How do I center an edge like this?

[Big ol' Cleaver]

I have a pretty badly abused Henckel Santoku (put through the dishwasher 400+ times, stored in drawer of knives without blade guard for over 4 years), and though I've cleaned up the edge with a 1,000 grit whetstone, it still needs to move a few millimeters o'er to the side. Should I try my 500 grit? Will removing that much metal with a low grit stone have consequences? Here's a basic idea of what the cross-section of my knife looks like right now (the edge isn't concave, those are just my poor Paint skills at work)

 

[bucketstove]

Hi,
What do you mean a few millimeters?
What is the coarsest stone that you have?

Balancing an edge is rather simple,
you lightly cut into a sharpening stone to remove of the apex/edge and make it reflective,
then grind one side at your chosen angle until you raise a burr
then you lightly cut into the stone to remove the burr and apex/edge and make it reflective,
then grind the other side at your chosen angle until you raise a burr
and now the two sides have equal angle
then you double deburr and you're sharp, then go to higher grits or whatever...

how fast or slow it goes depends how much metal has to be removed, and the grits used/ passes per second

 

[Big ol' Cleaver]

Maybe 1 to 1 and three quarters of a millimeter. I know that optimally I should use microns, but I don't have anything that can measure to that degree. The 500 is the coarsest I have.

 

[HeavyHanded]

Over time just keep working the smaller bevel first, and instead of working from shoulder to edge, grind it back from the edge to the shoulder.

Unless it is seriously effecting performance I wouldn't worry about grinding it all out in one whack.

A 500 grit should be coarse enough to do the job over time or all at once if you want to put in the time.

IDK, is it possible the edge is supposed to have a bias?

 

[DavidHoback]

Many, many factory knives have "uneven edge bevels", i.e., off center edge. It affects perfomance, but not enough that anyone would really notice. The knife can still be incredible sharp! I normally only worry about it when the difference is dramatic. Like a 2:1 ratio. Anything less and I just bring it even over a couple sharpenings. But to answer your question, NO! You won't hurt it at all by using a 500grit stone to even it up all at once.

 

[Big ol' Cleaver]

thanks for your replies! To reply to HeavyHanded, it's definitely supposed to be an even double bevel. I've checked on Henckel's website. The blade is performing very poorly right now despite how much I've polished the edges (matte colour with no sparkling/bright bits, smooth, consistent bevel), so I think centering the edge is the next step.

 

[DavidHoback]

thanks for your replies! To reply to HeavyHanded, it's definitely supposed to be an even double bevel. I've checked on Henckel's website. The blade is performing very poorly right now despite how much I've polished the edges (matte colour with no sparkling/bright bits, smooth, consistent bevel), so I think centering the edge is the next step.

"Properly sharpening" the edge by creating a burr on one side, then flipping it to the other side again, through the various grits until you have removed all the burr. You can polish the bevel all you want, but your not reaching 0 edge, which is what gives proper performance. Getting it properly sharp may or may not center the edge. Bonus if it does! But primary concern should be what I already said

 

[Petunia D. Feeble]

thanks for your replies! To reply to HeavyHanded, it's definitely supposed to be an even double bevel. I've checked on Henckel's website. The blade is performing very poorly right now despite how much I've polished the edges (matte colour with no sparkling/bright bits, smooth, consistent bevel), so I think centering the edge is the next step.

If it's performing poorly it's not because of the difference in the two bevels. Likely you've over polished and rounded the edge.

Resharpen it and then instead of polishing the edge again, just make a couple of strokes over the compound and see how it does.

How keen the edge is makes the difference. I don't bother to polish the edge on my kitchen knives. I usually go up to about 800 or 1000 grit and then strop once or twice in flexcut gold.