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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Just got my diamond stones, let's talk sharpening and care!
- Thread starter _habit_
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Just wipe them off with a damp cloth under running water from time to time. I give mine a squirt of BreakFree once in a while; that seems to lift even more black stuff off and they cut even better. Happy honing!
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- Jun 29, 1999
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Check Buck's website; they have a pretty good section on sharpening. I find that flat bench stones work fine for me; I've used DMT hones for about ten years now and have yet to wear one out. Basically, you stroke the knife across the hone with moderate pressure (you don't have to press very hard), as if cutting a fine slice, to produce a bevelled or V edge. Start with the coarsest hone, and do an equal number of strokes on each side until you can feel a burr or wire edge. Then move to a finer hone and repeat until the burr comes off. Stainless steels are a little more difficult when it comes to removing the burr; high carbon steels sharpen more easily IMHO. You can finish off with stropping the blade on a piece of leather with chromium oxide or other fine abrasive worked into the leather. For maintaining a convex edge, stroke backwards instead of forward. An angle guide is useful for holding the blade at a consistent angle to the hone -- the simplest types clamp to the spine of the blade. You should only need to do that when establishing the initial bevel. I'm sure others will chime in here. There are also some excellent books on sharpening available; Lee Valley Tools has one, and you can find others with a web search. Oh, and get lots of Band Aids
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- Feb 18, 2003
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If your knife is already profiled the way you want it you can start with the DMT red stone (fine). If the edge is messed up get it to where you want it on the black or blue (coarse stones).
Starting from the tip and going to the heel of the blade pass the knife edge along the red stone at an angle of about 14 degrees swiping it on one side and then the other side.. When it gets to be quite sharp, move to the fine hone (green) and do the same thing at the same angle. Always alternating from one side of the blade to the other. If you want it even sharper continue with a translucenbt Arkansas which will sharpen it even more and leave a real nice polished edge.
If the edge is lousy you must do it differently. Start with a carborundum or with a black dmt coarse stone and rub the blade at that same angle (around 14 degrees) but on only one side of the blade - don't alternate. After a time a wire will form along the edge. If you're doing it correctly the wire will form from the tip of the blade to the heel. Once you can feel the wire along the edge with your fingernail and determine that it is complete from tip to heel, switch over to the other side of the blade and rub it the same way again at the same angle. When the wire has formed on the other side of the blade you have successfully profiled your knife. Now move to the red and follow the original instructions and move onto the green stone until you've got a hair shaving edge. In the corse of honing on the red stone the wire should drop off of its own accord. It if doesn't drop off give one swipe of the knife over the stone right on the edge (perpendicular) just to make the wire drop. The main problem in this procedure is to get the knife correctly profiled and the other problem is to always maintain the same angle. I angle at about 10 to 12 degrees. Hope this info helps. Cheers, Alex.
Starting from the tip and going to the heel of the blade pass the knife edge along the red stone at an angle of about 14 degrees swiping it on one side and then the other side.. When it gets to be quite sharp, move to the fine hone (green) and do the same thing at the same angle. Always alternating from one side of the blade to the other. If you want it even sharper continue with a translucenbt Arkansas which will sharpen it even more and leave a real nice polished edge.
If the edge is lousy you must do it differently. Start with a carborundum or with a black dmt coarse stone and rub the blade at that same angle (around 14 degrees) but on only one side of the blade - don't alternate. After a time a wire will form along the edge. If you're doing it correctly the wire will form from the tip of the blade to the heel. Once you can feel the wire along the edge with your fingernail and determine that it is complete from tip to heel, switch over to the other side of the blade and rub it the same way again at the same angle. When the wire has formed on the other side of the blade you have successfully profiled your knife. Now move to the red and follow the original instructions and move onto the green stone until you've got a hair shaving edge. In the corse of honing on the red stone the wire should drop off of its own accord. It if doesn't drop off give one swipe of the knife over the stone right on the edge (perpendicular) just to make the wire drop. The main problem in this procedure is to get the knife correctly profiled and the other problem is to always maintain the same angle. I angle at about 10 to 12 degrees. Hope this info helps. Cheers, Alex.
Like so: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z5X0PBY0XgI&mode=related&search=
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Also, does the edge grind come into play here? Like a hollow ground and what-not? I wont worry about changing edge angle right now, as I'm starting off with cheap knives to learn best (easier steel).
Or like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttdTCJxv6uw&mode=related&search=
?
(I work better if I see what I need to do)
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I read over that, and it should be helpful... I'll sit down and work on it tomorrow.
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Like so: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z5X0PBY0X...elated&search=
Yeah, like he's doing it, but he's using a REALLY obtuse angle. I use a much smaller angle where the blade is more flat to the stone. The way he's doing it would give you a secondary bevel. But his movement looks good. The left hand is open palm with only the tips of the fingers touching the blade. I learned to hone with a master sculpture from Brazil who could site the names of his line of masters to the baroque age. Needless to say, he got his chisels razor sharp. That's why I tend to use a sharper angle like one uses on a chisel, but I think I'm getting really good resaults.
Yeah, like he's doing it, but he's using a REALLY obtuse angle. I use a much smaller angle where the blade is more flat to the stone. The way he's doing it would give you a secondary bevel. But his movement looks good. The left hand is open palm with only the tips of the fingers touching the blade. I learned to hone with a master sculpture from Brazil who could site the names of his line of masters to the baroque age. Needless to say, he got his chisels razor sharp. That's why I tend to use a sharper angle like one uses on a chisel, but I think I'm getting really good resaults.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttdTC...elated&search=
You can see on this video that the guy has a much better angle, I'd say around 12 degrees, just like I said. One thing, see how he's going along the length of the stone? If you have a smaller stone you don't have to do it lengthwise, you can go across the stone . Just make sure you maintain always the same angle and that while going across the stone all parts of the edge are honed for a similar length of time (Length of stone too). I hope I'm explaining this in an understandable way.
You can see on this video that the guy has a much better angle, I'd say around 12 degrees, just like I said. One thing, see how he's going along the length of the stone? If you have a smaller stone you don't have to do it lengthwise, you can go across the stone . Just make sure you maintain always the same angle and that while going across the stone all parts of the edge are honed for a similar length of time (Length of stone too). I hope I'm explaining this in an understandable way.
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As far as edge grind - hollow ground, flat ground, etc. I just ignore that and just sharpen it. I do this to flat ground and hollow ground (Randalls). I have never had an issue with that, but some day maybe I'll screw up the hollow grind on somew knife but I haven't done it yet. The Randall info-folder they distribute with their knives doesn't tell you to do anything special just because they're hollow ground so I think, especially while you're learning the ropes, you can ignore that. To me this sharpening difference for hollow grinds is just like an urban legend. Someone more advanced than me mighht not agree with me though.
This is with wet stones but you can do the same with yours. http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/HowToSharpen.html
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Those were your otriginal links. I'm just saying that you don't have to go with the blade parallel to the hone. You can hone across the stone as well or diagonally. The smaller stone means that all of the blade is not being honed at the same time. Just make sure that all parts of the blade get nequal exposure to the diamonds
OK, so, I can:
>____ (just slide it across the stone longways) >_ (short-way) or diagonally >____ (long way at an angle)?
Do I pull the knife backwards? That's what is being done in this one:
http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/HowToSharpen.html
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Wow, those videos are interesting, and completely different from what I've been doing for 10 years or more... More ways to skin a cat I suppose...
Most of what I see is pulling the edge along the stone PARALLEL to the edge. I sharpen by pushing the edge into the stone as though I am push-slicing a thin slice off the stone. Of course I do not push into the stone very hard (I use DMT stones by the way). So while I must pull the edge along the stone some (otherwise the whole edge would never come in contact with the stone), most of the sharpening is done because of the motion of the edge perpendicular to the stone. Thanks all for all of this info. Very interesting to see how many ways there are to do things...
Most of what I see is pulling the edge along the stone PARALLEL to the edge. I sharpen by pushing the edge into the stone as though I am push-slicing a thin slice off the stone. Of course I do not push into the stone very hard (I use DMT stones by the way). So while I must pull the edge along the stone some (otherwise the whole edge would never come in contact with the stone), most of the sharpening is done because of the motion of the edge perpendicular to the stone. Thanks all for all of this info. Very interesting to see how many ways there are to do things...
I've taken one unsuccessful crack at it so far... I have a question now though: Do I run one side across the fine stone (my coarsest) until I get a burr, then do the other side until the burr is completely gone, or do I make a burr the opposite way, then repeat with extra-fine stones?
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To get a burr you use a coarse stone. You do only one side at a time. You can go back and forth if you want - kinda scrub it. When you get a burr on one side , flip over the knife and do it again to the other side. When you get a complete burr on the other side you're done. Switch to the fine stone. On the fine stone only swipe the knife in one direction, from point to heel. No two directions and no scrubbing on the fine hone. Fine hone is done with finesse. Delicate. Afterwards, do a hard or translucent Arkie with oil.
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Remember that you don't have to use the coarse stone and make a burr every time, only when you are sharpening a really dull blade or are putting your profile on a new knife. After you finish the whole process, in the future you just have to touch up the knife with a few swipes now and then on a fine stone. Of course, this depends on your knife use.