Sharpening Kitchen Knives, questions on technique

J

Joseph Rogers

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Jan 4, 2015
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So I've been looking over the forum, and you guys are pretty hardcore. I'm impressed.

I'm a weekend warrior. Have my own service business, and I'm in the slow time. Kitchen knives need sharpening, and I'm considering taking on the task. I've got a little kit I use to sharpen pocket knives with, it's a guide with 15 and 20 degree angles, 3 different grits from diamond coarse to Arkansas Stone for the fine, and I've used it a few times with good results on pocket knives. I can pull hair off arm/cheek pretty easily.

So here's my question. I've read a bit about sharpening, and the theory behind the edge. When sharpening both sides of an edge, how do you prevent burrs? Is it possible to overdo one side of the edge, thereby messing it up? I just want to be sure I'm doing this in the best possible manner. The knives really need some love.
 
Most people don't prevent burrs, they rely on them to show they've gotten all the way to the edge. Yes, it's possible to over do one side. I generally sharpen an even number of passes on each side and then check for a burr or for an even apex after swapping from each side.
 
me2 said:
Most people don't prevent burrs, they rely on them to show they've gotten all the way to the edge. Yes, it's possible to over do one side. I generally sharpen an even number of passes on each side and then check for a burr or for an even apex after swapping from each side.
Click to expand...

I was under the impression burrs were imperfections in the edge that would go away as you polish with finer grit. Also, are you checking for the apex by sight? Do you use magnification?
 
They are imperfections on the edge. They might go away as you polish, or they might just get harder to detect as they get smaller, but still be there. Many will give various methods to get rid of them, most of which don't work for me. Drawing the edge through wood, extended stropping (aside from power stropping), etc seem to work for others, but I have to make a couple of high angle passes very lightly edge into the stone, at 35 dps (degrees per side) or above. The exact angle isn't that critical, and maintaining the same angle isn't to bad, as it only takes 1 or maybe 2 passes on each side. I do check the apex by sight. It's a trick I learned from David Boye's book years ago, and just started using again. If an edge is dull, and you have a good light, you can see it if you look edge on, as long as the edge is more than about 0.0005" or so wide. I often cut into my stone when resharpening, to give a good visual indication and make sure I have an even starting point on the edge. Then, when I can't seen the edge any more, I know to deburr and progress to finer grits. This, in theory, prevents any burr from being formed, so you don't have to get rid of it. In reality, there is usually some little bit of a burr to get rid of, so I use the high angle passes above anyway. There's nothing more frustrating than a big burr that just gets bent from side to side and won't come off. The easiest way to get around that is to not make one.
 
For a little more info on burrs check the link in my signature.

To visually inspect for burrs use a bright incandescent light and rotate the edge from shoulder to apex inspecting for reflections of light from remaining burr.

To remove a burr you must shrink its size by using light pressure. Eventually, it will become so small it breaks off or becomes irrelevant, if more stubborn then some stropping may be needed.
 
Thanks. The edges have taken some abuse over the past couple years, and from what you're describing, I've had some pretty large burrs develop as I try to get rid of nicks in the edge.
 
I like using these treated strops

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too much pressure can over do it and remove too much material. Just keep a light touch and take your time.
 
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