I bought a sharpening stone

Surfrider · Jan 28, 2010

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

WHy don't you ever post in the fragrance thread, dammit?

Something like, "After declaring several times my fear of learning how to use fragrances, I broke down and bought Charlie Girl yesterday. Rationale: I have two really nice suits, and lot of OK suits. I have no problem wearing the OK ones with no fragrance. A number of people (including some here) have scared me off of wearing black with the nice ones, but I need something to spritz on when going out."

I would have been ALL over that...

My homometer just went off the scale.

Trinitrogen Oxide · Jan 29, 2010

Originally Posted by Manton

Thanks. The two knives that I care about are indeed Shuns, and I bought a Shun stone. Sending them back to Japan means living without them for weeks, or possibly months, and I don't want to do that.

I need to learn this anyway, so I may as well jump in.

Not sure if its been covered in this thread, but you don't have to send them to Japan to get them sharpened. They do it at their factory in Oregon. Send them in, and they'll put a factory edge back on it. Just got mine back after about a month turnaround time, its free if you don't count the cost of shipping to them, they send them back USPS for free.

It's a long month without the knives though, I almost picked up Shun 10" chef because I was so tired of using my POS backup.

DNW · Jan 29, 2010

Originally Posted by Trinitrogen Oxide

Not sure if its been covered in this thread, but you don't have to send them to Japan to get them sharpened. They do it at their factory in Oregon. Send them in, and they'll put a factory edge back on it. Just got mine back after about a month turnaround time, its free if you don't count the cost of shipping to them, they send them back USPS for free.

It's a long month without the knives though, I almost picked up Shun 10" chef because I was so tired of using my POS backup.

A month is a long time to have to wait for your knife. Manton was right about having to learn this. I don't have a sharpening stone, but my set of Spyderco will probably do what I need.

Trinitrogen Oxide · Jan 29, 2010

Originally Posted by DarkNWorn

A month is a long time to have to wait for your knife. Manton was right about having to learn this. I don't have a sharpening stone, but my set of Spyderco will probably do what I need.
Yes, its an extremely long time if you love your knife

Like I said, I almost bought another one I missed it so much. Just wanted to clear up the fact that you don't have to send it to Japan. I wish I was ballsy and skilled enough to sharpen my own knives.

Manton · Jan 29, 2010

Yeah, I figured out that it was only Oregon when I broke a tip. They were faster than I thought, but I still was really impatient to get my knife back.

It is, indeed, a great deal.

HORNS · Feb 22, 2010

I bought a couple of Japanese water stones at Cliffs Variety today and sharpened all my knives in between posting on SF. I'm so happy to have extremely sharp knives again, but pissed off that it took me so long to do so.

Douglas · Feb 22, 2010

Has anyone tried this? It seems vastly easier than using a stone and sounds effective. It's from the long egullet article that was quoted earlier in this thread. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?...nd-sharpening/

The Mousepad Trick Do you have an old mouse pad? Is there an auto supply store nearby? You can make a superb sharpening system for about $5. Go to your nearest auto supply store and get some 600 grit sandpaper. Mylar-backed wet/dry sandpaper works best. This is the stuff used to sand automotive paint between coats. Get the self-stick kind. If they have higher grits, get a couple of sheets of those, too, 1200 grit is generally the next step up. Go nuts. It’s cheap. Stick the sandpaper to the mouse pad and trim the edges. This is your new sharpening system. If you have both 600 and 1200 grit, apply one to each side of the mousepad. Make sure you have a work surface you don’t mind scratching up. If you have a double-sided mousepad sharpener, you don’t want to work on your kitchen counter or dining room table. Your spouse will kill you. This system requires a stropping motion when sharpening, using an edge-trailing stroke. That means that unlike other sharpening methods you don’t lead with the edge, you lead with the spine. Image an old barbershop with the barber stropping his razor, stroking away from the edge. That’s the idea. To establish your angle, lay the knife flat on the pad, edge toward you. Lift the spine slightly while pulling lightly toward you. Continue lifting until the edge bites into the sandpaper. That’s your stropping angle. Press down lightly and stroke the knife away from you, spine first, moving from heel to tip. When you reach the end STOP and lift the knife straight up off the sandpaper. Don’t roll it off or lift the spine further or you’ll mess up the edge you’re creating. Turn the knife over and stroke back the other way with the edge away from you, pulling the spine toward you at the same angle as the previous stroke. The really cool thing is that the mouse pad is soft enough that it conforms to the angle of the knife edge. As long as you’re pretty close you’ll be fine. This will give you an amazing edge in a fairly short amount of time. If you want to polish it up, use the higher grit sandpaper on the other side of the mouse pad. Because the mousepad is soft, it deforms lightly around the edge of the knife and gives you a slightly convex bevel. As we’ve discussed, a convex edge has many advantages but can be difficult to achieve without a belt sander. This is one way to create or maintain a convex edge without serious power tools.

I've got an older Messermeister knife that I received once as a gift but never ever use. I thought it was crap because the edge disappeared very quickly, but it was before I knew anything about anything, I wasn't honing, etc. It's probably a decent enough knife but since I never have used it it seems like a good guinea pig for this little experiment. Thoughts?

Manton · Feb 22, 2010

^^^ Since it does not involve the purchase of expensive new equipment, no one here will be interested.

Thomas · Feb 22, 2010

Originally Posted by Manton

^^^ Since it does not involve the purchase of expensive new equipment, or involve arcane rituals and lengthy prep time, no one here will be interested.

This.

Douglas · Feb 22, 2010

Well I guess I'll have to give it a shot for the small-timers.

Manton · Feb 22, 2010

Originally Posted by Thomas

This.

I thank you for, and accept, your correction.

Thomas · Feb 22, 2010

And - Douglas - yes it works - somewhat...but I'm not a fan. You could lay the sandpaper on glass, or machined granite, or corian, or...well, you get the idea. But the sandpaper I've used wears out fairly quickly, leaving dead spots in the paper and therefore uneven effectiveness. Part of this, though, comes from having a curved blade.

Now, for lapping chisels and plane blades (flat surfaces), this is excellent.

Thomas · Feb 22, 2010

Originally Posted by Manton

I thank you for, and accept, your correction.

Actually, I preferred yours better for its brevity and wish I'd said it.

Douglas · Feb 22, 2010

OK, well, i just bought this: http://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-D113...6868010&sr=8-2 Will take the Messermeister to it first, then I'll try the rest of my blades (all Wusthof Classic stuff). Taking a knife skills class in April, too. Gonna learn to do this right. My cutting technique has been ok but I need to learn the real correct way of doing things.

Pezzaturra · Feb 24, 2010

Originally Posted by Manton

I recently took a class and the instructors all implored us to learn to use the stone, and to rely only on ourselves.
was this a cooking class or knife-sharpening class?

I bought a sharpening stone

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