Sharpening knives

jbj

Poor old Geordie's array...
Hey guys I know stuff has been posted on here before but I can't for the life of me find it.

I recently purchased a whetstone and gave it a shot on a cooks knife that I've never found to be particularly sharp (the rest of the knives in the set are very sharp and have held their edges well)

I think I did an OK job but would like to know a bit more about what I'm doing before I run the santoku or any of the other knives over it.
 
From what little I know, it takes a fair amount of skill to sharpen a good knife by hand like that. Don't want to try and demotivate you, but I'm going to take the couple of my good knives that are due for a sharpening to have a pro do them.

I will read other responses to this thread with interest though. I don't doubt you can do as well yourself, if you have the proper tools etc.
 
I generally use a ceramic knife sharpener and it’s great. I also have a diamond sharpener (the folding kind from a hardware store) that I used to fix up some really nasty blades that I ignored for a while. But using diamond too often will wear away the blade. I know there’s lots of talk online about needing a whetstone and fancy technique but I think that’s mostly crazy people talking out their asses. It’s a dull chef’s knife, not an axe with chips missing.
 
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Bring the knives to a professional sharpening service.


Use a steel to keep an edge.
 
I have been sharpening my own knives since I worked as a line cook in the late 70s, early 80s. I have used DMT diamond stones and arkansas stones to freehand sharpen - along with a steel to dress edges. I just bought this little unit (about $50), which helps ensure I maintain a good angle. It contains coarse and fine diamond surfaces as well as ceramic for finishing and touching up edges between sharpenings. You can also get an accessory kit that has additional diamond grades as well as a leather stropping surface. I use it without the angle guides -- because I'm quite experienced -- but the angle guides are useful to help maintain a consistent sharpening angle. Use the 20-degree for your outdoor knives, pocket knives, etc. and the 17-degree angle for your kitchen cutlery.

http://www.worksharptools.com/guided-sharpening-system.html

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I have my dads substantial knife collection along with multiple stones Arkansas and diamond. I can only get a knife so sharp before I screw up. Dad could get any knife sharp enough to shave with but I've never quite mastered the art. I did surprise myself with a couple of old camping hatchets last week. Used a file and some sharpening oil. Got them so sharp I cut my finger on one of em.
 
Got them so sharp I cut my finger on one of em.

It’s easy to overdo it. I had to throw out a scissors after I sharpened them with my kitchen sharpening tools. I just touched it up enough to get rid of the nicks and ended up with a long razor that wasn’t safe to handle. From now on I use metal files for anything I’m not using in the kitchen.
 
I bought one of these. I don't need knives to be sharp enough for home surgery, but it made steak knives sharp enough to cut paper.

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Freehand sharpening is a skill that needs to be developed with practice. Guided sharpeners, like the worksharp or spyderco sharpmaker, reduce that learning curve by guiding the edge at a fixed angle. Low learning curve and decent consistent results on the plus side. Time, money & effort...figure out how much of each you want to invest and that'll tell you what method of use.
 
I sharpened one of my set to a good edge using whetstones. I was so fucking bored that I took the rest of the set to a professional. All of them are good now.
 
So I got a decent quality whetstone after throwing out the POS one I'd original.

Spent 20 minutes working on a pairing knife last night whilst something was int he oven, put on some tunes and it turned out pretty nice believe it or not. Didn't try the A4 sheet of paper but I ran it across some kitchen roll and through a bit of cardboard and it went through very nicely. Will give it another couple of goes on the smaller knives then have a go on the big ones.

Now if only my wife would use the correct knife for whatever it is she's doing!!! :mad:
 
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