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I bought a sharpening stone - Page 10

post #136 of 184
2/11/13 at 1:17pm
Starting with a blunt knife on a 1000 stone wasn't easy for me as a first-timer. I put in a lot of effort and patience and thought I hadn't achieved much (I couldn't cut through paper and I thought (wrongfully?) that wouldn't be very hard to achieve). However, when I cut some tomatoes I found out that the knife was quite a bit sharper than it was before using the stones. So, I'm not there yet (not looking for razor sharp though), but I think I can make this work. It looks like this now:

7KetWmL.jpg

I think I might try to put the clamp a bit further back to get a smaller angle on the stone. Good idea?
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post #137 of 184
2/11/13 at 1:32pm
How old is the knife? Has it ever been sharpened before by somebody else?
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post #138 of 184
2/11/13 at 1:47pm
for me one of the learning steps was recognizing the "burr" of excess metal that forms on the edge of the blade when you've done one side enough. then sharpen the other side until the burr reduces, then repeat as necessary. paper should be pretty easy -- that's my main test when i'm sharpening ... fold it in half to stiffen if you need. another test i use when i'm cooking (to see if i need to steel), is to touch the blade to my thumbnail. it should grip rather than slide off. it might be cutting better even though it's not sharp because of the microserrations.
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post #139 of 184
2/11/13 at 2:00pm
Thank you, foodguy. I did the nail test (something I remember from my childhood when checking if my pocketknife was sharp smile.gif), and it didn't really grip. That's why I thought the whole operation had failed, until I did some actual cutting: fortunately, it was sharper than before I started.

I am going to try to get a better result in a few days and will pay attention to the burr next time.
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post #140 of 184
2/11/13 at 2:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by itsstillmatt View Post

How old is the knife? Has it ever been sharpened before by somebody else?

I'm not sure, but close to fifteen years, I guess. It has been sharpened before, via a local kitchen store that offers knife sharpening.
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post #141 of 184
2/11/13 at 2:05pm
Pull-through sharpeners; good or bad? Salesperson today told me to go ahead with it, but i'm apprehensive.
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post #142 of 184
2/11/13 at 2:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NOBD View Post

I'm not sure, but close to fifteen years, I guess. It has been sharpened before, via a local kitchen store that offers knife sharpening.

So, what foodguy says is right. Raising a burr and then deburring is what sharpening is all about. That is A1. The second, though, is that there are really two issues with sharpness. The first is the edge itself, and the second is the metal behind the edge. One reason knives "stop getting sharp" as they get older is that the edge keeps rising up the knife each time it is sharpened, but the knife is thick up there, so it becomes really hard to put a good angle on, and even if you can, it is thick behind the knife so that anything hard you cut will kind of snap as the whole knife goes through it. With an older knife you may need to spend some time thinning the knife behind the edge before you can put a really usable edge on it.
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post #143 of 184
2/11/13 at 2:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CBrown85 View Post

Pull-through sharpeners; good or bad? Salesperson today told me to go ahead with it, but i'm apprehensive.
pull-through sharpeners are the clip-on bowties of cutlery.
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post #144 of 184
2/11/13 at 2:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by foodguy View Post

pull-through sharpeners are the clip-on bowties of cutlery.

Nanoo-nanoo.
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post #145 of 184
2/11/13 at 2:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by foodguy View Post

pull-through sharpeners are the clip-on bowties of cutlery.

oh, that's quite good.
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post #146 of 184
2/11/13 at 2:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by itsstillmatt View Post

So, what foodguy says is right. Raising a burr and then deburring is what sharpening is all about. That is A1. The second, though, is that there are really two issues with sharpness. The first is the edge itself, and the second is the metal behind the edge. One reason knives "stop getting sharp" as they get older is that the edge keeps rising up the knife each time it is sharpened, but the knife is thick up there, so it becomes really hard to put a good angle on, and even if you can, it is thick behind the knife so that anything hard you cut will kind of snap as the whole knife goes through it. With an older knife you may need to spend some time thinning the knife behind the edge before you can put a really usable edge on it.

Thanks. It's old, but I've only had it sharpened once, maybe twice, in all those years shog[1].gif. So the second is probably not relevant yet?
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post #147 of 184
2/11/13 at 2:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NOBD View Post

Thanks. It's old, but I've only had it sharpened once, maybe twice, in all those years shog[1].gif. So the second is probably not relevant yet?
with a knife that dull, it could take 25 to 30 minutes to put a good edge on it the first time. keep after it and touchups should only take 5 or so after that. but my guess is you've got a lot of bad metal you've got to get rid of.
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post #148 of 184
2/11/13 at 2:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by foodguy View Post


but my guess is you've got a lot of bad metal you've got to get rid of.

I am using this for the second time today -

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post #149 of 184
2/11/13 at 2:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by foodguy View Post

with a knife that dull, it could take 25 to 30 minutes to put a good edge on it the first time. keep after it and touchups should only take 5 or so after that. but my guess is you've got a lot of bad metal you've got to get rid of.

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post #150 of 184
2/11/13 at 2:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by foodguy View Post

with a knife that dull, it could take 25 to 30 minutes to put a good edge on it the first time. keep after it and touchups should only take 5 or so after that. but my guess is you've got a lot of bad metal you've got to get rid of.

frown.gif I'm gonna give it another shot though! smile.gif

Just to be sure: by bad metal you mean the knives themselves or the "knife edge situation"? In other words: discard of the knives or prepare for more sharpening work?
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