Thread: Kitchen knive training..

Greetings shavers,

I am ordering my first set of hones this week, being a 20x5 Thuringian stone of 8k and an Arkansas Oilstone of ~9k (I'm on a students budget )

Now I do have a practice razor that would be nice to get into shave-ready state, but would not be a disaster if ruined in my beginner attempts.

However, is it in any way profitable to do some training on a set of kitchen knives first? Getting to know the basics of the stone, feeling how the steel reacts to the touch, anything at all? Or is it in no way comparable so therefore barely useful..

Thanks in advance!

knives and razors are different animals when it comes to sharpening.
Razors have built in angle guide in the spine geometry, knives do not.
Because the geometry of the razor it is easier to keep constant pressure while maintaining constant angle.

It's like practicing tennis with a ping pong paddle.

Actually, I think it is more like practicing ping pong with a tennis racquet, but what do I know?

Either way, it probably won't be helpful. You might get better at ping pong though.

Originally Posted by ace

Actually, I think it is more like practicing ping pong with a tennis racquet, but what do I know?

Either way, it probably won't be helpful. You might get better at ping pong though.

I agree.
I had not had my coffee, yet.

So if I may summarize you guys, ping pong is the holy grail of razor honing? Who would have thought!

They are completely different to hone, but learning to put a good edge on anything isn't bad practice. Sharpening a knife usually doesn't need more than 1000 grit unless you prefer it higher. With razors the starting point is 1000 grit, and most of us will say you need at least 6-8k to get a decent shaveable edge on a razor and even higher to get to a comfortable point. The pressure used on sharpening a knife is way more than what you would ever want to put on a razor. Like I said learning to put a good edge on any blade is good practice, they're just different.

It would be profitable. Honing kitchen knives (or any type of knife, for that matter) and razors require a very similar touch to hone. And practicing with kitchen knives will help to smooth out the factory finish on your new Arkansas stone so it will put a smoother edge on your razors.