sharpening guide using my stones I already have?

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gaogier

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Hello

I don't have the most expensive knife set, but I do have a really good set, of which I may have messed up the sharpened edge slightly.

I have wet stones from 240-10,000, and I have been able to keep the edge of the knifes sharp, but I have slowly made them out of align. I am looking for some sort of guide, tool or something else I haven't thought off, that will get my knifes back to the full sharpness that they deserve. I got my dad a couple of the stones a couple years ago, and he has been able to get his knifes supper sharp, I just don't have the technique, I need help...

I think my stones are about 18cm long and some are double sided (aka have say 1000 on one side and 2000 on the other)
 
There are some really good you tube video's that help beginners tremendously. What do you mean by out of align? 240 grit is too aggressive in the hands of someone that isn't very experienced and I would suggest to not use it. I start with a 400 grit, then finish with a 1000 grit, and works well.

I think the main focus starting out should be the angle used and to properly maintain that angle while sharpening. There are tools, jigs that do this but I find them mostly a hinderance but you could look into something like that.

The other focus should be to create what is called a "burr" which is just the metal being removed and pushed to the opposing side resulting in a slightly raised area that is evident by passing a finger across the blade on the opposite side being sharpened. It resembles a breaking wave on the ocean under a microscope. This is just a confirmation that a new sharpened surface lies beneath it. Sharpening the other side removes this burr simply because it comes into contact with the stone first and the objective is to then create another burr. This confirms that both sides of the blade have a newly sharpened edge, but this newly formed burr now needs to be removed to expose the new cutting surface.

Remove your stone and replace it with more of a honing stone which are the higher grits and for this job I use a 1000. What's important here during this phase is not only removing the burr but to consistently sharpen each side equally. I generally start with 12 strokes, then flip the knife over and repeat with 12 strokes, this is one pass. I count this down until it's one pass per side and then repeat the one pass 12 times. This is where I stop which is perfectly acceptable for kitchen use. Many people will go higher up to 10,000 for a surgical edge, which isn't necessary but it's pretty cool for sure. To finally finish the job I use a honing strop which is basically a piece of leather and this just ensures all small metal particles are removed.

These are the basics and hopefully my description makes sense. Cheers
 
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Hello, yes I am after some sort of jig or guide.

I am autistic with spinal damage, and I can and do keep my knifes sharp, that’s all good, and been using it for a couple years now, however my autism effects my fine motor skills and damage to spine sometimes don’t allow me to grip the knife at the perfect angle.

I have a microscope to help guide things that I do (knife sharpening to repairing my laptop) and I can see the edge is starting to become off centred, and I don’t want this to destroy my knifes.

I only have the 240 stone to sharpen non original sharp knifes like butter knifes (I use cheap butter knifes to see how sharp I can get them) I also got it to help sharpen old but good tools like chisels and planers
 
A chef friend of mine in New York once gave me detailed instructions on how to maintain my knives in perfect condition, just garlichead just did.
She also said that, every couple of years, she´d take hers to a professional sharpener just to get the proper edge back on.
 
There are jigs that include everything you need to maintain angle, these are big stand along jigs and work perfectly but they're not cheap.

Yeah 240 is only to be used to take metal off and leaves a pretty ragged edge, not suitable for ready use really. Sharpening happens in the 400 to 800 grits for kitchen knives, then further honing with higher grits. imo
 
I can’t even write by had using any sort of pen… I can use pencils okay…

I have to use a kitchen knife when eating as it’s safer… I eat with a small cake fork too

I tent to keep my knifes extremely sharp when cooking, say I am cutting an onion, I can’t hold the onion well… so sharpest knifes are safer…
 
There is a very simple technique for keeping the angle and that is using a coin of a certain thickness ($1 ?) held under the blade. I would imagine that there is some device that you can also slot into a knife to maintain the angle whilst you sharpen.

But it is useful to get the angle reset and the blade redone professionally periodically especially if you are learning to sharpen correctly. By professionally I simply mean by someone who knows what they are doing. Is this something your father can help you with to get them back to where they should be?

Also guessing that the standard technique of marking the edge of the blade along the entire length of the knife on both side if it is a double sided blade (not all kitchen knives are) is potentially beyond your motor skills? If it isn't, then using a pencil, 'colour in the first 2mm of your blade before you start sharpening. This will allow you to watch that you are sharpening evenly along the blade.

Also, if you need to practice, could I suggest a really cheap knife from a charity shop rather than current kitchen knives. If you do destroy it, you won't be quite so gutted. If you don't destroy it, you'll have something to practice on to keep the skill fine tuned before trying your kitchen knives each time, because it is a skill that needs to be used regularly to keep well honed.
 
Hello

I do have a cheap practice knife, which is great learning experience… as I hopefully said I have been good at keeping the sharpness to a extreme sharpness for years now, but my ability is worsening which was why I wanted a simple guide.


I have a chisel honing guide, which seems to work well that is what make me think are there any for knifes.
 
gaogier said:
Hello

I do have a cheap practice knife, which is great learning experience… as I hopefully said I have been good at keeping the sharpness to a extreme sharpness for years now, but my ability is worsening which was why I wanted a simple guide.

I have a chisel honing guide, which seems to work well that is what make me think are there any for knifes.
Click to expand...
Any links to searches that I give will be Australia specific, but if you search for "Knife sharpening guide" you'll see a range of devices from cheap to expensive.

One that is a complete solution is this which looks to be very good but its from the US (Knife Sharpener With Moving Angle Guide Two Bench Stones Oil | Etsy Australia). However there are ones that the just slot over the knife. But you'll need to establish if you knives are a 15° (Japanese) or 20° (European) angle first and then ensure that you buy the same.

This is Amazon US and for a Japanese knife (such as Global) Amazon.com to give you an idea.
 
This knife sharpener is said to have stone disks inside to sharpen the knives. :whistling:
86386
 
i am not great with a sharpening stone. i have had moments of brillance occasionally and come up with some surgical edges. in summary, i am getting better. my big moment was when i decided to get out of my own head. if you really distill down the process, youre doing nothing different than "sanding" down something. you dont really have to worry about your approach angle as long as your approach angle is consistent. and i discoverd i was never pressing down hard enough. Kramer stated push down 3 lbs worth. if you press your knife into your kitchen scale, 3lbs is a lot. you wont break your knife. just try. in a pinch, my first time, i had to take it to a pro. the lady took me back and said, "okay, show me what you are doing" turns out i wasnt lifting the handle enough as i was coming around the curve of the blade. she got my knife to "razor" in nothing flat. (if i wasn't happily married....jus sayin)

honestly, nowdays, i keep my knives sharp rather than sharpen them. i never let them get away from me and go complete dull. i do that with the Spyderco Sharpmaker. my chinese cleaver is like a trick knife. it freaks out my friends.
 
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