sharpening my skills

K

kuchencake

Joined
Apr 15, 2005
Messages
2
Help! My husband gave me a beautiful set Of Zwilling five star kitchen knives two years ago. These are my first real knives I have ever owned. I use them daily. I buy 10 pound bags of potatoes just so I can play with my knives. I love these like I love my children! My problem is that I live in fear that I will ruin them by incorrect sharpening. I always have my husband sharpen them. I am trying to learn how to do this myself. I feel like I'm not holding it at the right angle. What is the best way to sharpen? Should I bring them to a pro, or keep learning? I would really like to know how, as this would be another way to enjoy my knives. Should I practice on a less expensive knife first? Thanks for the help.
 
Definately learn to sharpen for yourself. What I did was find some old knives to practice on, did some reseach on here and then went to town. If it was metal and had an edge, I tried to make it sharper. :D
 
Learn to sharpen on cheap knives. I would suggest you get; a Norton Fine India stone to take your knives from dull to an edge, A Spyderco Sharpmaker to keep the edge sharp, and a smooth steel to keep that edge perfect. You only need to learn to sharpen once, then that's a skill you will never lose. If you keep your knives from getting dull you'll only have to touch them up on the Sharpmaker or a couple of strokes on your steel.

Sharp knives are a joy.
 
Get a couple cheap knives from Walmart or a Goodwill Thrift Store or maybe old knives from your kitchen. Use those to experiment on. For your purpose you may do alright if you get a cheap ceramic V-rod sharpener from a knife shop in a mall. All you need to do is to hold the blade straight and stroke the edge down the sides of the abrasive rods. The base holds the rods at the correct sharpening angle. You want a set where the rods are 8 inches long or more. And you want it to have a medium grit set and a fine grit set (4 rods total). The best ones are from Spyderco, but that would cost over $50.00. There are other brands that will do as well for your needs. Here is something typical I found on the internet. It looks like Messermeister brand:
http://www.americanesuperstore.com/momecs-24.html

If you haven't sharpened your knives for the last two years it may take you an hour to sharpen each knife for the first time using only this type of sharpener, but you are unlikely to damage the knives by your inexperience. Be sure to do most of your work using the medium grit rods and only do a little finish work with the fine rods (or it could take you forever).
 
My suggestion is take them to a Pro first. It's much easier to sharpen a knife that started out sharp and has gotten a little dull than to bring back a knive that is really dull.

Next, get in the practice of steeling your knives befor you use them, this will help to keep the knife sharp by bringing the edge back in line.

As to sharpening, learn to do it yourself. You'll be that much happier with your knives if you can maintain them yourself. You have two options when it comes to sharpening: 1. by hand one a stone or 2. use a sharpening system.

Using a system is the quickest way to learn, and get reasonable edge. These systems have a wide range of costs. I'd look at The Spyderco Sharpmaker ($50)or The EdgePro ($100+), both are great systems. If you use the search funtion you'll learn more about them.

As to doing it by hand. It will take a long time but you'll be prouder of the edge you get. I'd suggest going to a culinary supply store and getting one of thier large three-hone set-ups and this would have what you'd need to sharpen your knives. Also getting a book on sharpening, there are lots I'm sure someone can give you a suggestion.

Either way practice on cheap knives befor you start working on the go stuff.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.
 
Saberman is right that it would be easiest if you have a professional restore your edges before you take over the job yourself. You need to look up sharpening services in the phone book to find somebody local. Not everyone will do a good job.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!

Sharpening is so easy for people who have already learned how that we tend to explain it once over lightly.

A great advantage of the Sharpmaker is the instructions you get with it, a booklet and a video, which they now have on DVD. These instructions are detailed, and include using the setup for scissors, potato peelers, nailclippers, fishhooks -- anything that needs an edge restored.

Sharpening isn't just a mechanical skill. You really need to understand what goes on at the edge. The Sharpmaker is good at leading you through this. Here's some good background reading, too:

Sharpening Made Easy
Bladeforums FAQ: Knife Sharpening
 
What Saberman said. Bring them to a pro to have the edge restored. After that Sharpmaker. Be sure to watch the video (or DVD) before you use the Sharpmaker. Alternatively to the pro, you could order the diamond rods with the sharpmaker. The Zwillings steel is relatively soft and it shouldn't take too long to restore the edge on the diamond rods.
 
Welcome kuchencake! Starting on cheap knives definitely makes sense, but some real cheap stainless knives just won't take an edge at all, which will only be discouraging. An inexpensive carbon steel blade would be best to start with I think. Someone here can probably suggest something more specific... (!)
 
Before we send you off on too many tangents we should ask you what are you using now, and how are you using it? We can probably give you tips about how to use what you have as a start. Being knife nuts we are pretty casual about suggesting you go out and spend money for a specialized gadget. Most standard rectangular bench stones can do a good job with a bit of practise and a good technique (there are even a lot of techniques that will give similar results).
 
Murray Carter has a very good DVD on sharping by hand if yours serious about learning to sharpening you will not get any better than his DVD.Like every thing in life there is no free lunch. Few things in life are as much fun as using a sharp knives.
 
Jeff had a good point. What are you using right now? If you have a big benchstone in 2 grits that should be enough.

One warning about using a V style sharpening system is at the end of you stroke (your going to pull the blade on the each side of the V, like cutting a loaf of bread) be careful when the tip comes to the end (off the end), if your not paying attension the tip will round off.

Getting something/someone to teach you what you need to know would help alot, be it a book or a video like Murry's (I havn't seen it, but I have one of his knives and it's the defintion of sharp).
 
Wow! I didn't expect so many responses. Thank you all. I searched around my house and found some knives I bought at a yard sale years ago. They are fine quality Japanese knives just old and abused. I started with a small paring knife and followed the advice on the FAQ on this site and ended up with good results. It was easier than I thought it would be. I am using a stone that my husband uses for his knife collection. It is rectangular and says Smith's on the plastic base. Under the base is attached a smoother stone that you can remove. I have no idea on what type of stone it is or the grit. I could ask my husband about it, but I really wanted to surprise him on my new learned skill. I also have a V shaped sharpener that came with my set and a steel. I use the steel almost every time I use my knives. I have tried to use the V shaped sharpener with not so good results. I was surprised to learn that you have to actually take the old edge off a knife in order to get a good sharp edge that lasts. Thank you again for the advice.
 
kuchencake said:
I use the steel almost every time I use my knives.
Click to expand...

If that steel has any texture on it at all I wouldn't use it. You want a smooth steel, or you could even use the side of a water glass turned upside down as a steel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top