Kitchen Knife Sharpening question

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Xringshooter

Joined
Jan 28, 2012
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Still fairly new the the forum and learning my way around so point me in the right direction if need be.

My kitchen knives are Wustof Trident and Henckels (I'm retired USAF and during my last overseas tour we bought knives to last us the rest of our lives). I really like the knives and they do what I need them to do but I need to have them sharpened correctly.

I know there must be professional knife sharpeners in the area (or that come into the area to collect and sharpen the local chefs knives) but I am not sure how to find them (didn't see any in the phone book) or if that is even a viable way to go.

How would the best way be for me to sharpen my own kitchen knives? I'm open to any and all suggestions. I sharpen my hunting knives but they only need touched up a bit every now and then as they are not used the same (daily use) as are the kitchen knives.

Thanks for any help you can give me.
 
Have you tried your local cutlery shops? Often times they offer the service or can make a recommendation.

Or are you looking more in to acquiring the equipemnt to do it yourself at this point?
 
spareparts said:
Have you tried your local cutlery shops? Often times they offer the service or can make a recommendation.

Or are you looking more in to acquiring the equipemnt to do it yourself at this point?
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Until I know what I might be getting into, I'd like them to be professionally sharpened if it's not going to break the bank. Once I know what all I might need to do it myself, then I can make the decision for the future.
 
minimum sharpening equipment at least cost would be something like a Norton combo waterstone or a King combo water stone, you can find them on eBay, Lee Valley for around $25 I would also recommend one of the sharpening DVDs by Korin, Murray Carter or JapaneseKnifeSharpening.com also around $25. Or check out the many sharpening videos on YouTube. Just be careful there are also some people on YouTube who don't know what they're doing.
 
It's too bad I don't live out there anymore--I'd offer to sharpen your knives for free.

Try giving The Dining Room at the Nittany Lion Inn a call and asking for Chef Monk. Ask him if he could sharpen them for you for a couple bucks a knife--it's a long shot but he might be feeling generous, and at the very least he could point you in the right direction to find someone.

Don't let anyone else there (except for chef Travis) touch your knives.
 
Thanks Cynic, that is what my next step was to be, calling or visiting some of the better restaurants in the area to see where/how they get their knives sharpened. I know that chefs are very particular about who does their knives and how they are done.

Thanks olpappy, your advice gives me a what to look at for stones. I deal with Lee Valley for some of my woodworking stuff and I'll probably get one of the DVD's you recommended. Thanks.
 
if you want someone to sharpen your knives i can fix you up plus help you get started on sharpening your own. i use the paper wheels to sharpen with. since you are retired air force i'll make you the same deal i do with active service members and do them free if you pay shipping and insurance both ways. that way you can see what kind of job the wheels can do.
 
Xringshooter said:
Thanks Cynic, that is what my next step was to be, calling or visiting some of the better restaurants in the area to see where/how they get their knives sharpened. I know that chefs are very particular about who does their knives and how they are done.

Thanks olpappy, your advice gives me a what to look at for stones. I deal with Lee Valley for some of my woodworking stuff and I'll probably get one of the DVD's you recommended. Thanks.
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Think about sharpening similar to sanding. Work your way up in grits starting with something around 120. Practice on some crappy knives until you get your technique down. I personally wouldn't stop anywere less than 600 grit for a kitchen knife and prefer to take it up to 1000. If you touch up somewhat regularly you may rarely need to use the coarser stones.

I really like the Edgepro, it's expensive though but after years of bench stones it was totally worth the price tag for me.

If I were to re-acquire stones on a budget I'd go with some coarser India stones (maybe a combo stone), a soft Arkansas, and a hard Arkansas to get started. Nothing smaller than a 6 inch stone.
 
richard j - thanks for the offer, I may very well take you up on it.

Thanks to all the others that gave me advice also. I think I'm going to try on my own at first and see what I can do. I aready sharpen my own wood chisles and plane blades, bu the technique is a bit different and I have jigs to hold them at the correct angles.

I'll start with some of my older knives to get the technique down and then move to the better knives. If I just can't get it, richard j, I'll be in touch. :o
 
I sharpen all of my cutlery to include a 10" chef, 8" santuko, 6.5" nakiri, assorted paring and utility blades on a GATCO Proffesional kit.

Like your jig to hold the angle on your woodworking tools it is rod guided to hold the angles.

It works great for me and didn't break the bank. I have added the extra fine and ultimate finishing hones as well as a stropping step.

It allows me to sharpen down to an 11° per side angle for some real nice slicing.

Good Luck.
 
I would take Richard J up on it if you don't want to go it alone. Learn to use a steel properly and you won't have to send them back anytime soon.
 
Sorry I'm late!!
I will also sharpen your knives for free, at LEAST we are in the same State.
I would NEVER use a Steel to "touch up" cutlery especially the quality stuff that you describe.
A ceramic "stick" works well for touch up and used properly the knives maintain their integrity.
A cutting board instead of a meat platter or counter top will also cut down on the between sharpening occurances.
 
I have knife sharpening question.

I recently purchased a Shun 8in chef premier (first real chef's knife!). It has a 16deg bevel (32 inclusive), what will it do to the edge if I sharpen it on my Sharpmaker at the 15deg setting. In general terms, what happens to you edge if you sharpen it at a smaller angle than it is currently at?
 
Sharpening that Shun at 15 degrees versus the stock 16 degrees won't do much of anything.

The lower the angle, the thinner the edge becomes, the more likely it is to chip or roll (which depends on the particular knife's steel properties). I always recommend lowering the angle with each sharpening until your edge starts to fail, and then raise it back a bit. This allows you the optimal thinness of edge and the best cutting ability for that particular knife.
 
Hey Xringshooter,

Did you find anyone in State College area for sharpening? I just got a old cleaver I would like an edge put on.

Thanks,

Jim
 
watercrawl said:
Sharpening that Shun at 15 degrees versus the stock 16 degrees won't do much of anything.

The lower the angle, the thinner the edge becomes, the more likely it is to chip or roll (which depends on the particular knife's steel properties). I always recommend lowering the angle with each sharpening until your edge starts to fail, and then raise it back a bit. This allows you the optimal thinness of edge and the best cutting ability for that particular knife.
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A good idea, as when you raise the angle back, you'll essentially be putting a microbevel on the edge. Though common kitchen knives in the US local markets usually are made of softer steel, so 15 degrees would be just right. Wouldn't go below 10 degrees for anything less than the Japanese super hard steels like Aogami Super Blue.
 
Get a 4000-8000 grit and follow factory bevel. It should be fairly simple, kitchen knives are very easy for me.
 
4000 and 8000 is WAY to fine of a finish for the knives we are talking about here. That won't sharpen a dull edge or even come close to working with a factory grind.
 
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