Honing Kitchen Cutlery

[ryan_a]

I have a set of Wusthof knives and I am trying to figure out the best way to hone them. I got them professionally sharpened a little while ago but all the guy did was run them through a machine that scratched the hell down the sides of the blades.

Lanskey hones are what I have read about. Do any of you guys use these? I just really want my kitchen knives to be as sharp as they can.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[Korndog]

Hi Ryan
If you are going to get some kind of guided sharpening system, then you should get the edgepro. It is the best system available and many very good knife sharpeners and chefs use it with great success. You must be very careful about scratching though. Still, the best way to sharpen in my opinion is freehand with some good abrasives or stones. You might already have these; I don't know. There are a couple of good dvd's out there (Murray Carter, Korin) to show you the way. I would recommend going that route and getting one or two good waterstones instead a guided system. Or, get yourself the scary sharp system from Handamerican.com. It's the best deal anywhere, and you even get two leather hones with it! Check it out!!
http://www.handamerican.com/scary.html

There is one more thing you should know. You will never get your Wusthofs super scary sharp with the factory bevel angle on them. It is too obtuse for that kind of edge and the steel is not ideal for super acute angles. I have thinned out a couple of them without issue though. This is a more difficult undertaking and may be one that you don't want to tackle (It's worth the trouble). You can still get decent performance with the factory bevel, but if you want the ultimate edge, you will probably have to go with harder Japanese knives that can handle that kind of edge or take the Wusthofs down a bit. Here is a nice article:

http://forums.egullet.com/index.php?showtopic=26036

Finally, if you would like to borrow the dvd's, let me know and I will mail them to you.

[superfly]

Larry, those are great links! For newbie enthusiast in kitchen knifes, that makes great read...

thanx,
Nenad

[Korndog]

Thanks Nenad. knifeforums.com "in the kitchen" section is as good as it gets for information on fine kitchen cutlery. The guys over there are like our group here. Very helpful and knowledgeable.

It just occured to me that maybe It would be unethical to lend out the dvd's. They are reasonably priced and sometimes on eBay. The Carter one is quite long and detailed.

[threeputt]

Ryan the EdgePro system really is the ultimate in guided systems, but it is a big production just to touch up a few knives. I have the pro system, and also the Spyderco Sharpmaker system. The Sharpmaker is much cheaper, much faster, and I can still get my Tridents to shave very easily. I bought it years ago and it came with a great instructional video, don't know if they still do or not. I could lend you my video if you can't find one. It is basically a "V" stick system, with the Spyderco ceramics. Works like a champ on all my using knives, even serrated edges. For a "show" edge, I still go to the EdgePro. Hope this helps.

Jeff

[sensei_kyle]

I use a Lansky 3-stone sharpening set for... well, every knife I own. Whether it goes in my pocket, my camping gear, or in butcher block the Lansky sharpens it. I've had great success with it. Larger knifes can be quick a pain because of the jig that holds the knife. One of the major problems people have is maintaining the same angle throughout the honing process, and the Lansky takes care of that for you.

[ryan_a]

Awesome posts guys. I have found all this really helpful. My Wusthofs are all still nice and sharp. My chefs knife can cut a tomato with ease, but I just got their hollowed santoku the other day and I was amazed by how sharp it was compared to the rest of my knives, so I new it was time to do something better to sharpen them. I will look into all of these recommendations.

[superfly]

I like freehand sharpening on stones. It is fun task, and creates nice relationship with your knives It also creates slightly round edge which is stronger than straight one. I hone my knives on 200-300 grit stone, but I don't have the heart to bring them to my Norton 4/8K...

[ryan_a]

Superfly,

You are talking about using a guide right? If you use a guide, what one would you recommend for these knives?

Thanks

[superfly]

Nope, no guide. Just put the blade flate on the stone, raise the spine about 18-22 degrees and start the strokes, edge leading. Progress from coarse to finer stones, raising the bur at the first stage. The second link Larry posted is great info on this, and you can also look at this one:
http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/HowToSharpen.html

have fun,
Nenad