Who sharpens their knives on whetstones?

[smokininidaho]

Just bought some whetstones for sharpening my kitchen knives. Any tips would be appreciated. Found this video helpful.

 

[BandCollector]

This guy seems to have you covered. Great tutorial.

John

 

[phathead69]

I use automotive high grit sand paper. but the advise I have still applies, favourite beverage and big chunk of meat in smoker and solid table outside near smoker.
brisket is usually when I sharpen once a year. start smoking in wood burner early am. sometime that morning I start. I just take my time progressing thru the grits, 800 or so up thru 2000 and coffee thru bourbon. all day adventure just like the brisket but by end of cook I'll have 4 to 5 sharp ass knives and 12 to 17 pounds of meat to test on. by the way i try to make it fall time of year then i get bonus of college football on tv.

 

[Chickenwings]

Burrfection is indeed great. I've been doing this for a couple of years now after having moved on from a Lansky. I find freehand on the whetstone produces better results faster and I really do like it but with that said, THIS guy learned and recommends:
- Don't get hung up on technicals. 19 v 17 degrees won't matter.
- Pay attention to how things feel. You can feel when you're not on the bevel and it sounds a bit different too.
- Go slow and go light - you'll remove a surprising amount of material if you really dig into it, especially with a medium coarse stone. Of course you can get more aggressive once you get the hang of it. Bob Kramer (look him up if you're not familiar) recommends about 4-6 pounds of pressure. Check this with a scale if you need to but it's not that much.
- I HIGHLY recommend buying a cheap chef's knife and learning on that until you really get the hang of it. I was pretty hard on my Wusthof until I bought a Kuma from Amazon...I can't find it now but I recommend a Mercer to get you started. If you grind the heck out of a 50 dollar knife the experience feels so much better than losing your 300.00 hand crafted Japanese Guyoto......

I don't work hard (I'm an underachiever?) to get the kind of edge that Burrfection does in his videos but I can cut tomatoes with my Chef knife without any pressure or crushing. That's my standard and is plenty sharp.

Hope that helps, let us know how it turns out!

 

[poacherjoe]

I use automotive high grit sand paper. but the advise I have still applies, favourite beverage and big chunk of meat in smoker and solid table outside near smoker.
brisket is usually when I sharpen once a year. start smoking in wood burner early am. sometime that morning I start. I just take my time progressing thru the grits, 800 or so up thru 2000 and coffee thru bourbon. all day adventure just like the brisket but by end of cook I'll have 4 to 5 sharp ass knives and 12 to 17 pounds of meat to test on. by the way i try to make it fall time of year then i get bonus of college football on tv.

With my luck sharpening knives all day with bourbon would equal several sharp knives and one less finger!!

 

[SmokinAl]

I think most of the knife makers & professional knife sharpeners use abrasive belts. They give the best edge, and only take a couple of minutes.
Al

 

[noboundaries]

SmokininIdaho, I noticed you watching the responses on another knife thread. I'm about to pull the trigger on a couple Suehiro Cerax whetstones. Still deciding on the grits I want. One recommendation; pick up a cheap 60x lighted jewlers loupe on Amazon to examine your edges. You will be amazed at what you see. Your results will improve immediately.

The cheapie whetstone set I bought works fine, but the two 7"x 2 3/8" stones are smaller than what I want. Bigger than the 5" stone I learned on, though, decades ago.

Been working with the 400/1000 two-sided stone. Plus, the supposed "3000/8000 grit polishing stone is actually a 300/800 grit stone. I could tell the instant I opened the set and rubbed my fingers on it. Thought about returning the set, but it does work. Oh, well. Gave it a 3 star review for the false listing information and markings on the one stone.

 

[noboundaries]

S-in-Idaho, how's the whetstone sharpening going? I'm relearning quickly. That little $8 coin loupe (microscope) has helped me find a push-pull technique that has cut my sharpening time significantly per knife. I was spending almost an hour per knife. I've adjusted my technique with what I've seen through the loupe to eliminate both edge flaws and shavings. I'm now down to about ten minutes per cheap knife with better results.

I never was big on shaving my arm for results. I just want smooth thin slicing of magazine paper.

 

[chef jimmyj]

I've had one of these 30 years. Ive not seen it since my oldest graduated from the CIA and moved out!...JJ

Norton 3 Stone IM200 System

Compact and easy-to-use, this Tri-Stone System is versatile enough for home or commercial kitchens. The 3 Stone Norton IM200 System features 8" x 2" oil stones.

www.sharpeningsupplies.com

 

[noboundaries]

I've had one of these 30 years. I've not seen it since my oldest graduated from the CIA and moved out!...JJ

Kids. Think of it as them taking a bit of you with them.

I learned on an oil stone that had a weird name, like Carbonundrum. I think they are still being made. It's packed away somewhere. Easier to relearn from scratch with something cheap, new, and bigger.

 

[mosparky]

Work had the big brother to Chefs 3 stone, called a Norton Tri-Hone. Stones were closer to 3 x 10.
These days they have cheap knives that are maintained by a sharpening service.
Soon I hope to get a tri-hone for myself. The knives I have, were all sharpened on one and trying to re-set the edge with anything else but a stone, will be a major PITA.
I'll offer an observation for those using a steel. Meat cutters told me this after I started noticing it myself (tho I never mentioned it) A smooth steel will true most edges but will not remove metal. If using a smooth steel. you don't have to re-sharpen on a stone near as often. A serrated steel does remove metal. It's great and often necessary when you have a rolled edge. If you use a serrated steel often, you will find yourself at the stone more often.
Personally I only use the serrated steel for the turned edge, then back to the smooth until I'm faced with another turned edge.

 

[smokininidaho]

S-in-Idaho, how's the whetstone sharpening going? I'm relearning quickly. That little $8 coin loupe (microscope) has helped me find a push-pull technique that has cut my sharpening time significantly per knife. I was spending almost an hour per knife. I've adjusted my technique with what I've seen through the loupe to eliminate both edge flaws and shavings. I'm now down to about ten minutes per cheap knife with better results.

I never was big on shaving my arm for results. I just want smooth thin slicing of magazine paper.

It's going really good actually. Muscle memory is an amazing thing, have been practicing a lot on cheap knives I bought from Goodwill. I've got a lighted magnifying glass I use to inspect the edges.

 

[old sarge]

Here is a good source for stones. Great selection:

Sharpening Stones

Shop Sharpening Stones and more woodworking products for sale from Woodcraft! Buy online or find your local Woodcraft store. Free Shipping on select items.

www.woodcraft.com

Tormek T-4 Water Cooled Sharpening System | Woodcraft

Buy the T-4 Water Cooled Sharpening System for sale online from Woodcraft. Visit us to order online or find your local Woodcraft store today!

www.woodcraft.com

 

[noboundaries]

I am almost OCD-like when it comes to details. It serves me well the vast majority of the time, enabling me to gain levels of insight most pass on by. Sooooo, I took delivery today of a Japanese Suehiro Cerax 1000 grit whetstone. I haven't sharpened with it yet, but one swipe of a finger indicated how smooth it was.

I pulled out the tiny 60x jewelry loupe, figured out how to line up my phone's camera, and snap a pic of the surface of the Cerax and my two cheap Chinese combo whetstones. The combos are 400/1000 grit (650 grams weight) and 3000/8000 grit (785 grams weight). Both have the same size dimensions. The Cerax is a larger stone and weighs in at 910 grams.

I could tell the instant I opened the Chinese package that the 3000 grit was not a 3000 grit stone. The magnifier and a few swipes when wet revealed it is probably a 300 grit stone, just packed more densely than the 400 grit.

I have only sharpened about a dozen knives on the 400/1000 grit, using the 1000 grit side the vast majority of the time with a leather strop to get clean paper cuts. The 3000 and 8000 grit stones have only had a few swipes on each side. My guess is the 3000/8000 might actually be a 300/1000-2000 grit. The Cerax is unused. I can barely wait to use it on Monday.

Below are the pics, and yes, the 1000s and 8000 grit stones are in focus. All the stones were dry.

 

[smokininidaho]

That is one smooth stone. I'm going to look into getting one.

 

[noboundaries]

I picked up a $15 holder, too. The Cerax comes with a silicone base but I like the adjustable holder.


I cannot avoid the following analogy. Stoning knives reminds me of playing golf. A cheap golf club works fine. A better club won't produce better results until you've practiced enough to know what the heck you're doing. And the most expensive club is a waste of overspent money for the VAST majority of golfers who will never play to the club's professional abilities.

I spent $40 on my starter set that included two combo stones with two silicone bases, a flattening stone, a nagura cleaning stone, an edge guide I never used, and a bamboo stone holder. With a couple weeks of practice, experimentation, and YouTube videos, my muscle memory returned and I achieved the sharp results and quicker timing I wanted for one set of our cheap knives.

I still haven't figured out the softer steel Chicago Cutlery edge, but I will. I'll use the new stone ($41) on our better knives. I can't play golf anymore for health reasons, but stoning knives is almost as rewarding, fun, and a LOT cheaper.

 

[smokininidaho]

I picked up a $15 holder, too. The Cerax comes with a silicone base but I like the adjustable holder.


I cannot avoid the following analogy. Stoning knives reminds me of playing golf. A cheap golf club works fine. A better club won't produce better results until you've practiced enough to know what the heck you're doing. And the most expensive club is a waste of overspent money for the VAST majority of golfers who will never play to the club's professional abilities.

I spent $40 on my starter set that included two combo stones with two silicone bases, a flattening stone, a nagura cleaning stone, an edge guide I never used, and a bamboo stone holder. With a couple weeks of practice, experimentation, and YouTube videos, my muscle memory returned and I achieved the sharp results and quicker timing I wanted for one set of our cheap knives.

I still haven't figured out the softer steel Chicago Cutlery edge, but I will. I'll use the new stone ($41) on our better knives. I can't play golf anymore for health reasons, but stoning knives is almost as rewarding, fun, and a LOT cheaper.

I sharpened an old Chicago Cutlery 62S today came out razor sharp, I'm getting better. 1000 followed by 3000 for polishing the edge, then leather strop. If you don't have a leather strop do yourself a favor and get one. I can always tell the difference when I strop.

 

[noboundaries]

Yep, gotta leather strop and I agree it does make a huge difference. I'm also about to make one, or three. Saw a YouTube video about making a wood-mounted leather strop using old leather belts and scrap wood. Got plenty of both. Looked like a quick fun project to play with that won't cost me a penny. Might buy some more polishing compound.

 

[noboundaries]

I sharpened an old Chicago Cutlery 62S today came out razor sharp, I'm getting better. 1000 followed by 3000 for polishing the edge, then leather strop.

That's good to know. Thanks. I have a C.C.44S 10" chef's knife and a 4" pairing knife, both from the early 80's. They are my Monday project.

 

[noboundaries]

I have a 3"×8" wood-mounted leather strop by Hutsuls I bought from Amazon ($18). It works great and will be my main go-to strop. That said, like I mentioned above, a YouTube guy made a leather strop out of scrap wood, an old leather belt, and glue.

Checked the garage. I have 24 feet of pressure treated 1 3/8" x 5 3/8" wood of various lengths left over from repairing trim on my house when we painted it a few years ago. Found a package of new tack cloth. Plenty of sandpaper, too.

Checked my closet. My belly has expanded over the years, so lots of leather belts I wore with jeans that no longer fit (both the belts and the jeans).

Checked the household cabinet and found a practically brand-new 4oz bottle of Elmer's carpenter wood glue ($2.75 at HD).

LET'S MAKE A STROP!

Measuring took one minute.
Hand cutting a belt-width piece of 10" wood took 10 minutes.
Hand cutting one piece of leather from the belt 3 minutes.
Sanding (100 grit) and tack cleaning the belt piece took another 5 minutes.
Hand sanding and tack cleaning the rough wood piece with 100 grit sandpaper another 10 minutes.
Applied the glue to the correct side of the wood and belt, then put them together in 2 minutes. I glued what was previously the outside of the belt. I'll strop on the inside. Used more glue than I needed but that's no problem with lots of wipe rags.

Total time invested to this point: 31 minutes.

Put the strop on the remaining wood piece base, spread three 1 lb weights on the leather to let the glue set. Wiped any drips that appeared over 30 minutes as the glue hardened, then replaced the three 1 lb weights with two 5 lb weighs for a couple hours while it set further.

Sanded the block again (5 minutes).

I wanted to apply excessive amounts of green polishing compound to this homemade strop then heat-treat it and rub it into the leather. Reason? The 60x microscope often reveals metal shavings of various sizes after using whetstones, even with a harder stone for stropping. They are completely invisible to the naked eye , nor can I feel them with my fingers. They are apparent when slicing a piece of magazine paper as the paper catches on the shavings. I Loaded the strop with compound, heated it with a high-heat hair dryer (don't need one of those anymore either), and rubbed the compound into the leather with the rounded handle end of a screwdriver. Took about 10 minutes.

Time for a test run.

Used the new Cerax stone for sharpening my two stubborn softer-steel Chicago Cutlery knives. Used stropping strokes on the 8000 grit combo stone shown above. Wiped the knives clean and examined with the microscope. Saw a couple edge shavings. Ran the knives lightly over the new strop 20 times a side and examined them again. NO SHAVINGS.

Stropped with the lightly loaded Hutsuls leather and the two Chicago Cutlery knives shaved magazine paper with that addicting sound of perfection.

Here's the strop I made before heat treating it. I also rubbed a little food-safe mineral oil into it after the heat treatment.

Fun project and so easy to do in a morning or afternoon. Less than an hour of active time. The rest is waiting for the glue to harden.

Edit: was sitting around bored watching TV. Threw another one together. Glue is drying. May not load it with any compound. Also didn't rough the finish. I can make one more out of this belt but have to figure out how I would use it. Maybe a white compound.