knife sharpening

[Joel Goodman]

At present I am using a DMT 600 and DMT 1200 for knife sharpening. I would like to add a finer waterstone. My question is whether to go with a 2000 or with a 3000. I think the DMT scale and the japanese scales are slightly different. For my woodworking I go 1000, 4000, 8000 waterstones, sometimes skipping the 4000, so I have nothing in this range. Recommendations ?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Joel,
11 years ago I bought a Spyderco Sharpmaker and haven't looked back since.
Honing the blades of both my pocket and kitchen knives, on my grand dad's old Norton stone was nearly a weekly chore. It was for sure something that I had to do after nearly every good workout of the knife.

After I bought the Sharpmaker, it changed everything. My kitchen knives haven't even seen the Norton in all those years.
Half a dozen swipes on both sides of the blades does the trick.

This is strictly MHO - but - I believe knives work better for "cutting" as opposed to slicing w/micro serrations as opposed to being "razor sharp". Again - IMHO - too fine a stone will produce too thin an edge that will curl over too quick.

Honing all my knives on the "fine" side of the Norton, then running them on a hard (black) Arkansas stone, then finishing them off w/a strop is the way i go now.
When they start to "hesitate" a little bit, I swipe the on the Sharpmaker a few times and they are ready to go.

[Eric Larsen]

Joel,
11 years ago I bought a Spyderco Sharpmaker and haven't looked back since.
Honing the blades of both my pocket and kitchen knives, on my grand dad's old Norton stone was nearly a weekly chore. It was for sure something that I had to do after nearly every good workout of the knife.

After I bought the Sharpmaker, it changed everything. My kitchen knives haven't even seen the Norton in all those years.
Half a dozen swipes on both sides of the blades does the trick.


That Sharpmaker looks like just the thing for me.

I bought my knives here (http://www.watanabeblade.com/english/pro/pro.htm). And as you can see, they weren't cheap (40% extra for the left-handed models). I've always had them sharpened professionally (they hold an edge for a very, very long time when used properly). But my five knives cost about the same as the Sharpmaker to sharpen. I may just give it a shot next time I need to sharpen them.

[Stan Johnsey]

A really fine edge is worthless unless you want to impress folks by shavin' hair off you arm. To cut most stuff (like rope or meat) the edge needs some tooth.

[Terry Beadle]

In Ron Hock's book on sharpening, he also recommends a bit of tooth. Only uses a 1000 grit stone, nothing higher.

I have switched from taking kitchen knives to 6000 grit to just the 1000 grit and then hit the green roughe strop just about 3 times on each side.

Tomatoes cut wonderful. Beef is easy peasy to cut. Butchering larger cuts of beef into steak or cutting pork loin works great.

My pocket knives still get the full grits treatment and do the job but I never use them for food prep.

[John Coloccia]

FWIW, my knives are razor sharp and cut beautifully. If the knives are dull, then a bit of "tooth" helps. Check out a cheap steak knife. Dull as can be with teeth to tear through what you're cutting. My knives shave and cut through whatever I wish with practically no force at all. I'm an avid cook and have decent knives that will hold a keen edge for a long time (Henkel Pro S). My next upgrade, if I ever spend the $$$ to do it, will be Shun knives. They are ridiculously sharp and stay that way for about a year.

I've found that the key to keeping knives sharp is to steel them religiously. If you let that edge roll over, it will quickly deteriorate and you will be sharpening again. I steel every time I take the knife out of the block.

Anyhow, that's just my opinion.

[Mike Henderson]

A really fine edge is worthless unless you want to impress folks by shavin' hair off you arm. To cut most stuff (like rope or meat) the edge needs some tooth.
That's absolutely incorrect. A properly sharpened kitchen knife will cut much better than a serrated knife, whether that's a manufactured serrated knife, or one you make by sharpening with a coarse stone only. Try a properly sharpened knife when trimming meat, for example, and you'll see that it's a joy to use, much better than a serrated knife. Butchers do not use serrated knives.

Mike

[You can prove this to yourself by sharpening a good chef's knife (meaning one that's hardened to about RC60) to a narrow bevel (maybe 15 degrees on each side, for a total included bevel of about 30 degrees) and to a polished edge, the same as you'd do on a chisel. Then compare how that knife cuts to any serrated knife.

Many people have soft kitchen knives with very wide bevels - maybe 50 degrees or more. Those knives will generally not cut well and will not keep an edge. So for those, a serrated edge may work better. Kitchen knives are a lot like woodworking chisels. If you buy knives with good (high carbon stainless) steel, properly hardened, and sharpen them just like you do your woodworking chisels, they'll perform well. You also have to keep them sharp - you can't sharpen them just once a year. If we treated our woodworking chisels the way some people treat their kitchen knives, we'd never be able cut wood.

By putting "tooth" on a knife edge, all you're doing is converting that knife to a saw.]

[David Weaver]

I also steel. Probably once every several months when my wife has hacked the edges to the point that steeling just doesn't do it, I put a knife to a trizact belt for a short bit and re-establish the bevel but with a 1200 grit belt. I used to run them on a loaded leather belt after that, but doing that created more problems than it was worth because my wife treats all knives as if they're dull and manages to cut herself with them if they're too sharp.

I don't have expensive knives, just one of the cheaper forged sets of knives available. I steel them once a week or so when I'm home on the weekend and putting dishes away - they're somewhat soft, but not so soft that they roll over right away at a 35 or so degree angle.

I keep a couple of lower-end tanaka blue steel knives in the drawer for me - the kind you can find on ebay for $60 or $65 each. They are really nice knives for the money and hold an edge really well with a thin bevel.

I agree with the discussion about tooth - knives work best if they're sharp with no compromise. Meat knives included, and the last time I saw this discussion on another forum where professionals were involved, a couple of butchers weighed in and said they liked to maintain their knives with a plain (smooth) steel, and avoid having any tooth to the edge.

[Gary Hodgin]

My kitchen knives, with the exception of a Henkel's chief knife, take a beating and my wife does not like them razor sharp. I sharpen the paring and steak knives on a DMT duo, course and fine. Sometimes I'll follow with a Norton 1000 but usually not. I keep my Henkel razor sharp (slight exaggeration) on my Tormek. I'm the only who uses it. I try to keep it sharp by using the leather honing wheel after each use, but about once a year or so, I'll touch it up with the 1000g on the Tormek as well. I only use the Henkel three or four times a year.

I sharpen my pocket knifes on my Norton water stones. 1000g for bevel setting and sharpening followed by 4000g and 8000g for honing. If things ever got really bad, I'd got with DMT duo before the 1000g Norton. I always wonder about the correct bevel on my pocket knifes and would probably go with one of those ceramic sharpening jigs.