My advice for newbie knife sharpeners (2015 updates!)

9blades- Thanks for reviving this thread.
Mag.- Thanks for putting this info in logical order; its almost precisely what I need.

John
 
Just came across this thread. I'd also like to see it merged or made a sticky on its own.
 
Glad you liked this thread. It's one of my ongoing projects to add this info to the already-existing sticky... and also to compile and add all the videos of all the pros at work to the thread. Haven't had the time, but I'll get to it...
 
It's a good thread, freehand is one of "those skills" I think is really important for any knife aficionado to have. When I was looking up some waterstone reviews the last few weeks I found this guy sharpens exactly the same way I do, it's what works for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl5ZVdBv1IE
 
Thanks very much for the time and effort you took in making this thread with excellent references/links!
 
Magnaminous_G said:
Glad you liked this thread. It's one of my ongoing projects to add this info to the already-existing sticky... and also to compile and add all the videos of all the pros at work to the thread. Haven't had the time, but I'll get to it...
Click to expand...

two and a half years later, it's done! :D
 
Thanks everyone for taking the time to share you're knowledge. There is a lot of good info here. 👍
 
I am a newbie and I need some help. I have watched countless youtube videos and have purchased the following "Splash and Go" whet stones: Kramer/Swilling 400 grit, Shapton 1000 grit and Shapton 3000 grit.

I have been practicing on low end knives I don't care about and I'm not having good results. I have trouble getting a consistent burr all along the edge using the 400 grit. I can't get a burr at all on the 1000 grit. I can consistently get a bit of burr using the 400 on the right side, but find it very difficult to get one on the left side. I know this is my technique, but do I need a coarser stone to start with?

As I progress through the stones, should I strop on each stone? Should I expect the knife to be sharp after burring both sides on the 400 and then stropping it, or should I burr both sides on the 400, then burr on the 1000 before stropping? I'm not interested in polishing or anything aesthetic. I just want my kitchen knives to be "razor sharp." I have not worked on my expensive high-end knives yet. Too chicken!

I've tried testing the sharpness by cutting paper. None of the knives I've worked on seem to do this well, so something isn't working quite right and I need some advice based on the stones I have and the style of sharpening I wish to learn.

Thanks for any help!
 
B Blutcherama My advice/opinion/experience:

Unless your knives are severely abused and have large chips or are literally as dull as a butter knife I wouldn't go coarser than 400 grit until you master that. I think 400 is a good grit to learn on, so long as you aren't using it on a precious knife, as it is fast enough to see the result of just a few strokes, and fast enough not to tempt you to raise the angle out of frustration with a slow stone. A lot of people recommend 1000, which is kinder to the knife, but I think 400 makes it easier to see your progress in real time.

On harder stones as I believe the ones you are using are you shouldn't need to strop, by which I assume you mean making edge-trailing passes; this is more important for soft muddy stones that can be hard to from an apex on edge-leading. However one will generally get a sharper edge at that stage by doing so. (I haven't found the final edge after the last stone to be sharper by adding this step on the lower stones, personally.) Nevertheless your edge should easily slice paper coming off the 400 stone.

Once you can reliably get a good paper-slicing edge off the 400, try taking that edge to the 3000 stone and making two or three very careful strokes, very lightly, edge leading, at an angle slightly higher than you were using on the 400. Alternate sides, one stroke on each side. When you get this right the edge should improve dramatically in paper slicing.

Once you have the two stone process working reliably you can graduate to three for a fully refined edge, but keep in mind that you can lose the edge you have formed with one or two poor strokes at any time.

Practice on a knife that you can scratch up, as there will be wobble in your strokes and you need to keep your target angle low, which means sometimes you will drag the side of the knife on the stone. If you fear this you will tend to err in the other direction and round off the edge.

ALMOST FORGOT: make liberal use of painting the edge with a Sharpie so you have no doubt where the stone is making contact.
 
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Thank you for taking the time to help me.

By "edge leading" do you mean dragging the knife over the stone so that the edge is not going into the stone or the opposite?food b

Couple of other questions.. should I be able to feel a burr after 2-3 passes? It's taking up to 10 on the 400 for me to feel just the tiniest burr. Whereas when I do in on the Lanskey system, the burr happens more quickly.

I know how to "strop" on the stone from watching Ricky on Youtube. Should I strop on the 400 after apexing or go up to the 1000 to do it?

None of the knives I've tried to hand sharpen are cutting copy paper well, let alone newspaper or glossy magazine paper... I can tell the difference with food between those I've sharpened and my good, high end knives as well.
 
Edge leading means that you are sharpening with the edge going forward on the stone.

Edge trailing means that the spine of the knife is leading the stroke and the cutting edge being pulled behind.
 
Ok.. that's what I thought. The vids I've watched said to only use pressure on the stroke with the edge trailing otherwise you risk damaging the stone. Is that true or something not to worry about?
 
Blutcherama said:
Ok.. that's what I thought. The vids I've watched said to only use pressure on the stroke with the edge trailing otherwise you risk damaging the stone. Is that true or something not to worry about?
Click to expand...

Try to keep your pressure light so that you can feel (and see) what your are doing. You don't want your edge plowing into the abrasive, you want to remove steel from the bevel so that as it thins it not only thins at the edge, but the entire bevel up to its shoulder (where it connects to the face of the blade).

Let the abrasive do the work and stop to see and feel your progress. It takes time to develop the "feel" and to know what to look for. Take your time and enjoy the process. You may want to take a look at the "Secrets" thread at the top of this subforum to get an idea of the process of sharpening. And use some of the good recommendations, (like using a Sharpie on the bevel to see where you are removing steel), that you have received from the members here.
 
Blutcherama said:
The vids I've watched said to only use pressure on the stroke with the edge trailing otherwise you risk damaging the stone. Is that true or something not to worry about?
Click to expand...

Your stones have a plate of tempered glass on the back side, right? These stones should be hard enough not to gouge, unless perhaps by digging the tip of the knife into the stone. Some Japanese water stones are very soft, not dissimilar to chalkboard chalk; these must be used with much greater care.
 
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