Thread: How to sharpen kitchen knives????

FWIW I also got in a Lansky Crock Stick sharpener. Click

Said to be good for quick touch-ups.

After the trials mentioned above, I took one knife to the Crock Sticks, acute angle, and got a blunter edge from it.

Then took it to the Tormek honing wheel (paste 1-3 microns) and got slight improvement.

To be fair, by now the the 2ndary bevel was pretty convex.

It was disappointing to find that with the medium size knife, bevel set to 19 degrees, on one side of it on the Tormek the handle would've fouled the grind wheel without moving the blade to the far side shoulder of the honing wheel. Prob. I need more messing about with the settings.

So here's a bit more data this time looking at guides for use on a water stone. If you already have some stones in the shed, why not use them. OK, the OP was talking about foolproof methods so I tried another couple that are close to it.

Test mule was an 8" Mundial French cook's knife; orig bevel angle about 40 degrees included (but how do you measure these??). The stone was 25mm thick placed on a DMT stick sheet on a dedicated flat wood plate.

1. Stationery spline as per Leonard Lee

All that Officeworks could supply were more D than V shaped. A 75mm length was slipped over the knife top and the knife laid on the stone so tilted. Came pretty close to the existing angle but it was a fiddle keeping the knife top pressing against the spline inside top.

Result: a bit variable angle wise but not bad.

Officeworks also sell 'swing-grip files' with narrower splines that can be pillaged to get more acute angles.

2. DMT Knife Clamp

Basically it's the clamp only pictured here. Lee Valley used to sell it for use with water stones but no longer AFAIK.

At the clamp top are height adjustable rods that ride on a flat base alongside the stone to provide a consistent angle of grind (see pic).

And they did; better than the spline.

Limitations:

First, the clamp is not much better in holding power than the Lansky, but with a light touch it did the job.

Second, on a 25mm thick stone it isn't going to go steeper than the original bevel, which you might want for hacking knives.

Third, my #8000 grit stone is on a wood stand and is too high for this caper to work. (I really will have to take the stand off for other reasons as well).

Hope this is of use.
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We use the Furi diamond finger system here at home. Works really well for general kitchen use. We didn't buy the complete system, only a small set of the fingers. I reckon its agreat set up.

Use the Lansky and a quality steel. Both will shave my arm and scare the rest who persist on using the tempered glass cutting board.

Steel will recover the edge for a while though, then off to the lansky again. Victorinox seem reasonably workable.

Jamie

I did a knifesharpening course one arvo at Chefs Armoury in Sydney. It was part of SMH Good Food month October. At the end of day I bought 2x waterstones on special. I have never looked back,my knives are both French & Japanese they came up an absolute treat. They have a website same name,worth a look.

Yes, though it's taken some work and some help I'm just getting to the stage of feeling confident freehanding on good ceramic stones.

Find it harder with Western knives with a distinct short bevel than with the Japanese knives.

Hi AlanS. I'm not really good at it too but try watching this video from the incredible Chef Phil. It helped me learn even just a bit about steeling, and how to do it.

I use stones now of course, but for a long time I used a diamond EZE-LAP paddle thingy, and it did ok.

FWIW, I like sharp stuff. Sharp in a knife for me is to drag the blade through a chicken breast and it's cut. No pressure on the blade, because then it'll embed in the cutting board. Just the weight of the blade is enough.

Makes cooking more interesting, since you're always looking for something extra to cut.

The earlier comment about "just sharp enough to cut a tomato" is not wrong either. Many knives do well with a slightly 'rough' edge on them, so sharpening until they're "sharp enough" is most often just right. Mrs. Schtoo's knife is "sharp enough" since she refuses to take care of her knife, and I can't be bothered chasing it every day or three to fix it.

Conversely, my newest yanagiba is rather dangerous, but it's made for slicing sashimi which requires a particularly sharp blade, and even better if it's finished right too.

(You thought I spent 3 hours on it to make it dull and ugly???)

So, slicing up anything with that monster is a pleasure.

But, whatever works for you and you won't mind keeping the knives sharp is best. Nothing more annoying than a dull knife.

Stu.

Leonard Lee is the "father figure" in Lee Valley Tools. In his "Practical Guide to Sharpening", he points out that the entire, included angle for the culinary edge needs be no more than 12-15 degrees, otherwise far too blunt. 40 degrees for a bone cleaver, 20 degrees for a veg cleaver. My recent experience confirms that. Best of all, I was given a big Porche santoku kitchen knife. Uber-secret sharpening system (which consists of a 4,000 grit waterstone at 6 degrees per side.) That's just a little thicker than a beer mat at the spine of the knife, each side.
Pick out a cheap kitchen prep knife. Sharpen the edge for a total included angle of 40 degrees, Try to cut a tomato. There's the (bad) example.

Won't get within cooee of 15* included using the Lansky system (nor I expect would you with the Lee Valley equiv.). And I wouldn't bother trying with std Western stainless. You'd be sharpening every day.

The thing that works for tomatoes is as much about fine serrations as included angle as Stu implied.

Quality Japanese steel is a different ballgame in terms of sharpening and use; my partner has her own set of knives!

15 degrees or less is really easy to do:

Have you ever seen those plastic report covers, a folded, transparent sheet of plastic?
You put the collated pages of the report inside and then slide a long thin plastic clamp thingie up along the whole sandwich as a spine?
Slide 10 cm of that plastic spine material on the back edge of your knife. Done deal.

12-15 degrees included angle really is pushing it for general use IMO. Sure it will be sharp, but it would make for a pretty delicate edge. 20-25 degrees is a little more sensible (that's for Japanese steel - slightly more for Western stainless).

You'd have 15 degrees included angle on a Yanagiba, but that has a pretty specialised use...

Robson Valley, thanks for the suggestion. See post #18.

You are most welcome.
Tonight, I made breaded breast of Ruffed Grouse. I must have a boning knife, micro-burrs or not, which enables me to maximize the meat. Now that ALL my kitchen knives are 15 degrees, a few swipes on a ceramic rod makes the task so simple.
With quinoa and a Caesar Salad, a bottle of 2007 red, we had quite a feast.
Recipes for anyone who will PM.
PS The cat approved of the raw grouse, we shot 55 birds last season. This year's season, Sept01 - Nov15, is coming up soon!
Bon appetit. Bow your head or lift your glass, or both, we are totally out of grouse.