What did you hone today? -Knife and tool edition

[cotedupy]

What would you compare a Dalmore to, finish wise? I keep getting conflicting information about where it sits "grit" wise. One a scale of soft Ark to Translucent? Someone needs to create some sort of scale for natural stones.

Yeah, you do see people putting them quite high, but ime I'd say 4-5k normally. They do vary a bit so maybe 2-6k at the extremes, but you wouldn't get that whole range in a single stone. Really good kitchen knife edges, but you're not going to finish a razor on one. With a decent slurry raised you could probably set a bevel without too much faff, if it was in alright shape to begin with.

Indeed, a scale might be handy, I might have a go at that at some point. TBH I don't hold much truck with the idea that you can't rate the 'grit level' of natural stones. If you've used enough synths it's perfectly possible to compare the speed and finish of them to give an idea of what something's going to do.

 

[Pack line]

Carbon carving knife on a Cretan hone.

View attachment 1586724

Here in Pennsylvania everyone over 55 has that knife. And every antique store. I am pretty sure it is a law.

 

[Legion]

Here in Pennsylvania everyone over 55 has that knife. And every antique store. I am pretty sure it is a law.

I have bought a few factory seconds of them, and the skinning knife in the same series. They are good cheap blades to cut up and modify into bushcraft knives. 1095 steel, pretty solid.

 

[Tirvine]

Yesterday was get out the stones and sharpen everything day. So nothing needed honing. The chef knives (10" and 8"), the 6" utility knife, the 10" slicer, the 4" parer, the two tiny, pointy Nogent parers, six steak knives, and my pocket knife all got the same 1000/3000 treatment. All but the pocket knife are old Sabatier carbon steel. The pocket knife is a little Case physician's knife. It is fascinating to observe what is the same steel in multiple knives undergo the same treatment and yield pretty divergent results (eliminated through more work on some). The little Case is the hardest of the bunch to sharpen. I have been using a little Wusthof tri-stone, but yesterday I ordered Sharpening Supplies 440, 1000, 3000, flattening stone, and holder. The old Wusthof was pretty dished and needed to be let go. I know I could have bought a flattening stone and fixed it, but its stones were so small that I found them awkward with 10" knives. I am excited to try the new stones.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Bit of touch up work on the 1k, only the Due Cigni saw also the 3k side of the Cerax.

 

[Legion]

Did another axe with my little chunk of Turkey stone.

 

[Tomo]

I thought that my kitchen knife could use a bevel set and I had the Shapton 500 HR out so I gave it a go. Holy moly is this stone fast! I didn’t even move up from the 500 and I think I got my best edge yet.

I think I may have had it all wrong trying to chase knife sharpness with high grit stones.

 

[Legion]

I thought that my kitchen knife could use a bevel set and I had the Shapton 500 HR out so I gave it a go. Holy moly is this stone fast! I didn’t even move up from the 500 and I think I got my best edge yet.

I think I may have had it all wrong trying to chase knife sharpness with high grit stones.

Yeah, that was where I was going wrong for a long time too. What I find works well for me with kitchen knives is to get the edge sharp with a lower grit stone (like the sg500, soft ark, etc), then give it a bit of a polish with a higher grit stone, but not so much that you remove all the teeth from the previous stone. Then you can kind of get the best of both worlds.

But it depends on what you are cutting too, I guess.

 

[Tomo]

Yeah, that was where I was going wrong for a long time too. What I find works well for me with kitchen knives is to get the edge sharp with a lower grit stone (like the sg500, soft ark, etc), then give it a bit of a polish with a higher grit stone, but not so much that you remove all the teeth from the previous stone. Then you can kind of get the best of both worlds.

But it depends on what you are cutting too, I guess.

Just like razors, you need a good foundation.

 

[Wid]

Did a refresh on this petty.

Went with the Naniwa 3K to a Turkish stone. First using this stone.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Today I stupidly bent the tip of the small blade on my Vic Spartan.

So I thought about reprofiling it to a Sheepsfoot.

And after 5-6 minutes on the coarse side of an India
Touch up was on the fine side.

 

[Legion]

I'm experimenting with different edges to try and find something more durable for basic stainless kitchen knives. A lot of edges don't seem to last very long with cheaper knives and cheaper cutting boards, so I'm looking for less sharp, more tooth. Which has worked in the past, but now I'm just trying single stones, without trying to get tricky with hybrid edges, and so on.

Today's stone, 10" soft Arkansas. If you want tomatoes sliced, this is probably your stone.

Good soft Arks are pretty affordable, and unless you are a high end sushi chef using much better knives than this, it will probably take care of all your kitchen needs.

 

[cotedupy]

Very good new/old Washita in recently, so a little touch up sharpening for some of my posh knives later.

 

[2bit_collie]

My sister sent me a batch of her knives to sharpen. I started with a Tojiro gyuto DP series, so VG10. Today I tackled a Henkels knife, not sure how to describe it, looks like the kitchen version of a KaBar. I assume it’s stainless. My sister treats her knives terribly - if it was carbon it would be incredibly rusted.

Set the bevel initially with a Norton fine India. A few days ago was not happy with my mid-20th Century Norton No.1 Washita so instead pulled out a “use Sperm oil” vintage Pike Washita. Reasonably happy with the result.

I know I can do better with my EdgePro Apex, but the whole point is to work on my freehand sharpening. And yes I am using a bevel angle wedge.

 

[thp001]

Nowill Butcher knife on the Green Brick of Joy (Vermont Slate Edition).

 

[Legion]

Nowill Butcher knife on the Green Brick of Joy (Vermont Slate Edition).

View attachment 1616082

The amount of time and effort they put into the ergonomics of that handle is astounding.

 

[thp001]

The amount of time and effort they put into the ergonomics of that handle is astounding.

I like the aesthetics and the ergos aren’t too bad really albeit obviously nowhere near the best (although in my work as a cook I’ve been surprised by how little ergos on handles matter to me). I think of those old 5 and 6 pin handles on the 19th century type knives as the Western equivalent of the Japanese Ho Wood knife handles, pure utility.

 

[Legion]

I like the aesthetics and the ergos aren’t too bad really albeit obviously nowhere near the best (although in my work as a cook I’ve been surprised by how little ergos on handles matter to me). I think of those old 5 and 6 pin handles on the 19th century type knives as the Western equivalent of the Japanese Ho Wood knife handles, pure utility.

If you do find that is giving you "hot spots" you might find just knocking the corners off with a Dremel would make a world of difference, without losing the aesthetic.

Old Hickory knives are similar, and I'll do that with the ones I mess with, right out of the gate.

 

[Wid]

Victroinox boning knife. Not the easiest steel for me to put an edge on. I still suck at sharpening knives. But there is a decent edge on it now.

Used an interrupted DMT to a Washita.

 

[2bit_collie]

Finally finished up my sister’s knives this weekend. Two Henkels and a Wustof. Back to the fine India and my Pike #1. It’s a combo that works well together. I’m finding that if I am going to use multiple stones it is easier to stick to all water stone or all oil stone.

Still using the training wheels (bevel angle guides). I went for a 30 deg angle on the Santoku, 40 deg on the boning knife and for the paring knife I did a 30 deg primary and a very small 40 deg secondary (perhaps 5-10 strokes with the Washita). The parer was the hardest, the bevel was completely gone, I swear the spine was less rounded than the edge! I am getting better on holding the bevel angle steady, which I find is critical. On some of my knives in the past I’ve gotten really mediocre results freehand, but following with just 1 minute on and EdgePro Apex will completely change the edge in the positive direction.

I finished each knife with some steeling on a ceramic steel, I think it is around 1k.

This is not my best work - I was able to slice newspaper with all the finished edges, but my own go-to, a Watanabe Blue #2 nakiri can push cut newspaper and it hasn’t seen anything but the ceramic steel in months. But the goal here was to get better at freehand sharpening, and I do feel that I made some progress as I worked my way through the 5 knives. I also did one round of epoxy on the Santoku handle, which had some severe melting damage. Probably could use a 2nd round, but it’s a huge improvement over the received condition.