OT - Anyone sharpen their own knives? Looking for advice.

[Oneheadlite]

I’m a professional chef by trade. There’s a lot to potentially discuss here. I’m a fan of the water stones myself. Just recently picked up some stones made by Gesshin to match my knives. That said, I had a 1000/6000 grit combo stone I got on Amazon that worked pretty well. Watch a few videos to get a handle on the technique. It’s not complicated per se, but it does take some practice. With some regular use, it shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes to sharpen a knife unless it’s in really bad shape.

Any videos you`d recommend? I`m definitely due to sit down and do some video research at this point as I`d like to try the actual whetstone next.


Hawiidude - I`ll keep the Dalstrongs in mind. Having just added the Nakiri, and being able to restore proper function to the rest of our knives soon, I`ll probably hold off on more acquisitions, but theoretically I also had enough LSP`s on the shelf before...

[Setec Astronomy]

hey, I`ve done *very* minor surgery on myself with a sterilized #11

I wish I could say I`m a stranger to "razor-blade surgery".

Oneheadlite--my apologies but I can`t read this thread anymore...because then I`m going to start thinking about knife sharpening and I have no room left in in my head!

[Accumulator]

Oneheadlite- Gee, starting with 400 is indeed following the "use mildest.." dictum! I`ve pretty much just hogged off steel when I`ve had something really nasty to do

I wish I could say I`m a stranger to "razor-blade surgery"..

This could lead to, uhm...interesting discussions that I suppose we don`t need to have!

Oneheadlite--my apologies but I can`t read this thread anymore...because then I`m going to start thinking about knife sharpening and I have no room left in in my head!

Heh heh, if I keep seeing such nice equipment I`ll be tempted to upgrade what doesn`t need improved myself! Yeah, sharpening can indeed be another Rabbit Hole.

[Setec Astronomy]

This could lead to, uhm...interesting discussions that I suppose we don`t need to have!

Not really, just to get a splinter or metal sliver out.

[hawaiidude]

Any videos you`d recommend? I`m definitely due to sit down and do some video research at this point as I`d like to try the actual whetstone next.


Hawiidude - I`ll keep the Dalstrongs in mind. Having just added the Nakiri, and being able to restore proper function to the rest of our knives soon, I`ll probably hold off on more acquisitions, but theoretically I also had enough LSP`s on the shelf before...

I posted a few suggestions for videos on the first page.

[Oneheadlite]

I posted a few suggestions for videos on the first page.

Sorry, didn’t mean to make it seem like I was ignoring your suggestions - they’re in the queue.

My initial round of research on anything I always do a lot of reading first as it’s easy to fit into the in-betweens of life. Then I’ll try to dedicate time to watching videos.

[Oneheadlite]

...
Learning how to whetstone properly fun, very zen and something if you get right, you have really really sharp knives.

This video is pretty good. The sharpie trick is especially helpful.
Beginner's Guide to Whetstone Sharpening - YouTube

Vincent Lau is legit knife expert.
How to Sharpen a Knife with a Japanese Master Sharpener - YouTube

They have angle guides that clip onto your knife. These are really good too. I use them all the time.
...

Thanks again for sharing these. Sat down and watched them on my lunch break, they`re a good pair for someone starting off. Really helps remove some of the mystery and intimidation of doing whetstone sharpening.

I think I`m going to work on correcting the edge profile on my grocery store knife in the WorkSharp, then complete the sharpening process on the whetstone.

Having the WorkSharp also really helps cut down the intimidation of trying the whetstone - even if things don`t go splendidly, I know I can bring back a really solid edge using the guided system.

I let my coworker borrow the Precision Adjust yesterday, and he came over after sharpening his pocket knife on his lunch break - "That`s a pretty nifty machine you`ve got there." He hadn`t done any sharpening on his cheap pocket knife yet, and he showed me before starting how you could see the profile of the blade wasn`t even the whole length. Nice and uniform when he was done.

[Oneheadlite]

This is what I’m up against with my grocery store knife -



It’s the knife on the right. You can see where the high traffic area has worn down.

Any recommendations for this kind of situation? Or just start focusing on the edge on either side of the flat spot before proceeding with sharpening as normal?
The down side of that knife is it’s obviously on the softer side, but hopefully that means it’ll be easier to correct as well.

[hawaiidude]

Ok full honesty, I would throw those knives away. But, you are right, it`s good practice.

If this were me, I would start with a coarse stone, get a solid bevel and then work from there. The workshop will be good at setting the edge.

[Oneheadlite]

Ok full honesty, I would throw those knives away. But, you are right, it`s good practice.

If this were me, I would start with a coarse stone, get a solid bevel and then work from there. The workshop will be good at setting the edge.

The one on the left is the one that came back cutting like new. (that`s just a water spot in the picture, not any kind of etching).

For the grocery store knife on the right: I can see where it might seem silly to want to save something so cheap, but I like how it feels in hand. Heck, even if I just sharpened it with it`s current goofy profile I`d probably still reach for it every time. Bobby Flay I`m certainly not...

[Accumulator]

Oneheadlite- Those look like Accumulatorette`s one from Cuisenart. Whoever (really) makes those must use old tin cans, the thing is absolute junk! But hey, she likes it and it`s soft enough to sharpen up quickly. I`m more a hard steel (and hard clearcoat ) kind of guy...gimme something with a Rockwell in the 60s any day.

[jrock645]

Hey, great point! SO glad you mentioned it as we`d somehow managed to overlook that

I had to order mine from a Japanese woodworking tool Co., only place I could find one back then. There *is* the sand-on-glass plate method, but the flattening stones are better IME.

Oneheadlite- So glad (but not surprised ) to hear how well it`s going!

What "paper" are you using to test? I generally use a page from an old phonebook, but eventually I switch to a single sheet of newspaper; idea being to cut it`s whole length without any "sawing", and to get a nice straight cut. Not that you need it that good for most kitchen tasks...

Any videos you`d recommend? I`m definitely due to sit down and do some video research at this point as I`d like to try the actual whetstone next.


Hawiidude - I`ll keep the Dalstrongs in mind. Having just added the Nakiri, and being able to restore proper function to the rest of our knives soon, I`ll probably hold off on more acquisitions, but theoretically I also had enough LSP`s on the shelf before...

I don’t have links, but Bob Kramer, the famed knife maker, had a video or two where he showed how to sharpen his knives he made with Shun. It was a few years ago, but I’d imagine it’d still come up on Google. He did a good job of keeping it simple and approachable.

[Oneheadlite]

Accumulator -

Yeah, there’s a reason the high traffic zone’s not just dulled, it’s disappearing… Can’t explain why I like the feel of it in hand so much, and since it’s “my knife” I have a hard time spending money for a replacement.

Took that as my project for yesterday. Started on the Work Sharp to try to get a normal profile roughed back in, then decided to use this as the blade to learn freehand whetstone sharpening.

All in all it turned out well; another blade restored to safe working order. Should be interesting to see how it lasts.

Keep trying to post a picture, Tapatalk is again refusing to play nice. :doh:

[Oneheadlite]

Success! Got it to post.

Here it is clamped back in just for the picture. All in all the edge turned out a lot more uniform than I was expecting.

[Accumulator]

Oneheadlite- Ah, looks like you`re getting pretty well squared away! Yeah..when you`re really redoing an edge a whole lotta issues simply get cut away, like doing a major Correction