News print sharpening stone.

pvicenzi

pvicenzi

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I was just watching a professional cook sharpen his chefs knife. He was using the old standby Norton commercial triple oils stone setup, and a butchers steel. Looked like he was doing all right, but when he went to news print, he used edge forward stokes. it would seem to me, if he was hitting the apex he would cut into the paper. I was going to say something, but being a trained chef I figured he might know something I don't. Anyone have some input on this?
 
I guess the proof is in the pudding - if the edge improved or stayed the same. My experience is that with a leading pass there would be little or no improvement, but I confess to doing not much work in that respect so couldn't say for sure. The paper isn't abrasive enough to grind metal off, so is really a mild polish, slight alignment, slight burnishing. Also can remove some very small burrs or at least render them undetectable even under magnification.

It is possible to get an improvement using it with an edge parallel pass. In theory if the edge were held just-so on a leading pass it should have some positive effect, but I cannot imagine it would work as well as a trailing pass.
 
Yes, even stropping a lot on newsprint refines the edge only slightly even after 200 strokes. I've tried edge leading and just cut into the paper. So, he's better than me. By stropping on wood or leather with grit applied I've noticed much more edge improvement in 20 strokes. The Norton Tri-hone model 313 is a very good unit to sharpen knives on. DM
 
David Martin said:
Yes, even stropping a lot on newsprint refines the edge only slightly even after 200 strokes. I've tried edge leading and just cut into the paper. So, he's better than me. By stropping on wood or leather with grit applied I've noticed much more edge improvement in 20 strokes. The Norton Tri-hone model 313 is a very good unit to sharpen knives on. DM
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When I was a kid every kitchen had a Norton tri stone. Sometimes the coarse stones were dished but it was always there. Sometimes there was a designated sharpener, sometimes it was every man for himself. As I got older I found I had been spoiled by all the surface area they had. I am always on the lookout for a used one, someday I might just splurge and grab one.
Dave that guys knives might by dull as heck and that is why he gets away with the edge leading strokes. I do know a guy on here that edge leads on some pretty fine diamond films that I would be cutting to ribbons. Who knows???
Russ
 
mycough said:
When I was a kid every kitchen had a Norton tri stone. Sometimes the coarse stones were dished but it was always there. Sometimes there was a designated sharpener, sometimes it was every man for himself. As I got older I found I had been spoiled by all the surface area they had. I am always on the lookout for a used one, someday I might just splurge and grab one.
Dave that guys knives might by dull as heck and that is why he gets away with the edge leading strokes. I do know a guy on here that edge leads on some pretty fine diamond films that I would be cutting to ribbons. Who knows???
Russ
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I know I have a few strops with nicks in them due to me screwing up. I can't see not slicing into the paper using edge forward strokes with a knife that is sharp enough for the paper to possibly improve the edge.
 
It's also possible that they were mistaken in their technique - expert chefs aren't necessarily expert sharpeners, YouTube tutorials of professional chefs sharpening knives will quickly show that.
 
calc said:
Ah, gotcha. Too bad, I would've liked to see exactly how it was being done.
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Me too. The only possible benefit I'd see in using newsprint this way, is in scrubbing off very fragile & thin burrs or other 'debris' generated by sharpening (clinging swarf, stone grit, stropping compound, etc). Virtually any surface could be used to that extent, and likely more effectively in an edge-trailing fashion, akin to stropping on one's jeans. Even a moderately stiff burr would otherwise snag, tear or cut the paper with edge-leading, and the newsprint wouldn't be abrasive enough to do much more enhancing of the edge.


David
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Me too. The only possible benefit I'd see in using newsprint this way, is in scrubbing off very fragile & thin burrs or other 'debris' generated by sharpening (clinging swarf, stone grit, stropping compound, etc). Virtually any surface could be used to that extent, and likely more effectively in an edge-trailing fashion, akin to stropping on one's jeans. Even a moderately stiff burr would otherwise snag, tear or cut the paper with edge-leading, and the newsprint wouldn't be abrasive enough to do much more enhancing of the edge.


David
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"Even a moderately stiff burr would otherwise snag, tear or cut the paper with edge-leading" this gave me an idea maybe that is his method of testing the edge.
 
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