I bought a sharpening stone

Thanks Dan G, but I already bought a Shun stone!

Follow-up question:

Can you use the stone to restore the tip of a knife that got bent? And if so, how?

Originally Posted by Manton

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Follow-up question:

Can you use the stone to restore the tip of a knife that got bent? And if so, how?

it depends, but generally the answer is not very well. Please tell me this was not one of your Shuns, BTW.

If the bend is only in the bevel (i.e. - not deep at all), then grinding it away is your best option - just establish a new bevel and go from there. I'd grind away the bent portion on the side of the stone (think: like the spine of a book) to avoid gouging the stone's face. Grind it until flat, then re-establish a new bevel and pay close attention to the sweep of the edge - you'll have taken off a bit of metal and will need to re-set the curve so your knife cuts gracefully from heel to tip. This should not be much work, though.

If you've kinked the knife (or creased it) - I'd send it back to the manufacturer to see about either replacement or if they can re-forge it back to straightness. An independant blacksmith can probably do this as well, but in any case it's quite spendy and your satisfaction is not guraranteed.

If it's a gentle bend into the steel behind the bevel, you'll want to straighten it by other means - If it were my knife I'd try a vice (lining the jaws with scrap leather) and gentle pressure to flatten the knife, but this may not work depending on a number of factors (hardness, springiness, etc.). Failing that, a heavy hammer (safety goggles are a must!) and anvil should straighen a mild bend, but again it's not a perfect solution. Once you get close, flatten the sides on the waterstone and then re-sharpen.

If these don't work, and you still want to salvage the knife, I'd take it to a bench grinder to grind away the tip and re-set the curve. It will work much faster than the water stone, but you'll need to watch the knife to make sure you don't overheat it and draw out the temper. You'll have a shorter knife, but it will still be useful.

It's my Shun paring knife. My aunt did it. She does not even care about knives, she just has a radar guided sense for expensive things, and so of course had to use that one.

Sounds like I should mail it back to Shun. Well, at least I have a Henkel's I can use in the meantime.

Originally Posted by Manton

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It's my Shun paring knife. My aunt did it. She does not even care about knives, she just has a radar guided sense for expensive things, and so of course had to use that one.

Sounds like I should mail it back to Shun. Well, at least I have a Henkel's I can use in the meantime.

I would mail that one back. Given their hardness I'd expect it to be 1) tougher to work, and 2) more prone to breaking under the stress of a hammer.

Originally Posted by Thomas

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I would smack my aunt across the mouth and then flatten the knife back to proper position on her face.
Fixed. Damn T. You're a hardass!

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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Fixed. Damn T. You're a hardass!

EPIC LOL!!! Thank God the bosses aren't prowling the halls.

The knife is in the mail. Godspeed, good knife! Return in good sharpness, and finely unbent!

Originally Posted by Manton

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The knife is in the mail. Godspeed, good knife! Return in good sharpness, and finely unbent!

Good luck.

I'd be curious to see what they do with it. My guess is that they'll send you a replacement and then either re-forge your knife to flatten it, or grind it down to a smaller size and sell as a second. Re-forging would be cool to watch, but then again I'm getting interested in making my own knives (someday...).

OK, I sharpened the Shun chef's knife tonight. I am sure that I did not do such a great job.

Still ... holy ****! The stone is magic. A casual wave of that knife could now take off a finger.

Originally Posted by Manton

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OK, I sharpened the Shun chef's knife tonight. I am sure that I did not do such a great job.

Still ... holy ****! The stone is magic. A casual wave of that knife could now take off a finger.

you have learned well, grasshopper.

Originally Posted by Manton

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It's my Shun paring knife. My aunt did it. She does not even care about knives, she just has a radar guided sense for expensive things, and so of course had to use that one.

Sounds like I should mail it back to Shun. Well, at least I have a Henkel's I can use in the meantime.

...it just occurred to me that you can re-grind your Henckels to get closer to Shun's bevel, if you felt that your Shun was markedly superior. Paring knives seldom take the wear-and-tear of a chef's knife and the German steel can probably support the narrower angle without crumbling, given the softer workload.

Originally Posted by Thomas

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...it just occurred to me that you can re-grind your Henckels to get closer to Shun's bevel, if you felt that your Shun was markedly superior. Paring knives seldom take the wear-and-tear of a chef's knife and the German steel can probably support the narrower angle without crumbling, given the softer workload.

It's OK as is. I will just wait for the other knife to return. It never occured to me that they might send a new one, but a lifetime guarantee may just require that.

I bought $350 worth of japanese water stones for my growing knife collection, that I do use, and find to work perfectly well.

But, right after buying and using them, I found out about the Edgepro system. If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely buy one of these setups. They are about the same amount of money, but you absolutely cant screw it up. The blade is securely mounted, wont fall off, or wiggle loose, and the grind and hone angle is preset. It is literally a mindless exercise to sharpen anything, regardless of how bad the edge is.

My dad bought one, I think just to rub it in, that he has a better toy. They make grits down to the tens of thousands or more, relative to japanese water stones. You could either have it literally shaper than a scalpel, which makes the edge more prone to damage, or leave it a bit less honed, and still have the sharpest edge you have ever used, and it will last longer.

I still might buy one, and ebay my water stones.

...Edgepro, Lansky, diamond plates, a lot of these things work and work very well. Many roads lead to Rome. That said, I like stones for the versatility and simplicity. I can do up various knives at different bevel angles, sharpen and flatten my chisels and plane blades, and even take care of my razors (up to a point).

.....

Speaking of...Nootje's post about his razor reminded me to make an important distinction between sharpening a knife and a razor.

Knives - you hold the knife at your preferred bevel angle with the spine off the stone. This information falls under "Well, duh, Thomas...". However, a straight razor is always sharpened flat against the stone or strop. The only exception I've heard involves applying a strip of electrical tape along the spine to avoid hone wear or create a micro-bevel, but that's as far as that goes. The spine of a straight razor is always flared - creating a concave face - to create the maker's preferred bevel angle. Even wedges have a bit of 'dish' in the face so you're not grinding away a ton of steel.

A razor requires a very narrow bevel since there is no slicing action when using a straight. With a knife, serrations (an un-polished edge) are productive because you're slicing back and forth (well hopefully you're not sawing but I digress). With the razor it's strictly a shearing motion and the angle must be very fine and well-polished. Hence the CrO strop and the flat angle.