Thread: Honing other things

For kicks, I tried to sharpen one of my kitchen knives (a JA Heckles Pairing Knife) on my Nortons and didn't get results that I expected.

Anyone hone kitchen knives or others on their Nortons? How do you get the bevel angle consistent without a spine like on Straights?

I was thinking of slicing a groove down the length of a plastic tube and inserting knife into it to make a spine to set the bevel.

Anyone do this with success?

If you go to Lee Valley, among others, they carry knife sharpening templates that serve that function. I've never used one as I learned to sharpen knives freehand when I was a teeny bopper ...... long time ago .... but I believe they work well.

Not everything benefits from a high grit honing. Kitchen knives, I rarely go over 1200 diamond plate. It leaves a good sharp edge that is still durable enough to sand up to some use and the lower grit hone gives the blade more bite due to the micro serrations along the edge. Some things like my bench chisels or hand planes, I will hone out through 12000 grit. You can literally shave with them but they need to be able to shave end grain on hardwood which is a lot different than cutting a tomato.

As to getting the angles correct, no substitute for experience. Over time you just develop a feel and know when it is right. If you want a guaranteed angle every time with little work, get a Lansky sharpener. They work very good and are pretty much a given good edge. Doing it by hand, just practice for 15 years.

+1 on everything cannonfodder said... I use my hones for kitchen knives all of the time with great results, but it's all about getting the angle right. with practice (on cheap knives ) you will be able to freehand a knife with reliable results... but there are jigs out there. Even with the jigs though you need to know what you're looking for in your edge in order to know how to deal with other grits, wire edges, etc.

free handing is fun, when you have to get even single bevel on a 8-10" blade.
I use all my hones on my knives and the results are great.

+1 on the Lansky Diamond System. It is basically foolproof.....

Originally Posted by cannonfodder

Not everything benefits from a high grit honing. Kitchen knives, I rarely go over 1200 diamond plate. It leaves a good sharp edge that is still durable enough to sand up to some use and the lower grit hone gives the blade more bite due to the micro serrations along the edge. Some things like my bench chisels or hand planes, I will hone out through 12000 grit. You can literally shave with them but they need to be able to shave end grain on hardwood which is a lot different than cutting a tomato.

As to getting the angles correct, no substitute for experience. Over time you just develop a feel and know when it is right. If you want a guaranteed angle every time with little work, get a Lansky sharpener. They work very good and are pretty much a given good edge. Doing it by hand, just practice for 15 years.

hmmm? seems ok. I like the edge from 600 dmt for some knives-shaves arm hair but is actually more easily dulled.

but in "standing up to some use" wouldnt you say slamming into hard wood end grain is some stout use.

The reason I hardly ever sharpen a knife beyond 3 or 4 k is I guess; only because I dont want to. When I have finished a knife on 8k; suita; etc the tomato cutting is only improved.

If you are slamming, you are not doing it right. You shave, with light and progressive pressure. You are not driving a nail, you are shaving except it is wood instead of whiskers.

To each his own but when I hone a high use blade, i.e. kitchen knife, to a highly polished edge it may cut like the wind but the edge loses its bite quickly and drawing a blade down a steel will rough up the polished edge on the first pass pretty much nullifying all that extra polishing. Angle is also a key factor. The lower your angle the sharper the blade but less durable because of the very thin and fragile edge. I usually run a 25 or 30ish degree angle on most of my knifes, exceptions being a fillet or thin carving knife.

Originally Posted by cannonfodder

If you are slamming, you are not doing it right. You shave, with light and progressive pressure. You are not driving a nail, you are shaving except it is wood instead of whiskers.

To each his own but when I hone a high use blade, i.e. kitchen knife, to a highly polished edge it may cut like the wind but the edge loses its bite quickly and drawing a blade down a steel will rough up the polished edge on the first pass pretty much nullifying all that extra polishing. Angle is also a key factor. The lower your angle the sharper the blade but less durable because of the very thin and fragile edge. I usually run a 25 or 30ish degree angle on most of my knifes, exceptions being a fillet or thin carving knife.

The angle of the knife is a factor but when you have a knife that is made from good steel (not european except Sabatier) then you can go quite low with no chipping and edge loss.


roughly 7 degrees and holds the edge very long time, thickness @ the spine 2.8mm for reference.

My blades are not that fancy, Henckels 5-star