Thread: Kitchen Knives and Honing

I would really like to learn to sharpen my kitchen knives, but I haven't found much information about it. It seems that not many people hand sharpen their knives anymore. Instead, everyone recommends some type of gadget such as the EdgePro, EZE-Sharp, Lansky System, Spyderco Sharpmaker, or the Tormek Supergrind.

As best as I can tell, the only real purpose of these gadgets is to help the user maintain a consistant angle. That is a good idea, but I have two problems with these gadgets. First, with a few exceptions, they tend to be expensive, and second, you have to use their abrasives. In other words, I can't use my norton with them. I have to use whatever stone they've glued to their guide or otherwise provided. That doesn't go well with collecting stones from around the world.

Is there any good instruction or information about hand sharpening with stones, or should I take this as I sign that hand sharpening just isn't a good idea unless you're sharpening a straight?

I hand sharpen my kitchen knives all the time and it's so easy I can hardly describe it to you.

I have a cheap Chinatown combination hone that didn't even have the grits listed. I imagine they're around 300 and 600 grit, but pretty slow cutters from what I can tell.

I have a Kiwi stainless steel 8" chef's knife and a Victorianox cleaver. I'd like a 21cm or 24 cm Tojiro Gyuto, but I'm waiting for a deal on one.

I simply draw the blade from heel to tip down the hone at about a 20º angle applying steady pressure. There is something out there describing the difference in optimal blade angles, but I've been doing it for twenty years so I just go by feel.

X

Originally Posted by xman

I hand sharpen my kitchen knives all the time and it's so easy I can hardly describe it to you.

I have a cheap Chinatown combination hone that didn't even have the grits listed. I imagine they're around 300 and 600 grit, but pretty slow cutters from what I can tell.

I have a Kiwi stainless steel 8" chef's knife and a Victorianox cleaver. I'd like a 21cm or 24 cm Tojiro Gyuto, but I'm waiting for a deal on one.

I simply draw the blade from heel to tip down the hone at about a 20º angle applying steady pressure. There is something out there describing the difference in optimal blade angles, but I've been doing it for twenty years so I just go by feel.

X

Same here, but I use a 250/1000 Japanese combination stone. Generally I only use the 1000 grit side and then finish on a 6000 grit Japanese stone

Hand sharpening is a great skill to know. When you leave the sharpening to a pro or a gadget you are "De-skilling" yourself. Yes this is just my opinion. But knowing that you can free hand that knife makes you more usefull in the long run.

I abuse my knives on a daily basis. I am also into japanese steel, much harder steels that can be sharpened to a much finer edge. Depending on your steel type you will need to sharpen accordingly.

I use a hand full of stones in my sharpening ritual...

King 1200, basic edge rebuilding when needed.
King 6k, final polish on my heavier knives and chopper type cleavers.
Norton 4k/8/k combi stone, Primary touch up on all my blades.

I also have a couple DMT diamond plates, a D8XX 120micron, D8C 320 micron. These are used for reprofiling a blade or fixing a major chip or borken tip. Also make great stone flateners .

Depending on what your knives are made of and what your use is will dictate your need to sharpen.

There are a couple of guides that can be purchased separately to allow you to use your collection of hones, but still assist in consistent angle.

• Razor Edge Systems
• DMT

Something to maintain a constant angle can be helpful when your reprofiling a blade as it is harder to maintain a constant angle when more pressure is used.
I usually stick to diamond hones for lower grits then waterstones for higher. Sometimes I stop after using a binsu but if I expect to use a knife for slicing I will continue to an aoto and sometimes a suita.

Just keep trying freehand, with cheaper knives to start with, until you get used to the feel and noise. Sometimes you can feel the bevel hitting the stone as you reach the correct angle to maintain the current grind.
Folding paper or using a protractor can give you an idea of angles and a steeper micro bevel on edge of the blade makes sharpening a lot quicker.

Try rocking a blade back and forth to see if you can see or feel the bevel touching the stone so you get used to the feel and look. Try to do this in bright light.

You can always buy a guide system and work out a way to attach your own stones.

Originally Posted by xChris

There are a couple of guides that can be purchased separately to allow you to use your collection of hones, but still assist in consistent angle.

• Razor Edge Systems
• DMT

Those are very interesting. Does anyone have any experience with them? Do they work well?

I think that I have to agree with Dwarven's point that using gadgets does "de-skill yourself", and hand sharpening is a skill I'd like to acquire. Would you say that, with practice, it is possible to maintain a consistant enough angle by hand to put a super-fine edge on a knife? How sharp do you think is possible?

Originally Posted by murph

... Just keep trying freehand, with cheaper knives to start with, until you get used to the feel and noise. Sometimes you can feel the bevel hitting the stone as you reach the correct angle to maintain the current grind.
Folding paper or using a protractor can give you an idea of angles and a steeper micro bevel on edge of the blade makes sharpening a lot quicker.

Try rocking a blade back and forth to see if you can see or feel the bevel touching the stone so you get used to the feel and look. Try to do this in bright light...

Thats really helpful advice. One thing that lost me was the "steeper micro bevel". Can you explain that a little further?

Free hand sharpening at best will vary +/- a degree or 2. It comes down to how sharp is sharp. For my needs free hand sharpening is plenty and I'm alway learning better ways to do things. However som folks like that crisp line of the bevel when it's all polished up. That would probably be best done on the tool till you really have free hand down. I'm not that good yet but lucky for me I'm not one for purfect show pieces.

The steeper micro bevel saves you sharpening the whole bevel every time you sharpen. I think it would be easier if I find a link for you with a picture as explaining it might not be clear (it's like the bevel you sharpen on a razor while the rest of the blade is usually bevelled as well but at a lower angle)

A quick search turned this up with diagrams at the bottom of the page
http://www.tichbourneknives.com/technical.htm