Thread: Shave sharp kitchen knives

After years of shaving my arm I attempted my first strait shave with a carbon Sabatier parer just to see if it was doable. It worked but it was apparently not as sharp as Murray Carters. I figured a sharp razor would have to be an improvement. My wife is afraid of my cutlery and I prefer she doesn't use it anyway. She tends to put it away like my cast iron, wet. I have to hide it when not in use. I still haven't broken down and gotten any decent Japanese steel.http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/pickin/MVC-166F.JPG

Originally Posted by beenpickin

After years of shaving my arm I attempted my first strait shave with a carbon Sabatier parer just to see if it was doable. It worked but it was apparently not as sharp as Murray Carters. I figured a sharp razor would have to be an improvement. My wife is afraid of my cutlery and I prefer she doesn't use it anyway. She tends to put it away like my cast iron, wet. I have to hide it when not in use. I still haven't broken down and gotten any decent Japanese steel.http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/pickin/MVC-166F.JPG

Nothin' wrong with that kit my friend.

Here is my Murray Carter nakiri that I put a shaving edge on and tried out... talk about a big edge something like a 20/8 one here

The only major difference between getting kitchen knives scary sharp and honing straights, is burr formation. Kitchen knives want a slight burr when setting bevels, while straights don't want one.

My kitchen knife benchmark is the tomato: if it cuts one without squeezing its contents out of it the knife is sharp enough.

Originally Posted by Kees

My kitchen knife benchmark is the tomato: if it cuts one without squeezing its contents out of it the knife is sharp enough.

Agreed.
If you can slide a knife through the skin with no pressure, or a sawing motion, you have a knife that will do anything you want in the kitchen.

Originally Posted by StraightRazorDave

Have you seen the video of Murray Carter shaving with a camping knife?

That's pretty incredible really, I bet that took a lot of honing.

I guess wedge razors are just knives that are honed to a very keen edge, which, ultimately isn't really practical for anything else.

Cool though.

so what is the process you use when sharpening? 20 strokes each way on each stone? are you visually looked for a bur to form?

How do you keep your angle? Do you use a shim or what? I'm trying to hone my kitchen knoves on a diamond plate I got, but I just dull them...I've got a cheap little King shim, but...

Originally Posted by JimR

How do you keep your angle? Do you use a shim or what? I'm trying to hone my kitchen knoves on a diamond plate I got, but I just dull them...I've got a cheap little King shim, but...

I don't know, just practice I guess.

Originally Posted by JimR

How do you keep your angle? Do you use a shim or what? I'm trying to hone my kitchen knoves on a diamond plate I got, but I just dull them...I've got a cheap little King shim, but...

There are many ways to keep a reasonably consistant angle. Many use a gizmo of some sort that clamps the blade in and has a rod with a stone attached. The rod being set at a given angle... and walla consistant edge.

I just free hand all my sharpening and with practice I can keep a reasonable angle now. But it is not an exact angle, always going to be a bit of wabble in there. I have used the same hold now for a few years and it works well for me. I practiced many different angles untill I settled on the one I use now.

When starting out on free hand, picke up a cheep knife about the same size as the primary knife you wish to work on. Practice keeping a good consistant hold and practice sharpening it. You don't need to worry to much about a proper edge yet, just get used to getting a consistant hold while you run the knife over the stone.

There are some great videos out there (and some scary bad ones) that show how to sharpen. "U" tube has many good and bad ones, just read the comments and you can see if they are good or not.

I also might add that sharpening a western steel knife vs a Japanese knife will require very different systems. The edges required are just to different to use the same technique on.