so I'd not go beyond 21 or so. -
Thanks rickgregory! That makes sense, given that apparently Wusthof's santoku knives are apparently sharpened to 20 degrees instead of 28. I have both kinds, so it'd probably be worth it just to reset to 21 upfront and fuggetaboutit
-
-
Do you have any experience with (or opinion about) the heavily advertised "Wasabi" sharpening system?Last edited by MBMorgan; January 28, 2022, 06:42 PM.Comment
-
ILMsmoke this topic is full of great information and thanks a bunch for sharing your experiences. I have no reason not to believe anything that you have said, especially since you have years of professional experience backing it up. I also know anyone that uses a Tormek knows sharpening. I debated long and hard years ago about getting a T-8 when I was more serious about woodworking and getting tired of sharpening chisels by hand and truing grooves out of cheaper wet stones. I just couldn't justify the cost for a couple sets of chisels.Originally posted by ILMsmoke View Post
I would like to ask a little more about the statement I quoted above. Seeing you are a professional sharpener, I'm guessing that you are dealing with a lot of commercial situations with restaurants, chefs, etc. and are maybe sharpening their knives monthly or several times a year?
For your average home cook that has maybe 4-6 good knives (like Victorinox, Mercer, Dalstrong $25-75 good) and uses a couple of them a few times a week like a Chef's knife and Nakiri and the rest about once a week, how many years would it take for an electric sharpener like a WorkSharp E-5 or Ken Onion to ruin them? I'm newer into decent knife ownership and even newer into sharpening kitchen knives, but I see probably sharpening my knives maybe 1-2 times a year, running them across a ceramic steel occasionally to true the edge and if I notice the more heavily used knives dulling just a little, might run them through the E-5 on the finest belt a time or two between a regular multi-belt sharpening of all the knives?
The reason I ask is I don't see my plans changing. I'm not interested in buying a $850 sharpening system before extra blade specific accessories to sharpen a knife and chisel collection worth less than half that. I'm also not interested in hand sharpening a bunch of knives and learning to hold a perfect angle all the time. However, what the information might change for me is affecting any future knives I buy. If I'm going to ruin what I have in 5-10 years using the E-5, then what I'm buying will probably be what I stick with and I'll learn to fend of the lust of buying some of the $100-200 knifes I occasionally drool over.
Comment
-
This Russian company makes some very nice sharpeners. https://tsprof.us
Also, remember, most Japanese knives are flat on one side. Don't bevel that side! Also, for sharpening newbies, the angle refers to the angle per side. (as a recent newbie myself.)
Like ComfortablyNumb, I use an angle cube. I agree with rickgregory in setting an angle for the majority of your knives, to keep things simpler and more reproducible. I've chosen 160 per side. My exceptions are 250 per side for my cleaver, and 130 for my filet knives. 🤷ðŸ»â€â™‚ï¸
Comment
-
Most traditional Japanese knives are single bevel. I have plenty of Japanese knives that are beveled on both sides and would argue that the majority of Japanese knives sold outside of Japan are double bevel. Most are around 15 or so degrees edge angle. Just know your knives before you attempt to sharpen them. -
Yeah those TSProf look nice - but starting at $400, I lose interest real quick. -
realdocBBQ Yes. If you ignore the black anodized model, the Kadet + diamond sharpeners is $370. Half the price of The Wicked Edge.
BTW, either someone has had a name change, or someone has stolen an avatar.
-
Comment