Author Topic: Sharpening your own knifes  (Read 5996 times)

Lyssa

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Sharpening your own knifes
« on: October 11, 2014, 04:00:47 PM »
Turns out it's much easier and much cheaper than I thought.

I ordered a Japanese sharpening stone for about 20 EUR, watched a tutorial on youtube and at my first attempt managed to restore my kitchen knifes to their original quality. And somehow I like them a lot better now. Liking in the sense of: being a lot less tempted to discard good enough ones to go out and buy aesthetically more pleasing and more expensive ones.

Rage

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Re: Sharpening your own knifes
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2014, 11:05:59 PM »
I would love to see a link to the tutorial you mention.

Lyssa

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Re: Sharpening your own knifes
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2014, 01:17:55 AM »
I watched this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pliwJxVZmG4

Here's a more detailed one in English:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTKV5-ZSWcE

If your not a sushi chef one stone e.g. with a 1000 and a 5000 side is imho sufficient. I also have not spend 30 minutes on one knife. Perhaps I should have since they still don't cut through paper. :-)

jugglingcontinents

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Re: Sharpening your own knifes
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2014, 06:12:59 AM »
my ex-neighbour showed me how to sharpen knives using just a normal coffee mug. the results are probably not as good or lasting as with the kit - but it works in a pinch :)

joleran

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Re: Sharpening your own knifes
« Reply #4 on: October 17, 2014, 11:59:03 AM »
If your not a sushi chef one stone e.g. with a 1000 and a 5000 side is imho sufficient. I also have not spend 30 minutes on one knife. Perhaps I should have since they still don't cut through paper. :-)

If they can't cut through paper, they're not very sharp at all yet. I'd say being able to cut through regular computer printer paper with minimal tearing of the paper is the bare minimum for a kitchen knife (you'll see "fringes" along the edge of the cut if it's tearing).

After paper, there's another big gap between there and "can use as a shaving blade", and then there's a final stage where a knife will pop hairs off without any pressure at all.

When you get used to a knife that you can drop on a tomato and it goes all the way through, it's hard to go back.

eil

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Re: Sharpening your own knifes
« Reply #5 on: October 17, 2014, 12:32:26 PM »
I got this setup: http://www.amazon.com/Lansky-Deluxe-5-Stone-Sharpening-System/dp/B000B8IEA4/

It works, but crikey it takes a long time to do a kitchen knife with it. 30 minutes and it only brings the knife up to acceptable rather than properly sharp. I think the Lansky system is more for pocket knives or something.

Need to give those Japanese waterstones a try next. I shied away from them before based on price but it looks like the selection on Amazon has grown a bit since last I checked.

Lyssa

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Re: Sharpening your own knifes
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2014, 03:36:04 PM »
If your not a sushi chef one stone e.g. with a 1000 and a 5000 side is imho sufficient. I also have not spend 30 minutes on one knife. Perhaps I should have since they still don't cut through paper. :-)

If they can't cut through paper, they're not very sharp at all yet. I'd say being able to cut through regular computer printer paper with minimal tearing of the paper is the bare minimum for a kitchen knife (you'll see "fringes" along the edge of the cut if it's tearing).

After paper, there's another big gap between there and "can use as a shaving blade", and then there's a final stage where a knife will pop hairs off without any pressure at all.

When you get used to a knife that you can drop on a tomato and it goes all the way through, it's hard to go back.

I suppose so. In fact I was on the fence re buying really good ones. That's why I'm happy to have restored my good enough ones to a satisfying condition. I hope to improve on my knew skill and push back lifestyle creep in the knives department a few more years. :-)

LouisPritchard

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Re: Sharpening your own knifes
« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2014, 10:58:21 PM »
I got this setup: http://www.amazon.com/Lansky-Deluxe-5-Stone-Sharpening-System/dp/B000B8IEA4/

It works, but crikey it takes a long time to do a kitchen knife with it. 30 minutes and it only brings the knife up to acceptable rather than properly sharp. I think the Lansky system is more for pocket knives or something.

Need to give those Japanese waterstones a try next. I shied away from them before based on price but it looks like the selection on Amazon has grown a bit since last I checked.

You're doing it wrong (really there's a learning curve with those), I have that set and can get a shaving edge on just about anything. For starters if it's a large knife you have to move the clamp around and do 4" or so at a time. Also use almost no pressure and keep the strokes equal on both sides try not to do more than 5-6 strokes on one side without doing the other, you end up rolling the edge and get a bur on the opposite side that you have to grind off. If you are sharpening for the first time you probably have to grind a new edge in order to get the angle right. It's not necessary but I like the start with the 17 degree on coarse and once that's somewhat sharp drop back to the 25 and then go through all the stones. Once that new angle is ground you can re sharpen in 15 minutes.   
« Last Edit: October 18, 2014, 11:00:50 PM by LouisPritchard »

cowboysgirlfriend

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Re: Sharpening your own knifes
« Reply #8 on: October 19, 2014, 08:19:06 PM »
Fiance is trained as a farrier and can smith with the best of them, so his knowledge about metal is extensive. He is much more diligent about sharpening every knife in the house than I am, and he can put an edge on a blade good enough to shave arm hair in about ten minutes. In a pinch he will use the ceramic mug trick, but we also have a kitchen sharpening steel, and he has a couple of good stones that he bought at shoeing school. He can make a cheap knife into a great tool without too much trouble.

His gripe is that he has to keep sharpening the cheap blades because the metal is so weak. We put good knives on our wedding gift wishlist...

AllChoptUp

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Re: Sharpening your own knifes
« Reply #9 on: October 20, 2014, 07:39:00 AM »
I watched this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pliwJxVZmG4

Here's a more detailed one in English:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTKV5-ZSWcE

If your not a sushi chef one stone e.g. with a 1000 and a 5000 side is imho sufficient. I also have not spend 30 minutes on one knife. Perhaps I should have since they still don't cut through paper. :-)

Thank you for this!  Just ordered one, can't wait to get my knives back into shape.

Gone Fishing

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Re: Sharpening your own knifes
« Reply #10 on: October 20, 2014, 08:36:24 AM »
I do a lot of my own butchering so naturally I want sharp knives.  I used a stone for years and was pretty good at it, 10-20 minutes on a knife with a good bevel would have a it where it could shave, but it still pulled a few hairs.  Knives with poor bevels took much longer.  A few years ago I got one of these:

http://www.google.com/url?url=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DjgBUYj95IYs&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=yhlFVIzuD7a1sQTByoDoDQ&ved=0CDkQtwIwAg&usg=AFQjCNEvn6jyNPaS_2eaEvCP7XPqmeBaVA

They are a bit spendy, I probably have $80 in the whole setup, about $50 for the wheels and $30 for the HF buffer (with 20% off coupon, of course) but I can bring a knife up to a true razor edge in 2-5 minutes, depending on how big it is and how much work is needed establishing the bevel. Sharp is an understatement, when I get done, the edge is unbelievable.  Only downsides are cost, the fact it won't fit in your pocket, and knife life is reduced if you sharpen frequently.  As far as knife life goes, I'm happy to buy a new knife every 5-10 years if it means I get razor performanc all the time.  I used to harp on my wife for putting freshly sharpened kitchen knives in the dishwasher and dinging the edges, now I don't care as I can bring them back in just a few minutes.   

rocksinmyhead

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Re: Sharpening your own knifes
« Reply #11 on: October 20, 2014, 02:25:07 PM »
I really need to try this!!

 

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