Thread: Sharpening knives to justify DMTC

Ok, I've read that I can use the DMTC on my wusthof knives. While they don't need to be sharpened often (except the steak knives and the santoku. I bought a chef's choice 120, because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to put that really nice edge on the knives. Now that my first kenrup blade is on the way, and I'm looking into learning how to hone, I should do my own knives too. An added bonus is that I can sell my chef's choice 120 on e-bay as used once, and fund the hones I need for my razor.

Ok, here's the question. I watched Lynn's video. WONDERFUL, I need to order the DVD soon. If I hone a blade with the blade flat on the stone, I'm thinking this isn't going to work on a knife. How do I hold the knife while honing? Is there a way to easily keep it at the same angle all the time? The thing that makes the straight razors easier to hone is that I just lay them flat on the stone.

You'll find good info on sharpening Basic Sharpening Techniques

I'm not very experienced or good at honing knives, but one way I read to get the angle is to take a square piece of paper - a sticky note or something - fold the corners into the center. That will give you a 45 degree angle. Then fold the sides in again - like you're making a basic paper airplane. Fold that in half and you have about a 22.5 (close enough for government work) degree triangle of paper. You can slide that under the knife to get a feel for where the blade should sit on your fingers as you move it across the hone.

Jordan

Honing knives is done at a 10-15 degree angle depending on the style/degree of edge. Watch your edge as you lay it on the hone, provided its still got a decent bevel,when the edge lays flat(not the blade) thats your angle.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

Honing knives is done at a 10-15 degree angle depending on the style/degree of edge. Watch your edge as you lay it on the hone, provided its still got a decent bevel,when the edge lays flat(not the blade) thats your angle.

+1 on this. Yes, you can feel the bevel, though it takes a bit of experience.

When you start out you'll probably measure the angle (w/coins or whatever) and try to "lock" your wrist to maintain that angle. As you get better at it, the wrist-locking thing will go the way of training wheels and you'll go by the feel of the bevel, making tiny microadjustments through the course of the stroke.

It's actually a little bit like the rolling-hone stroke on smiling Sheffields. Obviously the spine's role as bevel guide on a razor makes it fundamentally different, but somehow the muscle-memory of rolling-honing sheffield wedges helps me a lot when I do big butcher knives on the DMT.

Your knife bevels may be a little sloppy at first but don't worry about it too much, they'll get better.

The best most comprehensive information you can find on this is at Knifeforums.com. The "In the Kitchen" subforum as well as the "Keeping Sharp" subforum will get you started well. Just ask a question and the knife nuts will jump on it like white on rice.

Many people have a difficult time maintaining a even bevel angle, so one EASY but creative solution is to make an angled wedge to set the stone on. Then all you have to do is hold the knife flat as you move it across the stone. Here's a link on how to do it: (Double click to open up the actual youtube page so that you can read the comments in the "more info" section) YouTube - Sharpening II 001