Are knives the most frustrating things to sharpen?

[Pekka Huhta]

One hint that may come handy: when sharpening with a Tormek, use the sides of the stone to sharpen, and always on the direction where the stone is moving away from you. This way it is very easy to maintain a constant angle to the bevel and it's also almost impossible to round it over.

I use just my oilstones to sharpen my knifes.

Pekka

 

[bugbear]

...for example my fish knife came from the supplier sharpened to an all-in angle of less than 25 degrees.

How in hell does one measure that?

BugBear

 

[milkman]

Steels: I believe steels are used to touch up knives with the understanding that they will need regrinding every so often.
The image we all have of the chef furiously steeling their knife is just the day-to-day work. They'd normally be sent off in bulk for regrinding. Much the same as saws were back in the day.
If you use those crossed steel sharpeners or the old interlocking discs the blade will gradually go concave and need regrinding.
If you use a steel the action of manually sharpening tends to round the blade so again an occasional regrind is needed.
I have a Global and looked this up the other day. They recommend waterstones/ceramic stones for regrinding and steels for touchups.
10° - 15° each side is the normal so 20° - 30° total. I guess the lower angle is best for veggies as they won't wear it as fast and higher for meat and boning as it needs to be tougher.

Now who knows how to sharpen an Opinel?

 

[aesmith]

...for example my fish knife came from the supplier sharpened to an all-in angle of less than 25 degrees.

How in hell does one measure that?

Now you've got me doubting because I can't remember exactly. That knife has a fairly thick parallel blade, and a simple single bevel on each side at the cutting edge, so should be easy to measure, now I'm wondering whether I was measuring only half (ie bevel to opposite face, not bevel to bevel).

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

As I understand it, 20 degrees is for a paring knife, 25 degrees is a general purpose angle (such as a pocket knife), and 30 degrees is reserved for more durable edges (which is what I use on my marking knives).

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[bugbear]

As I understand it, 20 degrees is for a paring knife, 25 degrees is a general purpose angle (such as a pocket knife), and 30 degrees is reserved for more durable edges (which is what I use on my marking knives).

Regards from Perth

Derek

This Japanese site (kitchen knives) speaks of 10-15 degree on each side, so 20-30 degrees overall edge angle.

http://japanesechefsknife.com/HowToSharpen.html

So that's another "vote" for that range.

BugBear

 

[frugal]

I must confess to using one of these: Mino Sharpeners to sharpen our Global knives.

Our other knives seem to be made from cheese and whilst they will take a sharp edge (eventually) they get blunt just by passing through the air.

 

[paulm]

As I understand it, the theory around butchers traditional type steels is that they don't actually remove metal to any significant extent, so are not sharpening the blade in that sense, but that rather they use pressure to realign the edge of the blade and smooth out the tiny chips and other imperfections that develop on the edge during use, so in effect they partially restore the previous edge but don't totally re-establish a fresh edge hence the need to regrind or sharpen every now and again.

Others may be able to confirm if that is correct or illuminate if not

Cheers, Paul

 

[Tony Spear]

I was given a set of Victorinox knifes by a professional Chef friend back in 1990 and I've always kept them sharp with regular use of this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiskars-602012- ... B0001P08HO

I've never let them get into such a state that they need anything more.

P.S. Can't wait to see what Mr. G. has to say about this elsewhere!!! :roll:

 

[lemonjeff]

After buying an expensive butchers steel that went blunt after a few months I now use a set of cheap diamond laps from Lidl's, like these http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... =1&jump=44
Lidl's are a couple of quid for the set. If you remove the lap from the plastic backing it works much better.

Jeff

 

[Harbo]

Mr G probably uses his doorstep like my Grandmother used to do?

Rod

 

[lemonjeff]

Mr G probably uses his doorstep like my Grandmother used to do?

Rod

I'm old enough to remember the pot and knife man (gypsy's) coming round sharpening the knives on the kerbs stones.

LD

 

[aesmith]

Sharpening razor blades in a jamjar?

 

[aesmith]

...for example my fish knife came from the supplier sharpened to an all-in angle of less than 25 degrees.

How in hell does one measure that?

Now you've got me doubting because I can't remember exactly. That knife has a fairly thick parallel blade, and a simple single bevel on each side at the cutting edge, so should be easy to measure, now I'm wondering whether I was measuring only half (ie bevel to opposite face, not bevel to bevel).

I should have more confidence. Less than 25 degrees all-in, the angle between the two bevels. Its less than 25, but more than 20.

 

[Tony Spear]

Mr G probably uses his doorstep like my Grandmother used to do?

Rod

I'm old enough to remember the pot and knife man (gypsy's) coming round sharpening the knives on the kerbs stones.

LD

I'm not quite that old, but certainly as late as the late 80's we used to have a traveller who came round the local villages with a pedal powered grinder attached to the back of a bike.

 

[bugbear]

I'm not quite that old, but certainly as late as the late 80's we used to have a traveller who came round the local villages with a pedal powered grinder attached to the back of a bike.

And right knife buggerer's they all were too!

edit; I knew we'd discussed knife sharpening gadgets before; here's an old thread:

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... p?p=373460

(including home brew edge-pro)

BugBear