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Kitchen knives

Do any of you have a kitchen knife or a kitchen knife collection?

I bought a chefs knife last November and was wondering what grit stone to purchase to sharpen it. It's a Shun so it's pretty sharp already. Since it's pretty sharp, should I start with a 1000 grit and then go to 4000 to finish it?

Help? :confused:
 
Ouch is our resident knife sharpening guru, so I'm sure he'll be here shortly to tempt you into an entirely different AD. For me though I sharpen all my knives with a Spyderco Sharpmaker. It's simple, gives consistently good results, and is pretty inexpensive as sharpeners go. They also have diamond rods that can be helpful with especially hard steel and/or when very fast cutting is desired.
 

ouch

Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
Lots of knife threads on this site, including this compendious and occasionally accurate one-
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=25522&highlight=sharpening

Here is our very own ribmaster, Jim, getting his new toy touched up by world class sharpener Chiharu Sugai at our recent trip to Korin in NYC.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOuXq2nlLik&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbadgerandblade%2Ecom%2Fvb%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D79415%26page%3D10&feature=player_embedded[/YOUTUBE]
 

ouch

Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
A 1K and a 4K is a pretty good basic setup that will address >95% of your needs. (Of course, as a wise man once commented, this site is about the last 3%).

The 1K is perfect for establishing the edge, and a 4K will give a very decent level of polish. If you don't let your knife get too dull, the 1K will have no problem bringing it back to life. It it does get very dull from neglect, you can still start off with the 1K, but it will take a very long time, and you'd probably be better off beginning with a coarse stone, say 220-500 grit. If you become completely nuts, you'll wind up with more stones than knives.
 
I guess I fall out of the 3% in this regard...i maintain my Wusthofs with a chefs choice electric sharpener. I take my Japanese carbon steel sushi knife to be professionally sharpened and I do my filet knives myself with an old Arkansas bench stone that was handed down to me.

In my opinion the electric sharpener is perfect for the tasks of chef's knives, carving knives and paring knives. They need to be sharp, yes, but they also need to stay sharp through some serious abuse. The fish knives need to be sharper for obvious reasons and I am scared to screw up the Sushi knife doing it myself.
 
I give my knives a few passes on a steel before each use. I only need to sharpen them about once a year, and do so with a diamond stone.
 
If you don't let your knives get dull, the Spyderco Sharpmaker should be all you will need. I have about 1/2 dozen custom kitchen knives (440C, ATS-34, S30V) and it works great on each of them.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
A 1K and a 4K is a pretty good basic setup that will address >95% of your needs. (Of course, as a wise man once commented, this site is about the last 3%).

The 1K is perfect for establishing the edge, and a 4K will give a very decent level of polish. If you don't let your knife get too dull, the 1K will have no problem bringing it back to life. It it does get very dull from neglect, you can still start off with the 1K, but it will take a very long time, and you'd probably be better off beginning with a coarse stone, say 220-500 grit. If you become completely nuts, you'll wind up with more stones than knives.

Ouch, you have left 2% out of the equation ... the final, impossible 2%!!

that is stage one. Stage two, your knife collection catches up! Stage three you understand the last 2%, but appear insane to the rest of the world; you may or may not spend all your time with a large rabbit named Harvey.
 
I have several hard to sharpen Forschners, but most of my cutting work is done with a 10" Dexter-Russell. Awesome knife for under $30. I maintain them all with an Edge Pro Apex, and sharpen 4-5 times a year.

I refuse to use an electric sharpener because it will take too much from the blade at the heel.

Trewornan, nice collection! I used to use those Victorinox Forschners, they are really super knives.
 
Ouch, is once a year enough sharpening?

Depends on how much you use the knife and how hard the knife is.

Went to Chinatown Chicago this weekend got me a cleaver. I noticed most where stainless steel, asked to see carbon steel ones. (The $5 ones were shady.) The man pulled out a $30 one that I bought. Then he started to tell me that they'll rust, but stopped himself. He said ah you already know. :wink:

Haven't sharpened it yet but 'out of the box' it's got a good edge. I'll have to put on my 4k. :tongue_sm
 

ouch

Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
most of my cutting work is done with a 10" Dexter-Russell. Awesome knife for under $30.................. I used to use those Victorinox Forschners, they are really super knives.


There's a reason you'll find those in professional kitchens all across the country- they're cheap, rugged, sanitary, and reliable. Many kitchens use a knife "sharpening service" that swaps them out once a week. Chefs bringing high end cutlery to work is a relatively recent phenomenon.

I have a Dexter cleaver I bought in 1985 for ten bucks. I can't kill it.
 
ouch, how critical is it to lap the stones for knives? Should I invest in a diamond stone for lapping?
 
Wicked setup. :thumbup1:

Ditto!

I agree whole-heartedly about the 1k/4k. Before I fell under the influence of Ouch, I used an inexpensive combo stone that cost me $40.

I now have a diamond stone for initial bevel setting for most knives, an 8k, a ceramic sharpening rod, a Spyderco sharpmaker with diamond, medium, fine and ultra fine rods.

Oh yeah, my humble but serviceable knife collection has grown from a couple of chef's knives, a boning knife and a couple of paring knives to include two cleavers (laminate Japanese slicing cleaver and heavy CCK chopper), two Japanese knives (a gyutou and a petty), as well as a set of Porsche knives (paring, utility/boning and chef's) I got from my SO (they're actually very good once you get past the funky design).

I've also become somewhat manic in my obsession to get the perfect edge and I've got lots to learn, but I've slowed down my purchasing (thankfully!).
 

ouch

Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
ouch, how critical is it to lap the stones for knives? Should I invest in a diamond stone for lapping?

If you can get a stone flat enough for honing a razor, you'll have no trouble getting it flat enough to sharpen a knife. It's important, but not as critical as for razors. A simple stone "fixer" should do the trick. Some folks spend more money on a lapping plate than their stones. Even I think that's nuts.
 

ouch

Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
Ditto!

I agree whole-heartedly about the 1k/4k. Before I fell under the influence of Ouch, I used an inexpensive combo stone that cost me $40.

I now have a diamond stone for initial bevel setting for most knives, an 8k, a ceramic sharpening rod, a Spyderco sharpmaker with diamond, medium, fine and ultra fine rods.

Oh yeah, my humble but serviceable knife collection has grown from a couple of chef's knives, a boning knife and a couple of paring knives to include two cleavers (laminate Japanese slicing cleaver and heavy CCK chopper), two Japanese knives (a gyutou and a petty), as well as a set of Porsche knives (paring, utility/boning and chef's) I got from my SO (they're actually very good once you get past the funky design).

I've also become somewhat manic in my obsession to get the perfect edge and I've got lots to learn, but I've slowed down my purchasing (thankfully!).

Yeah, that tends to happen. The good news is that all of that stuff will last a lifetime. I've always felt that things that last a long time are bargains, even if you spend a lot of money on them. If you don't buy another thing for a decade, you'll still have a great setup that will handle anything you encounter. (Aren't those CCK's cool?)
 
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Yeah, that tends to happen. The good news is that all of that stuff will last a lifetime. I've always felt that thing that last a long time are bargains, even if you spend a lot of money on them. If you don't buy another thing for a decade, you'll still have a great setup that will handle anything you encounter. (Aren't those CCK's cool?)

Agreed about buying good (not necessarily expensive) stuff. I do a reasonable amount of cooking and having decent knives with good edges makes it all the more enjoyable. There's something very Zen about both sharpening a knife and then using it to effortlessly slice things up.

And yes, the CCK's are awesome - I'm both lucky and cursed that there's a CCK shop about 20 minutes from my home. If anyone in my area was looking to buy some great knives for relatively little money, I'd send them to the CCK store - the service is lousy (not used to dealing with round-eyes and primarily geared towards the trade), but the selection is awesome - full line of clevers and knives. I actually contemplated buying one of the melon knives just 'cause it was so cool and I know I'm going to have to slice up a melon sooner or later :tongue_sm
 
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