Recommended Whetstone grit for a Wusthof finish

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peanutaxis

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May 7, 2023
Messages
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Hi,

I'm a big Wusthof fan. They're not ferraris, they're insanely good quality workhorses. I've even visited their factory shop - partly chance that I know people in Solingen. I really love the bite - the micro-seration - of a new Wusthof knife. I also own a Shun which is the exact opposite - a very polished edge, so polished that I can run my finger along the blade and it won't bite and cut my skin whereas a Wusthof would.
Anyway I have tried less....kosher knife sharpening kits/methods and I'm now wanting to buy my first whetstone. Given that I like that bite of micro-serations, could someone recommend some grit sizes that would make me happy?

:)
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With waterstones, perhaps a Shapton Glass 500 and 2000 followed by stropping. Or replace the Shapton Glass 2000 with a Naniwa 2K Green Brick.
With a diamond stone, a double sided 300 (or so) / 1200 then strop. Just don't over do it with this one, as it will remove material quickly.

Honestly you could use those on the Shun if you like toothy. Or get a water stone in the 5K area to keep an edge similar to the one it has and use it at the end of the progression. Then strop or not.
 
Different manufacturers use different grit ratings, so once you understand that you can make a choice on which stone(s) you want to buy. Check out the stickies in this sub-forum for more info.

As you are talking about a fairly simple stainless, you can basically use whatever abrasive you want, but I would say you will like something in the sub 1000 grit JIS range(maybe 400-800 grit) based on your preference of a toothy edge. I'll repeat for emphasis: check out the threads here that compare grit ratings to make sure you get something that suits what you are after.
 
325 dmt one and done in the kitchen except for the santoku which gets the 1200 dmt. I've refined knives to 30k and stopped with sub micron paste etc. I don't see any value in what I do to do anything more. If you didn't know a 140 grit atoma edge stropped on plain leather will cut arm hair.
 
For JIS whetstones, from your description above all you need is a 1000-2000 stone, and if it were me I would also want a 200-400 or so stone for re-beveling and for rougher work. I have a 220 Norton and a 1000/6000 combo stone for my budget stainless. I also keep a DMT dia-sharp diamond plate at 350 and 600 FEPA for the harder steels.
 
For mid-range kitchen cutlery steel such as what's used in Wusthof, Victorinox and similar knives, an edge in the 320-600 range (ANSI) works very well and retains that toothy, aggressive, slicing bite. As Bill mentioned earlier, a Fine India stone (360-400) works very well and has been my favorite for such knives. I've also used diamond hones in the 600 ballpark for these, such as DMT's Fine.

I think a lot of factory knives are originally ground to a coarser finish, like 150-220 range, and then buffed / polished with buffing wheels to deburr. So, if they're done well in that manner, the apex can still be quite keen, while the grind just behind it retains some wickedly aggressive bite in that 'micro-serrated' character. Something kind of similar can be done using a very coarse diamond hone, like 220-320 or so, and then very, very lightly micro-beveled and deburred on something like a medium or fine ceramic. That narrows the apex width for keenness and also does a good job deburring, while leaving some of the aggressive tooth just behind the apex for slicing.

A big part of that great slicing aggressiveness also comes from setting the edge to good, narrow edge geometry. Anything at or below 15° per side, and even down to maybe 12° per side, makes a big difference in tandem with that toothy bite.
 
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