Wanting to get into knife sharpening

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facewizard13

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Jun 29, 2015
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hello blade forums!

I work as a meat cutter in a grocery store where sharp knives tend to lead to less fatigue during the day. I want to get some stones to learn how to sharpen my own knives at home. We have a sharpening stone set at work - but with all the other eployees and the clean-up guys who dont really care - its gotten out of hand pretty easily. I kinda know the basics of sharpening but I really want to get into doing it correctly to make my work knives last longer. having super sharp knives makes work a lot more fun! Sometimes I've even thought of purchasing a new knife when mycurrent one gets dull becuase for the life of me I cant seem to get mine as sharp as a factory edge. I use 6'' curved victorinox knives for standard multi-purpose cutting work, and I have a 12'' scimitar with a scalloped blade for cutting larger pieces.

Can someone point me in the right direction as far as a beginner set of stones I can use to get these blades super sharp like from the factory? I'm really curious about whether or not I should look into japanese stones. I'd also want larger stones to be able to sharpen my 12'' knife easier with longer smoother strokes.

any help here would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
 
I'm a beginner with stones. I have 2 water stones. Both are bester brand and seem good quality. I believe they are 700 and 1000 grit. I have had some really good results so far. I had someone teach me in person which helped a lot. I have heard of others that can pick it up easily with no problems. I think you should grab yourself some stones and have some fun! The size water stones I have are 3×8.5ish and I believe should work fine for your larger knives. I sharpened a carving knife yesterday that was quite long. You just have to sharpen down the length of the blade.
 
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Look into a Spyderco Sharpmaker. Very simple sharpener that will help develop your freehand skills as you get more familiar with the process. Just make sure to apply some sharpie to the edge of the knife being sharpened to make sure you're reaching the apex of the edge.
 
thanks for your suggestions. Now im not sure what grit the stones are at work that we use, they are just labeled "course, medium and fine" . What grit stones can you recommend getting to get a razor edge as good or even better than factory edge?
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Look into a Spyderco Sharpmaker. Very simple sharpener that will help develop your freehand skills as you get more familiar with the process. Just make sure to apply some sharpie to the edge of the knife being sharpened to make sure you're reaching the apex of the edge.
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Just get a Spyderco Sharpmaker, learn to use it (tons of youtube instruction Including Sal Glesser himself)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2suoKFNF2gE this will tell you everything you need to know to make your knives sharp. Learn to sharpen full freehand with water stones later.
 
You might want to look at Murray Carter's videos
 
There's tons of options. I'm not nearly the expert many forum members are so rather than making a recommendation I'll just point you in the direction of the "maintenance, tinkering, and embellishment" subforum. There's already many threads discussing this topic there. Also try a forum search for old threads about sharpening stones and technique.
 
Look up Jason B. on here if you want to do free hand on stones. He has some very good threads about sharpening.
 
I'm not too familiar with the Spydro Sharpmaker, but from I've seen, it comes with excellent instructions and could be an inexpensive way to learn sharpening basics.
I have a pretty good idea how the knives you use must look like and would recomend starting with the most course stone available at your shop. Be sure to get the wright angle, develope a burr the length of the edge and polish it up on the Sharpmaker. Assuming that's what you get.
 
Agree with David, the set at work should get your gear plenty sharp. I sell a sharpening block that is easily customized, and have a handful of videos on general freehand on the site linked through my signature - the first one could be a big help as you start out, no matter what tools you settle on - only a portion of the video is specific to the block. The block itself (Washboard) is undergoing an upgrade and the new ones will be larger and slightly less expensive as well, available soon.

The possibilities are endless once you have some freehand skills.
 
David Martin said:
These are the standard Norton stones and systems found in meat markets. http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Tri-Stone-Sharpening-Systems-C131.aspx

Still, it sounds like you need to learn more about sharpening as these stones can easily get a knife sharper than the edge it came with. Good luck, DM
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ah yes! thats the sharpening system we have. Even the website doesn't list the grits of the stones and that's super annoying. The only problem with it is that with so many employees we have its treated really poorly. I don't really have that much time when I'm at work to dedicate to knife sharpening because when I'm at work it's frowned upon to spend a lot of time on it. I think it's ironic that the department spends $400 on two of these for meat market and seafood and they don't want us to spend a lot of time sharpening our knives.

As for my technique - I know the basics of knife sharpening, but it's going to just take more experience to find out what I'm doing wrong. Typically when I sharpen my knives, they only last a couple days before they start losing they're sharpness. I have a medium f. dick steel that I use frequently to help maintain it as well. Should the sharpness last longer than a couple days?, or is that just going to happen from how much I'm using my knives? If it's true that in my working environment that a knife only stays sharp for a couple days, then my technique isn't too bad.

BTW thanks for all your replies so far
 
I would think a touch up every other day is reasonable, so if your edge gets gassed after 4 days and makes a full work week more or less you're doing well. You might also explore how changing your contact angle with the board or bones etc effects longevity.
 
Buy a couple large stones (medium and fine). Then go to Goodwill and buy up all the crappy kitchen knives you can. Probably a ton for $1 or $2 per. Sharpen them. By the time you're done, you'll have the knack; all with zero damage to your good knives. Last step, donate the crappy-but-sharp knives back to Goodwill to re-sell. Maybe donate a box of Band-Aids as well. ;-)
 
so at the start of the week i should go through all 3 grits to sharpen my knife. arent i able to use the fine grit every other day as a touch up? then at the start of the next week use all 3 grits to make a new edge? im not sure what you mean by contact angle with the board though. usually most of my contact with the board is for slicing, so the knife should be as perpendicular to the board as possible to get straight cuts. other then that its really shallow angles against meat for removing fat, gristle, silver skin, etc. for anything where my knife has to come into contact with a bone i have a back up knife i use just for that purpose. usually then meat i slice is boneless but there will occasionally be a bone chip here and there that i drag my knife across before i realise what it is. for my 12'' that i use its mainly used for slicing roasts or big steaks off a loin or roll if the need calls for it. i like using it to cut up chickens as well because of its weight. the 12'' i usually sharpen maybe once every couple months because it's not used nearly as much as all my 6'' knives.
 
I would think once the edge is set you shouldn't have to go back to the entire stone progression, only the finest stone twice a week should maintain indefinitely. If it hits hard bone or rolls for some other reason, the medium stone should be able to recover that handily and then on to the fine. The biggest challenge will be keeping the angle nice and thin on the fine stone, and not allowing it to slowly become more broad over time - there's a tendency on quick touch-ups to elevate the spine for faster edge contact.

If the demands of the job dictate straight up and down on the board, not much can be done. I've noticed a nice improvement in longevity for home use by coming into the board at an angle of a few degrees, nothing crazy.

Overall it sounds like you're doing well. Some good use of the steel as part of your maintenance can be helpful as well, but it is very easy to ruin an edge with one, and not always obvious when to abandon it for a trip back to the stones.
 
I'd say if you have a 3 stone sharpener at work try to match that at home. A lot of times those are oil stones, they are a great place to start. That way if you needed to tune up your edges at work it would be second nature. Also watch some of the forum members youtube videos.

For me I had to keep myself from buying sharpening stuff like a drunk sailor as I was learning (still learning). You might be s surprised by how sharp you can get knives with just a India or economy stone stropped on newspaper. Once you get free hand sharpening down it is very satisfying.

Good luck you've started in the right spot. Read all the stickies in the maintenance forum also.
 
While I love my 204 Sharpmaker for personal knives, I wouldn't choose one for commercial butchering knives. For those, and for re-profiling work, I like Razor Edge Systems, either their commercial sharpeners or their "Deluxe" kit. I especially like their steels and dry stones.
 
One of these is really ALL you need at home. It's sad but that is the condition at a meat market or processing plant. They have a good sharpening system but don't like you using it while on the clock. So, use it before or after work. How long your edge lasts is dependent on the blade steel and the age of the animal your process. Then how good the job you did on sharpening. Your Victorinox is doing well to hold it's edge for 3 days. I wouldn't push it any farther. Strop it when it's first start to require more effort to cut. On leather with slurry or steel it. Keeping the edge angle correct, 2-3 strokes only. You'll see cutters banging them and over working it on a steel. Don't fall into that trap. You do more harm than good to your knife. Stropping or steeling it between sharpenings will increase the knife's life and help you make it thru the week. Then sharpen them over the weekend. So, your ready for Monday. DM
http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Norton-Combination-India-Stone-P69.aspx
 
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