How I sharpen a knife. (Video Tutorials)

[FisherMAn1298]

Wow! When the Forum specials came you must have had a huge pile to sharpen when you offered to sharpen for free! thank you for that! I love tutorials, it teaches me more and more.

[FisherMAn1298]

Keep the humor coming boys! Sometimes it's the best part. Great way to start my day! I've watched your videos over and over Mark. Took Peter's school. They brought me a long way. I can't thank you guys enough and I'm smart enough to know I'm just beginning to learn, kep them coming.

[Blues_man]

Great video.
If the knife already has a good edge, can you skip the 500 grit? Just "top it off" on the 2000 grit?
Or do you use a steel instead. If so, what grit? Gotta say though I'm not comfortable using a steel. Especially the way I see chefs on TV do it. Hands and arms flying all over the place.

[taz575]

Yes, you can start with a finer grit stone if the edge isn't too far gone. I only use a 400-500 for initially setting a bevel or chip removal and typically start at a 1K stone for sharpening, or a 5K stone for a quick touch up. Metal honing steels are bad for Japanese knives; they are made to re align the softer western kitchen knives. Japanese knives are much harder and the steel may chip it. Some use a ceramic rod, like an Idahone, to touch up an edge quickly, but you use extremely light pressure.

[Blues_man]

Thank you for your help. First time with a Japanese knife.

[potlicker]

For residential kitchen knife use.......sharpening with 400 Diamond Plate, 1000 Shapton Pro, and finish with 2000 Shapton Pro. Using basically the same blade motion that Mark uses and for a test, a straight vertical cut the full length of the blade on paper......sharp. Now go the same but against the grain, not so good.

My question what is the solution?

[potlicker]

Well, kinda answering my own question.......pulled out my leather strop and applied my Richmon Diamond Spray 1 micron.......problem solved.

[potlicker]

Problem of relaxing steel?

Sounds strange and maybe it really is, but after sharpening various steels 59-60 HRC kitchen knives and doing a paper test for sharpness of a push cut from tip to heel along the entire blade on paper across the grain, the knives make a nice clean cut. Over to to the knife board and they may sit for 3-4 days without use. This AM decided to test with the same paper cut that they were finished on and now without any use........no bueno, they couldn't do it.

I'm thinking my next purchases need to be in the 62-64 HRC range to alleviate this problem.......thoughts?

[Kekoa]

The most common source of similar behavior in my experience is a burr being left on the edge. If you used it right after sharpening and it had a burr still, it could easily break off or roll over and no longer pass the paper cut test. I wouldn't count on higher hardness solving the problem since I don't think this should be an issue in the hardness range you are describing. I might go ahead and see how my softer Dexter behaves just for my own knowledge and report back on what I find.

Other problems might be your cutting board or possibly some element of cutting technique if you use your knives roughly, but I assume you are probably not beating on your knife or scraping it on the board with the edge. What is your cutting surface?

Also I wanted to check what you mean by cutting paper "across the grain" so I understand what test you are actually doing.

[taz575]

I don't think it's a hardness issue? Freshly sharpened steel can oxidize when it contacts air, so I wonder if that's what happened? Do you live in a very humid environment? It's odd that it was cutting fine a few days ago and now it's not, even though it wasn't used? I wonder if the burr was lined up before and now it's not lined up with the edge? Even running fingers along the blade can move the burr back and forth.

[Kekoa]

Well, if you are talking about doing a horizontal cut across a piece of paper, I tried to get any of my knives to do that and they couldn't! None of them are freshly sharpened but I make no claim of being a talented sharpener, and I don't go finer than #2000 most of the time, so I may very well not produce edges that can pass this test very effectively to begin with, ha ha! They work just fine on food though, which may be something to keep in mind when judging your edges in the end.

[potlicker]

Thanks for the thoughts guys.

After sharpening and doing the paper test, the knives were not used.........3-4 days later before using, I did the paper test again just to see if I could get the same cut. They would not make the cut. I seem to remember Cliff Stamp referencing this situation using soft steels but I don't think 59-60 HRC can be considered soft.

[Kekoa]

Hmmm, well with no use at all that is a little surprising, but a burr or wire edge could still be the problem, the paper could actually crumble a wire edge even.

[ex1580]

When you strop it try doing 1-2 alternating laps at a few degrees higher than you sharpened. Don't apply pressure, just maintain contact. This will help make sure the burr is gone and shouldn't mess up your edge. I do that right off of the stones then go back to the angle I sharpened at and give it a few extra passes to polish the bevel more. This works for me.

[potlicker]

OK, I've been going flat on the stone finishing up just below the edge raising the edge as I move up.....seems to work. I will try a couple of strokes just above the edge with no pressure and then back to regular strokes. But, I don't think a burr or hanging wire is the problem because when i finish sharpening it is sharp via the referenced paper test but a few days later with no use, it's not......very perplexing. I then, using the same scenario, tried a Kanehide 150mm petty at 61 HRC and no problem.

[ex1580]

Try stropping it on some bare leather before you use it. Different steels will give different results.

In regard to burrs, some of those stainless ones can be a real bear to get a keen edge on because they don't want to let go of the burr. I use a pocket microscope myself just out of curiosity so I can see what's going on. I don't see any on the CKTG site right now but you can find them on Amazon for about $15. If you have a denim strop those are known for being good at removing burrs. I sometimes use a spare hanging linen strop but it's tough to get the angle right unless I lay it down on a bench and secure it.

[potlicker]

"Try stropping it on some bare leather before you use it. Different steels will give different results."

Good thought.