Knife Sharpening

[WadePatton]

Yes, the simplicity of keeping a brilliant edge on the single-bevels was the main selling point for me, and NOW i'm in LOVE with the heft and balance of that knife. More fishing this year for sure, but then THat's another thread...

Back to the stones and such: The only thing else I want/need is the DMT plate. And since i have the Norton "fixer" stone, I'll just get a single-grit DMT, reducing that expense. NO stone i had on hand was flat btw. was. being the operative word there.

[jitahs]

Single bevels have also changed the way I look at sharpening. I can get such an amazing edge on my deba and yanagiba I kind of end up bummed that I can't seem to be better with my double bevel knives. At first I thought that it was just a situation that the edge can be so much finer with just the single bevel, but then I picked up one of these:

...and it's amazing. So it's me, my henckels, or a combination of the two. In the mean time, I'll keep working on them. I'm putting a rule on myself that I'm not allowed to grab another knife until I'm better at making a great edge on my current germanknives

I'm going to predict you, or anyone else, are not going to come close to a good Deba. It's the thickness of the blank that is the problem ime. You really notice it when you go do an initial cut through thick fruit or vegetables; at some point the edge stops doing the work, the width of the blade pries it apart.

The day I broke the tip of my Henckels was liberating.

[WadePatton]

... to a good Deba. It's the thickness of the blank that is the problem ime. You really notice it when you go do an initial cut through thick fruit or vegetables; at some point the edge stops doing the work, the width of the blade pries it apart.

The day I broke the tip of my Henckels was liberating.

Yes, it's different world. there's no crossover. in or out.

Now back to water-stone sharpening:

and in this case a single-bevel deba: as noted earlier, you might need a full-session of just getting your waterstones flat if they're Norton. Naturals or King or other makes may be flatter out of the box, i do not know. These, all except the flattening stone of course, tended to be convex-and have me much more interested in diamond cutting tools for the purpose of truing stones than ever before.

the deba, looked beautiful, but needed a bit of work to get the bevel trued. Used the 220 to get a clean bevel, then the 1000 and 4000. I only cut a single angle as it's a whole new technique for me. I may work toward the compound angle next time. I also didn't work the flat side quite enough for a first-time sharpening.

I'd recommend those not real handy with sharpening to let the knife shop do the initial work-if they don't as a matter of course. After that, it's just maintenance, which i expect to be a breeze.

I stropped the final wire edge away on canvas, hit the leather lightly.

Now I have a razor-like edge with the mass of a axe-and that lovely flat side. but that's for the other thread.

[Nathanrtaylor]

Yes, it's different world. there's no crossover. in or out.

Now back to water-stone sharpening:

and in this case a single-bevel deba: as noted earlier, you might need a full-session of just getting your waterstones flat if they're Norton. Naturals or King or other makes may be flatter out of the box, i do not know. These, all except the flattening stone of course, tended to be convex-and have me much more interested in diamond cutting tools for the purpose of truing stones than ever before.

Hey Wade, next time your stones are un-flat, try gluing a sheet of automotive finishing wet/dry sandpaper to a piece of plate glass with a hit of spray adhesive. Works on the stones, sure, but it also does a heck of a job on the knives too. Cheap. Damn effective.

I used to sharpen my carving tools like that in art school. Kept doing kitchen knives that way. Never upgraded to japanese waterstones even for the romance factor.