Sharpening stones vs Sharpening Contraptions?

[ryanInayr]

I just started school, about my second term into it. When my knife gets dull, I ask my instructor to sharpen it for me. I know that I can't keep waiting until I'm school to sharpen it. I want to be prepared when I enter the lab, so I was wondering which would be a better choice for home: sharpening stone, or those weird, hand-held contraptions (i.e. chef's choice)?

[Mezzaluna]

Hello Ryan and welcome to Chef Talk.

We've had extensive conversations on this topic in the past. Try searching with the tool on this site. There should be tons of hits.

Having said that, there may be more comments from members with experience with certain sharpening systems or new equipment that's more recent.

Good luck!
Mezzaluna

[ryanInayr]

Thanks for the quick response. I'll be sure to check up on the other topics, after i finish my hw

[Myplaceoryours]

You may find some reference to this process in another post, but I'll cover it here. I use neither stone nor "gadget" to sharpen my knives. I prefer to use a buffing wheel charged with polishing compound. Felt wheels are best because they don't tend to round the edge over as easily as cotton wheels but cotton will work if you pay strict attention to the edge-to-wheel relationship. I learned to use the buffing wheel when I was learning to carve wood - the edge produced is incredible; razor sharp. If I found a knife had become so dull that I needed to use a stone I'd engage a professional sharpening service to re-establish the edge. But periodic edge polishing on the buffing wheel pretty much eliminates that probabillity.

[foodpump]

A buffing wheel is great for maintaining an edge, although you'd need a minimum of a 6" electric grinder @ 1750 rpm, and a 3/4" thick felt wheel, both of which can be pricey and bulky.

When a knife becomes dull, a new edge must be established. Like it or not, the only way to do this is by abrasives. The angle, or bevel of the edge is crucial: Too steep and the new edge will break off quickly, too shallow and the edge will wedge apart, rather than cut food. There are various "gadgets" to establish a consistant bevel, and various grits and types of abrasives to do this with.

As with every craftsman who works with sharp tools, the topic of sharpening is a turbulent one, every opinion, technique, and material under the sun has been discussed. I suggest you inform yourself as much as you can about this subject, let your wallet dictate what kind of sharpening method and materials to use, and never stop learning, seeking new ways, or information about sharpening.

[Myplaceoryours]

Originally Posted by foodpump

A buffing wheel is great for maintaining an edge, although you'd need a minimum of a 6" electric grinder @ 1750 rpm, and a 3/4" thick felt wheel, both of which can be pricey and bulky.

Excellent point....
I believe the trick is to buff and maintain the edge before it becomes dull enough to require resharpening. But knowing how to ensure the proper angle on the edge is crutial. The abrasive in the polishing compound seems to be enough, in my experience, to maintain the edge. It's pretty easy to ruin an otherwise good edge by improper alignment of the edge on the wheel. Keep in mind that, eventhough you may spend sixty bucks on a six inch grinder and a felt buffing wheel, your investment is intended to take care of a set of knives that might easily cost four hundred dollars.

[mudbug]

ryanInayr,

As mentioned above, there are many existing threads on this topic. Keep in mind that sharpening a knife takes metal off the knife which you want to keep to a minimum by maintaining the sharpness of the blade by using a honing steel regularly which straightens the blade between sharpenings. This will greatly prolong the life of your knife and keep it sharp.

Just scroll down to the bottom of this page and you'll see Similar Threads.

[MikeLM]

If you are leaning toward stones, go to

www.leevalley.com

a woodworker's supply company which has many sharpening products, devices, and gadgets.

I personally use a combination 250/1000 grit Japanese waterstone for my plane irons, chisels, and kitchen knives, with the addition of a DMT diamond steel for the latter. All are available from Lee Valley, plus a nice little plastic knife-holder that makes it easy to maintain the proper angle while you work your knives on the stone. None of this is very expensive.

If you want to get really sharp, you could add a felt wheel with rouge, but unless you have a drill press (I have a drill press) you will need a dedicated grinder motor, which may be a little bit of overkill for you at this point.

On the other hand, it's always nice to have a drill press around the house.

You might check your library to see if they have a copy of Sharpening by Leonard H. Lee. It's pretty much the definitive work on sharpening everything. It has a great section on kitchen knives, but it's mostly about woodworking tools. Leonard is, just by coincidence, the founder and retired President of Lee Valley Tools.

Mike

[foodpump]

Ditto the mention of L. Lee's "Sharpening", and if you study Lee Valley's website you will find a knife sharpening kit from Gatco, which is a series of small oilstones mounted on rods, these are guided by a series of notches built into a clamp which holds the knife firmly. This set up, which I belive runs around CDN$ 40.00 can pretty much ensure consistant bevels. There is always a danger when sharpening free hand on a stone of scratching up the sides of the knife, as well as inconsistant bevels. A good stone can cost up to $80 each, the Gatco kit supplies 3 stones, I've had the kit for about a year now and am quite happy with it.

For most of my tools and knives (yes I work with wood too, and have a collection of planes and chisels) I feel the finer the abrasive the better. 1000 grit is good for basic sharpening, but then I go to the next stone, 4000 grit, then the buffing compound on a strop. A knife sharpened with a 1000 grit will have a fairly course and aggresive scratch pattern giving a"bite" to it, not bad for bread or tomatoes, but for cutting hard dense foods (potatoes, cheese) it will leave a serrated surface on the food; and for cutting meats, a rough edge from a 1000 grit stone will equate to alot more energy expended in pushing the rough edge through the meat, and as well the meat will stick to a coarsly sharpened blade alot more than with a mirror polished one.

The "rouge" or sharpening compound comes in stick form, kinda like a giant crayon, (yeah, I know, also comes from Lee Valley...) the particles of this compound are around 8000 grit and will put a mirror finish or your blade. But to touch up a knife with compound you don't need an electric buffing wheel, you can get away with a strop. Basically a piece of leather glued onto a piece of wood, with the leather impregnated with compound, a'la Clint Eastwood's barber stropping his cutthroat razor.

Confused? Take it slowly, raid your local library on sharpening techniques, woodworker's books are great for this, and pick up a "garbage knife" at at garage sale to practice on first.

[ryanInayr]

I really appreciate you guys helping me out. However, I have another question. How would I sharpen a tourne knife? I know I need a round stone, but is it the same method (even, straight strokes)?

thanks again in advance.

[thetincook]

Use the corner of the stone, and put the stone at the edge of the table so you have plenty of room to sharpen the length of the curve.

[Mannlicher]

I eschewed gimmicks years ago. All I use is a good steel, and an old three stone oil bath set by Norton. Remember, its more about maintenence, than it is about sharpening.

[castironchef]

Originally Posted by Mannlicher

I eschewed gimmicks years ago. All I use is a good steel, and an old three stone oil bath set by Norton. Remember, its more about maintenence, than it is about sharpening.

I did the same. Found the old, huge Norton on eBay and have been happy. (Though it'll drive my wife a bit crazy as I sit there on a Sunday afternoon sharpening knives while we watch British murder mysteries on cable TV. I guess the sound can get a bit annoying.)

[ACFCHEFKC]

As previously mentioned a buffer, a leather strop, or a ceramic rod will keep the edge burnished to the center like a steel will. None of these tools can restore a flat or damaged edge.

My only complaint with the buffing/stropping method it that the edge is polished very smooth. This is a problem if trying to cut the skin of a tomato, onion, ect. The edge will actually slide off the food. A small amount of micro saw edge is actually beneficial to start the cut and honing stones will help with this. Most rod or wheel assemblies will sharpen a knife, but since they do not know what "type" of cutlery they are sharpening, they tend to sharpen it all to the same degree.

Thick blades, thin blades, wide blades, short blades, boning knives, cleavers are all cut the same. While 20 degrees is the standard for kitchen edges, many manufacturers (particularly Japanese) ,do 15 degrees ;as do I on my boning and fillet knives. But then a bone cleaver would be sharpened around 35 degrees. It takes the skill of the hand and the eye to sharpen a knife at the proper angle and to sharpen out high/low spots on the stone.

Oil stones work very wellk, but are extremely messy.

The Japanese water stones are much cleaner, affordable, portable, and can be used to keep your knives in excellent condition.

I get mine from japanesechefsknife.com, but they are becoming somewhat mainstream (finally), and can be found through many sources.

I hope this helps,

KC

[the_seraphim]

personally, i take a lot of time and care on my knifes... every night, i take a good look at them under bright light to see any folding, and burring any defects....

i then get out my 4000 grit stone and very slowly work each defect out, then i move onto a 8000 grit stone ive got and take the burrs off then i follow it up with a strop just like the old barbers used to

then i take a finely chipped 4000 grit stone that i well.... cut with a band saw k... lol and one some knives, the ones i use for tomatoes, i add a very slight serration to the base of the blade, just enough to stop it slipping


some people have accused me of loving my knives too much... to which i say "pete doesnt think so"... when i explain pete is my paring knife, i get strange looks