Recommendation? Wustoff classic 6 inch sharpening

[azerik]

Hi all, getting my Blitz360 tomorrow and one of the blades that needs the most work in this house is a 6 inch Wustoff kitchen knife. It has a rounded heal. How does one deal with such a thing using a guided stone system?

 

[UncleBoots]

A side view might be useful.

Personally, I'd toss it. If I were going to keep it, a guided sharpener would not have any role in the repair. Maybe a nice file, or a really coarse stone. Think Norton India/Crystolon.

 

[azerik]

Good point on the side shot. I updated the first post with it.

 

[cut it out]

I just did the exact same k ice for a guy at work. The Worksharp elite guided system did just fine. I started the sharpening at the end of heal is all. Where the grind basically starts in front of the heal. Was easy.

 

[cut it out]

 

[cut it out]

I was worried also about the heal but wasn’t a issue as these were the first kitchen knives I did and first with a heal. I did 4 of his wustoff knives and they all had it.

 

[azerik]

Great to know thanks. I figured 1 inch wide stone would end up digging into that heal. I plan on putting a 45 degree angle on one side of my stones due to some reading I ran across. My wife and kid keep using it on our stone counters. Hoping that if it's sharp they'll stop standing on it to cut apples.

 

[Triple_D]

I use the KME system on my Zwilling Henckles knife, that is almost identical to yours, and it works fine. I just take it as close to the bolster as possible.

 

[Ourorboros]

That heel is called a bolster. Very common in European cooking knives. It gives weight, balance, and is also used to break a chicken's collar bone (for spatchcocking/butterflying the chicken). Or to break the drumstick when deboning a chicken for a ballontine.
A European Chef's knife, unlike Japanese, is a generalist tool and is used for light butchery as well as slicing and dicing produce.

 

[chalby]

I don't really get the question. Just sharpen from where the bolster becomes the edge, to the tip. Am I missing something?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

The post linked below is an example of how one BF member ( HeavyHanded ) dealt with the bolster. It's nice work and is better done using a belt grinder or some large and very aggressive bench stones (he used an XC DMT plate). A lot of metal has to come off. Doing it with small stones will take a very long time - although it could be accomplished gradually over the span of many resharpenings. He notes in the post that the reground bolster itself can be used as an angle guide for subsequent resharpenings - similar to how the wide flat bevels work on Scandi-style blades.

Bolstered kitchen knife mod

Have been wanting to do this to a bolstered kitchen knife for a long time after seeing a similar feature on the Boye "Basic 3" fixed blade - the guard doubles as an edge guide. I normally prefer stamped knives simply to avoid the dead space on the end and the need to grind back the bolster...

www.bladeforums.com

 

[azerik]

Once I get the knife in the clamps I might have a better view of the bolster. My concern was the stone digging into the edge area just in front of the bolster if I was to grind up the bolster at all. Or if most people just grind the edge as flat as they can and just leave the bolster rounding alone. To me the stone can't sit flat if it goes into the bolster area at all. I was just having visions of saw tooth marks either at the bolster or the edge just in front of it.

 

[Triple_D]

I left the bolster alone. When sharpening, just run the stone right up next to it. Easy, and no issues whatsoever (though, I suppose it may depend on the actual shape of your bolster). It will be obvious once you start sharpening your knife.

 

[eveled]

The bolster itself isn’t the problem. Its a sweeping grind. I hate sweeping grinds. With a proper plunge line the integral bolster would be a nice touch.

I added sharpening choils to my similar knives. I’ll get pictures later.

 

[azerik]

 

[azerik]

The high grit stones chewed in a little. This is my first attempt. I realized how much that pull through jacked up this knife. Next time I might need to file the bottom a little and re-establish the edge. For now it slices better than before.