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Wanting to get into knife sharpening

Victorinox that lasts several days in constant use as described means it's well sharpened & used with care. You're doing great!

I agree with David, try light steeling it to extend the use a bit more. Or get another set & do the maintenance over weekend / off days.
 
face, I returned to give you the grits of the Norton 313: the coarse SiC stone is 100 grit, the medium stone is 220 girt also a SiC and the fine India is a 320 grit stone. Also, at places like meat markets the stones are never cleaned before, during or after use. So, a combination coarse/ fine India at home would allow you a clean stone every time for sharpening. Get the U.S. made 2X8" or larger stone. It's only 22$ and is large enough to sharpen your 12" carver. On this stone the coarse is 150 grit and the fine 320 grit. You'll mostly use the fine, to work up a burr and remove it with light strokes on that stone. Then your knives are ready for Monday's shift. The fine stone's grit breaks down giving leaving about a 400 grit edge on your blade. Use light pressure for the finishing touches. Best wishing in cutting meat. Remember to wear your jacket and keep your fingers out of the blades path. I cut meat for years. When I was trained I had to learn the cuts on a side and be able to break it down. This comes in large packaged form to the grocer today. I didn't own a 12" blade. I did my cutting with a 6 & 9" blades. DM
 
thanks DM for getting the grits on those stones! its no wonder then that i feel like im taking a lot of metal off my blade on the course stone becuase its a 100 grit!

yesterday morning i had actually gotten up early enough to go to work an hour early and sharpen my knives. this time i made sure to do my strokes slower and keep as consistent an angle as possible. all i really did was work up to a burr, removed it, then went to the next stone. i talked to one of the older guys that works there a lot about knife sharpening and he recommended to me to take the burr of i scrap the trailing edge of the knife on one of those green scouring pads so i tried that. the knife felt pretty sharp but i didnt get a chance to cut much meat yesterday. being the day before the 4th i spent most of my time on the floor stocking the counter and talking to customers :P. i did thin slice about 200 lbs. of chicken with some that were really chilled and the knife still cuts paper so i decently satisfied right now.
 
I don't think the green scouring pads will completely remove the burr. I do it on the fine stone. How ever you prefer. DM
 
Are you cutting chicken strips from the breast for grilling? 200 lbs. from breasts is a lot...? I wouldn't take my dull knife to a coarse stone. As you've already set the edge angle. I'd go straight to the fine India and remove as little metal as possible in arriving at a sharp edge. DM
 
One my of my customers is a very talented and respected butcher. I sharpen for them every 3 weeks and it always seems to be great timing.
The stones I've seen in food service are ALWAYS filthy. Usually water stones that someone has smeared vegetable oil on. The typical mistake with stones is lack of patience. When using the coarse stone, some get impatient when they don't see a burr and roll the spine up and get too steep. The. Going through the following stones too quick.
I really don't feel that 320 grit is fine enough for slicing or holding an edge for very long.
 
David Martin said:
Are you cutting chicken strips from the breast for grilling? 200 lbs. from breasts is a lot...? I wouldn't take my dull knife to a coarse stone. As you've already set the edge angle. I'd go straight to the fine India and remove as little metal as possible in arriving at a sharp edge. DM[/QUO

each case is 30-40 lbs. i cut 4 cases thin sliced and 2 sliced in half for fajitas. its been two days of work since ive sharpened and i can still cut our thin wax sheets we use to pick up foods in the service counter. another guy i work with picked up my knife to cut something and he said "i dunno what youre about because that's sharp". i still think its not as sharp as when i pulled it out of the package and i think i can do better on the edge with a finer stone.
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If you want to try a finer stone, --- that's ok too. But I think technique has a play. A light touch on the last 6 strokes makes a difference and a strop. Good luck, DM
 
This ^
You can play around with different finish levels, but the edge off the India is going to be very good performer for slicing tasks. If you move more into chopping/dicing then a finer edge will pay off.

You can also experiment with a smooth steel, not sure what level of aggressiveness the F Dick steel you mentioned. A steel that is shiny enough to see your reflection with maybe a bit of texture would be perfect as a follow on to the India. You can also use the edge of a glass tray or dish. Steel at maybe an degree or two higher than your grind angle for 6-8 passes very very light. Done fresh off the India will leave an edge that could possibly part free hanging hair, but at the least will be frightfully sharp and still have some bite.

You can go back to the steel maybe two or three times max before needing to go back to the stones.
 
facewizard13 said:
i still think its not as sharp as when i pulled it out of the package and i think i can do better on the edge with a finer stone.
Click to expand...

Factory edges are usually sharpened on a medium coarse grit belt sander between 220 and 320. Then they have the burr removed on a buffing wheel. This combination makes a very unusual edge. At least in my opinion. The start of the edge is sort of coarse, so it will have "teeth" that dig into whatever you are cutting. But the very, very, very edge of the edge is highly polished by the high speed buffing wheel. So what you end up with is polished teeth. At least that's what I think is happening. Someone with a microscope who has studied it can probably say better than I can.

Depending upon what your test was for "it was sharper out of the box", you might try going the other direction: Towards a more coarsely finished edge. I've gone as low as 100 grit for everyday tasks and found that it performed really well... as long as I removed the burr fully. For meat, I would think up to about 600 grit would be fantastic. But my experience is limited to the kitchen, so I can't say what will work at your job.

Something to think about and experiment with.

Brian.
 
bgentry said:
Factory edges are usually sharpened on a medium coarse grit belt sander between 220 and 320. Then they have the burr removed on a buffing wheel. This combination makes a very unusual edge. At least in my opinion. The start of the edge is sort of coarse, so it will have "teeth" that dig into whatever you are cutting. But the very, very, very edge of the edge is highly polished by the high speed buffing wheel. So what you end up with is polished teeth. At least that's what I think is happening. Someone with a microscope who has studied it can probably say better than I can.

Depending upon what your test was for "it was sharper out of the box", you might try going the other direction: Towards a more coarsely finished edge. I've gone as low as 100 grit for everyday tasks and found that it performed really well... as long as I removed the burr fully. For meat, I would think up to about 600 grit would be fantastic. But my experience is limited to the kitchen, so I can't say what will work at your job.

Something to think about and experiment with.

Brian.
Click to expand...

I've been using my Worksharp Ken Onion with only the P120 (coarsest) belt for sharpening followed by buffing the burr off of the edge on a slotted paper wheel.

The resulting edge works quite well for a variety of uses and is crazy easy to touch up. I need to redo the edge on my chef's knife and it will probably get the same treatment as I'm curious to see how this sharpening method holds up to regular kitchen use. :thumbup::)
 
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