Razor Edge guide and Chef's Knives

Joined
Jan 18, 2006
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So I recently bought the Razor Edge Guide, 8" hones and the video. Watched the video (informative AND entertaining. hehe) I definitely get it for hunting knives, and other thin blades. However, the guide itself is smaller than I expected (it is the normal sized one, not the smaller cub.) So I have two problems that maybe you Razor Edge owners can resolve for me:

1) My main goal is to get my kitchen knives sharp. Should be no problem for the little guys, but for my 8" Wusthof Classic and 6" Henckels (new cheap-o German one) Chef's knives, the problem is that the blades are so wide (distance from spine to cutting edge) that it is physically not possible to have only 1/2 inch of the blade extending past the clamp. This recommended 1/2 inch extension should give an angle (the half angle) of around 22 degrees. I find my blades extend by around 1.2 inches, giving an angle of around 15-16 degrees. The max angle I can get (for that last microbevel) is around 16-17 degrees. This isn't too far from the 15/20 degrees recommended for kitchen knives, but would these angles be too small for a soft steel german knife used for normal kitchen duties (especially since the relief angle is very small, as recommended in the video)? I know they'll cut well, but I don't want to be resharpening them once a week.


2) Since these knives are a bit longer, the clamp position on the blade is not in the middle, but closer to the tip (to maintain the recommended positioning). Therefore, as the knife edge is bellying towards the tip, the clamp is not parallel to the spine, but angles up a bit toward the tip. Is this a problem for keeping the same angle towards the bolster?

Basically I want to know if the razor edge guide is appropriate for these type of knives, and if you Razor Edge users do anything special for them. Thanks!
 
With long knives, you may have to sharpen the blade in two sections. Put the clamp closer to the handle, do that area, then slide it towards the tip, and do that area.
 
No the angle isn't too acute, that is higher than a lot of people would recommend. Lee for example in his book on sharpening recommends angles as low as 5 degrees per side for such knives.

-Cliff
 
Well, I've used the Razor Edge to sharpen up two of my smaller Kitchen Knives. A cheapo one is now sharper than its ever been, but not shaving sharp. However, one of my smaller Wusthof knives is shaving sharp. The system works pretty well, and is pretty quick.
I do have another question though. According to the instructions, one is supposed to rub the course and fine stones against each other to remove some course layer on the fine stone. I did this, but it looked like the fine stone was not flat, so now it has ridges from side to side in an arc-like pattern (they look like wheel grind marks, like the stones were ground with an angled wheel) I can barely feel the ridges with my finger, and I can feel them when I sharpen. Is this a problem? Has anyone had this before? I have continued to try and polish the stone on the course stone, but they don't seem to even out. Thanks!
 
Many stones have irregularities, Lee discusses this in his book on sharpening, usually not as bad as what you describe. These rougher spots on the stone will essentially raise the working grit of the stone.

-Cliff
 
Well, it seems to sharpen pretty well (especially since my second knife was shaving sharp.) The 8" fine hone was $38 (not too much I guess), and its pretty big, so I guess I'll just go with it and hope it even out with wear. Thanks! I'll post back when I've had the guts to go at my larger chef's knives!
 
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