Can you sharpen a knife properly?

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dizietsma

Banned
In theory this is a very simple task, but have we got anyone out there on b3dland who can do it manually without much effort and get great results? I've resorted to a Chefs Choice 120 after years of fecking about with drystones, wetstones, steels etc and it does the job fantastically.

Mind you I am the incompetent who cannot make a bike.

Any "Man with No Name" out there who can sharpen a knife to scalpel precision by just dragging across their shaving stubble?Or is it one of those things a lot harder than it looks?
 
I have a really nice Benchmade at my house that needs sharpened. I have fiddled around with sharpening stones before and it really is an art. Two things have prevented me from sharpening it by myself without sending it back to Benchmade: It has a half serrated blade and a black finish beyond the sharpened area. A novice like myself trying to sharpen it would only scuff up the finish. Plus, I don't have the tools for the serrate.
 
Sharpening serrated knives manually with a stone would be an assload of work although you can probably try some of the gadget sharpeners for serrated blades, I don't know that I would trust them.
 
I have no problem sharpening non-serrated blades on the little thingy that's on the corner of my knife block. No idea how you'd even go about sharpening serrated knives though.
 
It's like AlphaWolf said, just get the correct (45º) Angle and just peel it.

Mind you that the work will be harder or easier depending on the material of your knife since some are more "hard" than others, but those that are harder to sharpen tend to not loose it.

It's almost an art but like any art if you want to learn you can do it, since sharpening involves learning the specs of your blades, knowing what knife goes to what job (and because of that at which angle you should sharpen the blade).

For example you don't sharpen you knife the same for a Chef's Knife that you are gonna use for chopping than a let's say a deboning knife, since the CK will need the most acute angle that you can get (45º optimum) but if you use the DK with that angle it would dull really fast because the angle it's not hard enough (and you are touching bones that are harder than an onion).

So it's "complicated" but easy xD

P.D: Sorry about the grammar, kinda rusty with the English ^^u
 
I always just use a classic whetstone and take my time, knife sharpening can be a true art.

I find it very calming, and at the same time it can make those around me nervous...DOUBLE BONUS! :D
 
Jyst FYI, a steel cannot sharpen a blade. A dull blade will not become any better by using a steel on it. A steel will hone a blade, but only a proper sharpening tool as a stone or a grinder will sharpen a blade. You have to remove the dull steel and make the edge anew in a sense.
 
AS far as I am concerned a grinder is only for axes and machetes.

A stone is for a knife, and a steel is to hone as was said, but it you use a steel regularly you can sharpen less often.
 
swx said:
It's like AlphaWolf said, just get the correct (45º) Angle and just peel it.
Click to expand...

Eh? It's not 45º, it should be half of that. And yes, I can sharpen and hone knives as my father owned a restaurant and thus, I grew up and worked in the industry.
 
Ty said:
Eh? It's not 45º, it should be half of that. And yes, I can sharpen and hone knives as my father owned a restaurant and thus, I grew up and worked in the industry.
Click to expand...
It depends on the hardness and what you want to use the knife for. If it's only for slicing soft stuff, the lower the angle the better. But if the steel is very hard and/or you want to use it as a crowbar if needed, 45 degrees is about right.
 
Hell, I can barely type due to a central nervous disorder. If i tried to sharpen a knife, I'd probably kill myself accidentally! :LOL:
 
Anybody ever tried one of those cool ceramic blades? Incredibly sharp but apparently prone to shattering if you drop them from what I've heard!
 
Frank said:
It depends on the hardness and what you want to use the knife for. If it's only for slicing soft stuff, the lower the angle the better. But if the steel is very hard and/or you want to use it as a crowbar if needed, 45 degrees is about right.
Click to expand...

Hmm, guess I never considered it beyond cooking in a kitchen. Point noted!
 
Mariner said:
Anybody ever tried one of those cool ceramic blades? Incredibly sharp but apparently prone to shattering if you drop them from what I've heard!
Click to expand...

Very sharp and expensive cooking knives. They have to be sent back to the manufacturer for sharpening, but they keep their edge a long time if you use them for what they were designed.

Nowadays a lot of countries ban them unless they are made with a metal strip inside them as they cannot be detected by metal detectors and are thus considered stealth weapons and potentially used to circumvent weapons checks (in clubs, airports, etc)
 
Mariner said:
Anybody ever tried one of those cool ceramic blades? Incredibly sharp but apparently prone to shattering if you drop them from what I've heard!
Click to expand...
Yes, and very hard to sharpen. Not that that is needed if you don't abuse it. Great for cutting (softish) food, but not for general purpose.


Btw, there is a limit to how sharp you want to make knives as well. A really sharp ceramic (or even diamond) razor wouldn't go blunt, but it wouldn't work. It would cut straight into you. And of course, the producers would sell less blades if they didn't wear out fast. (One per person, unless they lose it.)

Sharp, but not too sharp, made of a cheap steel that works well but goes blunt fast.


We can make excessively sharp and strong blades that are so hard and sharp that they would cut about anything not hard and rigid and almost never go blunt, but they would be really expensive and very dangerous to use. You could cut off your fingers without noticing. And you would only need one for life.
 
I'm pretty sure I'd notice if I cut one of my fingers off! :p

Personally, I use Global knives. Got a good price on a set of them a few years ago and have been pretty happy with them. So much easier when you are cooking than with a cheap and crappy blunt knife.

I also just bought my brother-in-law a 3-blade Henckels set which he is very happy with.
 
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