Shave sharp kitchen knives

**Laurens** · 02-22-2013, 10:19 PM

I've been curious about shaving sharp kitchen knives as well, but so far have not succeeded in honing my knives to that keenness. My not-so-expensive IKEA damascus knife takes quite an impressive edge and will (sometimes) pass a hanging hair test after stropping. These knives were pretty sharp out of the box, I managed to improve only a little.

Tomatoes are generally used to test sharpness, but I buy chilis at a more regular basis. Their skins are quite tough as well and my knives will slice through with considerable ease!

**Lemur** · 02-22-2013, 10:39 PM

Neither tomatoes or chilis are really good to test an edge for "sharpness".
A razor sharp (I know you all know what razor sharp mean) knife can still have trouble with the tough skin of a tomato.
The Japanese say the knife is "running", it skips over the skin with no teeth to grip it.
A well sharpened knife fresh of a 4K stone will mostly outperform any +20K sharpened knife in the tomato test, teeth is good sometimes.
Try your knife om proteins like meat or fish instead or on fresh mushrooms.

**Laurens** · 02-22-2013, 10:45 PM

Thanks, I will try that! So far, slicing meat has been a pleasure and I can get slices of ~1 mm without much effort. Also, my girlfriend almost cut off her finger quite effortlessly...

**Lemur** · 02-22-2013, 10:54 PM

Originally Posted by Laurens

Thanks, I will try that! So far, slicing meat has been a pleasure and I can get slices of ~1 mm without much effort. Also, my girlfriend almost cut off her finger quite effortlessly...

Hope she heals fast and good!

Show her pinch grip and to keep her fingers bent like a crab when holding food, let the blade side ride on your knuckles.
When cutting round things like a potato, start by carefully cut of a piece so you get a stable base it can stand on, start cutting a few slices until you are cutting
straight down to the "base", turn it around and keep slicing... a good way to avoid any "overhang" that may make the blade go sideways and hit your fingers.

**ProudMarineDad** · 02-23-2013, 06:07 AM

I sharpen all my knives on a 1 x 30 belt sander with a 600, 800, 1000 and then a leather strop in the sander.
It produces an amazingly sharp edge in a matter of 1-2 minutes.

**mainaman** · 02-23-2013, 06:38 AM

Originally Posted by Lemur

Neither tomatoes or chilis are really good to test an edge for "sharpness".
A razor sharp (I know you all know what razor sharp mean) knife can still have trouble with the tough skin of a tomato.
The Japanese say the knife is "running", it skips over the skin with no teeth to grip it.
A well sharpened knife fresh of a 4K stone will mostly outperform any +20K sharpened knife in the tomato test, teeth is good sometimes.
Try your knife om proteins like meat or fish instead or on fresh mushrooms.

Check this out, a highly polished edge, Scott takes them to 10k Synthetic then some pastes, I think all the way to 0.1 micron CBN

Gyuto Mario - YouTube

**Lemur** · 02-23-2013, 06:57 AM

If you look at when the edge touch the skin it's not biting it straightaway, it skips over the surface first.
I know it doesn't look like much to care about but to me it's a big difference.
Especially when I hold something with a tough skin in my hand and are going to do some quick cuts for decorations.
A toothy edge will grip straightaway and I got full control how deeply I cut, with a polished edge less so.
Try to carefully pull e polished edge along the skin without cutting it, not hard with a polished edge but with teeth you can't.

**Magpie** · 02-23-2013, 07:46 AM

I sharpen the knives for the local eatery, and they complain when I make them sharp. They are so used to a toothy knife, they tell me they are dull right after I sharpen them. So I stopped honing them any further than the 1k, and now they are happy. Of course, if they actually used knives made of steel instead of scrap metal, they might work better!

**Laurens** · 02-23-2013, 09:56 AM

Hope she heals fast and good!

Show her pinch grip and to keep her fingers bent like a crab when holding food, let the blade side ride on your knuckles.

The funny thing is, she works at a cooking school and explains this technique to other people. She's just a tad clumsy! Fortunately, her finger healed well in around a week or so.

Check this out, a highly polished edge, Scott takes them to 10k Synthetic then some pastes, I think all the way to 0.1 micron CBN

I like how the knife sinks into the tomato, but agree with Lemur on the skipping. I would like to see that knife push-cutting a tomato instead. And I do want to learn how to cut as easily as the guy in the second movie!
Besides, those knives are very, very pretty.

**mainaman** · 02-23-2013, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by Laurens

The funny thing is, she works at a cooking school and explains this technique to other people. She's just a tad clumsy! Fortunately, her finger healed well in around a week or so.

I like how the knife sinks into the tomato, but agree with Lemur on the skipping. I would like to see that knife push-cutting a tomato instead. And I do want to learn how to cut as easily as the guy in the second movie!
Besides, those knives are very, very pretty.

why push cutting?
I am pretty sure all his demos are push cutting, but here is a video specially made to demo that:

Push Cut Tomato Slice 2 - YouTube

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