Thread: What do I need for my kitchen knives

I have the 1k,4k,8k,12k naniwa hones but I doubt I could sharpen my kitchen and pocket knives with them. What hone should I order. 800, 320???? also any tips on honing the knives would be appreciated

I use my Naniwa 1k, seems to work well, and have yet to go up to 5k which people suggest should really do a great job. I don't see any reason you can't use your Naniwas on kitchen knives. Are they in bad enough shape that you need a lower grit?
If so, I like the EZ Lap diamond stones for good general use.

Around 1k is quite nice for starting out with kitchen knives, leaves a decent edge and doesn't remove metal too fast. For rougher work I reach for my well worn DMT 325.

I found paying attention to the burrs helpful, raise a burr on the 1K, flip over, repeat. Not required in most circumstances but if you have a knife with good steel it's nice to take it to shaving sharp.

a 1k stone works well. I use a King 1k because it seems to cut a lot faster than my Naniwa SS. Some knives do really well if I finish them with a BBW. This is reserved for mostly my thinner bladed Santoku and Gyotu blades.

I use a king 1K and finish with a king 6K. Works great.

How do you determine and keep the proper bevel angle while honing, especially with curved blades?

I use a Norton 1k initially or when it is bad and finish/refresh with a translucent Arkansas.

As for keeping the bevel angle - practice, practice, practice - but they do make honing guides to hold blades.

I agree. With a 1k you can push hard with a knife if you need to, unlike a razor which will flex under pressure. A translucent ark seems a little overkill but I have done it before! If you want a little extra mojo, strop it but don't use your cordovan razor hone. If you strop knives, you'll eventually cut the strop.

I have comments from two chefs in two countries that they do not like to finish knives over 5k grit, they feel kitchen knives need a little "tooth" to cut their best.

So I'd suggest a 1-5k progression for normal maintenance honing.

Now I am a JNat guy, and JNats don't have grit ratings assigned to them. In the JNat world, I like to finish kitchen knives with a suita, which is considered for the most part, a woodworking or tool hone. Suitas cut fast. A Hakka or aoto are also good.

As far as angle goes, yes just practice. Aside from mechanical guides which I've always thought were a bit gimmicky, you just have to practice your technique.

I've also liked to separate my knife hones from razor hones. Knives are harder on hones and wear them more quickly because you use more pressure and the blades are larger. Knives really don't need as fine and nuanced an edge as a razor, so get a cheaper set of hones for the knives. If you find crossovers in use, that's a plus.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by criswilson10

I use a Norton 1k initially or when it is bad and finish/refresh with a translucent Arkansas.

As for keeping the bevel angle - practice, practice, practice - but they do make honing guides to hold blades.

Originally Posted by Steve56

I agree. With a 1k you can push hard with a knife if you need to, unlike a razor which will flex under pressure. A translucent ark seems a little overkill but I have done it before! If you want a little extra mojo, strop it but don't use your cordovan razor hone. If you strop knives, you'll eventually cut the strop.

I have comments from two chefs in two countries that they do not like to finish knives over 5k grit, they feel kitchen knives need a little "tooth" to cut their best.

So I'd suggest a 1-5k progression for normal maintenance honing.

Now I am a JNat guy, and JNats don't have grit ratings assigned to them. In the JNat world, I like to finish kitchen knives with a suita, which is considered for the most part, a woodworking or tool hone. Suitas cut fast. A Hakka or aoto are also good.

As far as angle goes, yes just practice. Aside from mechanical guides which I've always thought were a bit gimmicky, you just have to practice your technique.

I've also liked to separate my knife hones from razor hones. Knives are harder on hones and wear them more quickly because you use more pressure and the blades are larger. Knives really don't need as fine and nuanced an edge as a razor, so get a cheaper set of hones for the knives. If you find crossovers in use, that's a plus.

Cheers, Steve

Finally. I was looking for an excuse to buy a chosera 1k for razors - now I have it. I can't be mixing stones!

as a butcher I used a king 1/6 combo stone and had great success .to find your angle set it edge down..yes edge down and split the angle by 1/2 and then repeat that to find a sturdy bevel.salute and use a drawing motion on water stones with knives.use a cork to deburr your edge and find any flat spots.flat spots mean you need to thin your edge and main bevel to achieve a good sturdy edge.ymmv.