Any ideas?

Sharpnessis

Sharpnessis

Joined
Aug 11, 2012
Messages
810
I have wusthof culinar kitchen knives. They don't seem to hold an edge for anything. I've been thinking of going to 1095 but all I can find is old hickory. There has to be something better, right? I tried the expensive route, maybe less expensive is better?
 
If steel of Culinar is the same as Classic, edge retention should be around a month or two for non-chopping use in home-kitchen along with end-grain cuttingboard. Today version of old-hickory is much thinner than ~ prev-2000 version, which I think it's still way-fat.

Last month, I decided to experiment with 2 old hickory knives (bought from azon). A few hrs of belt-grinder + diamond plates later, thin geometry is in. They are super sharp 1095 ~62+rc, however after they lost push-cutting newsprint after 30minutes of vegi-work on end-grain board (fairly soft treetrunk). Took total 10 swipes on a strop to get their crazy-sharp back. Well, I've been spoiled with SKD & V2 ~64rc knives, so no room for old-hickory knives (tada, they are outdoor knives now).

For carbon knives, try Tojiro ITK Shirogami wa 210mm in white#2. Or a tanaka blue#2 210mm. While back I bought & re-profile these 2 as gifts to relative - after a couple weeks of test drive :) Tojiro FF is actually not bad, while Tanaka is just crude along with wavy blade & edge. Both get crazy sharp & hold their edge for months (lol - in normal home cook perspective, not knuts like ourselves here).
 
Wow thanks for the reply! It seems like the cutting edge lasts for about 2 weeks in my house. I use a belt sander to 3000 grit, strop with green then plain leather. I don't "burn" the edges. I just don't get it. Am I that hard on edges? I mean my steak knives are wusthof culinar as well and they're hitting plates not bamboo so of course they dull fast!
 
So the steel is almost like 440C - http://zknives.com/knives/steels/x50crmov15.shtml, which iirc the same as the classic line. I sharpened a classic set ~ every 3 months for my sister family, most pre-sharpen knives were still able to push-cut printer paper, along with few dings. Most knives get 30* inclusive, except for the slicer 25* included. All knives finished on DMT EE stone.

If the edge is clean (free of burr and especially wire-edge), it should stay sharp after slicing through a few newsprint&printerpaper. I always have tough time with green compound - either round or dull the edge from excessive pressure on balsa or leather. However white compound (~1200 grit) on nappy-leather (rough side) works great as finishing or pre-bare-leather finish edge. Give this white compound on rough leather a shot after your 3K belt - yes, yes, I know the sequence looks backward but nappy + 12-15 micron abrasive will polish & clean the edge while minimize the chances of rounding or dulling. Note: white compound not as effective for vg-10, s30v, s90v, etc.. why vg-10 :confused: oh well, I tried but it got sharp but overly convex edge.

Is your bamboo cuttingboard end-grain or edge-grain? Edge-grain is at least 2x more damaging to your edge than end-grain.
 
Wow bluntcut you know your stuff! It is edge grain! $10 at Walmart. I will try your sharpening recommendation very soon. So you think these knives are good? I mean I'm almost down to the scallops of the knife! Had these about 9 years now! Maybe I shouldn't complain? Anywho thank you very much for your wisdom!
 
Just tried the white compound. My arm hair was jumping off before I touched 'em lol! I made the angle a little blunter so I hope this will help with longevity. Thanks again for your expertise.
 
Sharpnessis said:
Just tried the white compound. My arm hair was jumping off before I touched 'em lol! I made the angle a little blunter so I hope this will help with longevity. Thanks again for your expertise.
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You are welcome. Congrats, credit is yours - enjoys.
 
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