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Thanks heaps, glad you liked it

Yeah, that would do it.

Sure is. Thank you for taking the time to comment

You can shave with it.

Thank you for your comment. Yes, you can shave with it. Hyper sharp is just a term.

@@robksknifeworks Hyper Sharp is kind of like click bait. But it would be cool seeing you actually shave with it Thanks.

@@BennyCFD At my age it's probably a liability to shave with that on camera. I prefer a Schick so that I don't shave off multiple layers of jelly neck. ;)

Thank you Paul, you're very generous in your comments

Hi, I think it depends a lot on the individual. Hyper sharpness can last beyond the first cut but certainly won't last as long as more practical sharpening. I for example became obsessed with sharpness and I don't have a problem admitting that it is an issue for me. Another point I would raise is that I'm trying to get the best out of myself and my knives and I'll also admit to having wrecked several knives along the way. You could also take the view similar to motor racing, the engines in those super fast sports cars are designed to be rebuilt after each race. Hyper sharp may not be practical nor necessary, thankfully for me I don't mind testing the limits of myself and my knives.

@@robksknifeworks Ok, you then agree it's not for real life use... It's like the world championship of egg throwing/catching. Good video though

@@gilbertngo-ngoc-dong5814 😁

@@gilbertngo-ngoc-dong5814 I just published another video "Hyper sharp and beyond" that you won't enjoy much either. I think it does have some purpose. It's just not everyone's cup of tea. I LOVE my hypersharp nakiri. Some will, some won't.

@@robksknifeworks Don't get me wrong Rob. I admire the level of sharpness you can put on your blades, it's good for a video performance and kind of competition with others but as I said, and you agreed, it does not really help in real life kitchen... The fine edge will disappear as soon as you cut anything on a board and you will be left with a sharp but not hyper sharp knife. If you can sharpen a knife, cut some serious material for a while and still shave afterward without touch up, then you become more than interesting. Hope my comment will open some avenues for your future videos. Keep it sharp !

I don't have a preferred brand. Currently I have a range of stones including Shapton, Morihei, Imanishi and Naniwa. I have three 12,000 grit stones and feel each one has its place. It depends on the circumstance as to how much mud I want or don't want. How hard or soft I want the stone. Feedback plays a big role.

It depends a lot on how things when on the 400 grit stone. I often do 100 per side on the 1k and 3k. The 1k stone is important in that you take time on it to make sure that no micro chips have developed or been exposed. I use paper to test the edge. Paper will collect on the edge and it then becomes a bit easier to know exactly where the edge needs more work.

Strokes don't matter if you're developing a burr.

Thank you mate. Great to receive remarks like this. Have a great weekend.

Thank you for the compliment and thank you so much for taking the time to write. It's great to get this sort of feed back. Thanks again, Rob

Thank you so much for your compliment and taking time to say so.

Thanks for taking the time to comment Michael, I really appreciate it and the compliment. I hope wrapping your fingers around the handle or supporting it makes a good difference for you.

Hi Paul, thank you so much for your comments. I would love to give sharpening some Kiwi blades but simply don't have any. Give me a brand to look up and I'll see what I can do. Regards Rob

Stamped knives are a thing now. When you look at what's on the market at least Japanese stamped knives are ahead of the rest IMO. One of my favourite knives is a san mai bunka. Stamped knives and san mai are ideal for us people that can't afford the high end stuff. In my channel I hope to show case what a lot of people call garbage. Thanks for your comment mate.

Thank you.

No worries Tom. The number of strokes is more or less dictated by 1. The depth of any chips (the paper cut test - see separate video, explains that). 2. Whether you've got a good apex 3. Scratch marks left by the previous whetstone. Because I do a lot of knives from scratch because they have rounded bevels and chips, sometimes I start on a 220 grit, it the blade is really bad make that 110 grit. The lower grit stones can really leave a lot of deep scratch marks on the bevel. Ideally they should come out for a number of reasons. On knives that are in reasonable condition, sometimes just 50 strokes each side on a 400 grit stone is all you need. Hope you get through it Tom.

@@robksknifeworks Thanks for such a generous reply, Rob; I appreciate it. So, am I right in thinking until you can feel a burr on the opposite side - there is no point in changing to the other side? I can see how you would feel a burr on the coarser stones but once you go to 4, 5 or 8 thousand should you wait till you feel a burr on the other side? Thanks again, Tom.

@@tomwoodworker Tom, I think there's an advantage to working evenly. If you only work on one side of the blade you risk moving the centre of the edge over to one side. Some people find that desirable but just for the sake of ease, I tend to do the same number of strokes on each side. The centre or alignment of the edge may move a little if you apply more weight with your left hand for example. Or you may take slightly longer strokes on one side. That's why I start with 50 per side but I do check regularly after that to make sure I'm keeping the edge in the middle of the blade. The burr will come when you get that apex. Once you get over about 3k the burr becomes less and less. You would probably never feel a distinctive burr over say 5k. Once the burr has been developed you have an apex so you don't have to keep creating a burr. After 5k or thereabouts, I start to use newsprint to clean the edge. Hope that helps.

@@robksknifeworks It very much helps, Rob, and thank you again. Tom

Never claimed to be a pro and despite that, it works well for me. Perhaps you could show us on your channel?

Dreadfully sorry for that mate. Hope I can make it up to you one day 😂😂😂

Thank you so much for your comment, it's greatly appreciated.

I use newsprint on my higher grit stones. So on anything over 5k, I finish the blade on newsprint to hopefully clean up the edge and remove any remaining burr. On the lower grits, I use a hand held leather strop and do the same wobbling action.

OK, so starting on the back of the blade with 3k. Then on the bevel 400, 1k and 3k. Then a 6k Morihei on both the front and back, followed by 8k and 12k. Regards Rob

Thank you.

That's a Morihei 6k. It's part natural and part synthetic. Probably my fav

@@robksknifeworks Thanks for letting me know 👍

Hi Jason, I made that myself. It's two pieces of Merbau decking timber with the chamfers removed and then glued together. I've put an end cap on that sticks up about three millimetres and then varnished. You can get some sort of tape that you can put on underwater in Bunnings it's about $20.00 a roll and it stops the holder skidding across the sink. Not perfect but when you're on a budget, it works just fine.

Thank you for your subscription William, I really, really do appreciate them. Meat cutters / butchers knives seem to be different kettle of fish compared to sharpening chef and knives for the home kitchen. I have sharpened butchers knives and it never ceases to amaze me how those guys can not only take an edge off in a few hours, within weeks their knives are changing shape.

That's awesome, take it easy, it's not a race.

Thank you for your feedback.

Angelolepore do you mean the height of the knife is decreasing, and therefore gets smaller overall??

Not only the length, but the girth as well. I like a heavier knife and i find that hand sharpening works better now​@shadyeskimo

Thank you so much for your comments. I'll keep doing my best.

Thank you. I'm glad you got something out of it.

Thank you for taking the time to write so much Paul, I really do appreciate it.

If you're trying from TH-cam, you're going to ruin a lot of sharpening materials on both ends. If you're self teaching, be CHEAP. Learn how with garbage. It's unwieldy and horrible but If you can make garbage do what you want, you're on the right track.

Keep trying Kris.

@@robksknifeworks Trying to develop a feel for the edge, an ear for sharpening and practicing angle consistency. Using a finger to maintain angle Ive worn through skin 😂 Did a scandi grind Mora last and was surprised at the large angle compared with the kitchen knives. Thanks for sharing your instructive, informative and motivational videos 👍 I’ll keep grinding 🙂

It can take time. Keep working on it.

You're right. Good luck with it

I'm open to suggestions. My wife uses scissors

Got a few coming on now mate

Prefer my method of lowering the blade on the push. For the tip, I'm starting to use much smaller strokes to maintain better consistency.

Why lift? Abrasion occurs in both directions.

@@dongkhamet1351 Sure it does but I find this method give me better control. I'm one of those people that struggle to walk and chew gum at the same time. One thing at a time and for me it works really well.

@@robksknifeworks from what I saw you were working the edge in both directions. My question was for the OP because my understanding of their statement is that one should only be working the edge on the forward stroke, then raising the blade off the stone ("lift") to return to the starting point, then repeat. Perhaps my understanding of the OP's meaning is mistaken. As for your technique, once more supposing that I have understood correctly, I find that interesting in that in convexity an edge I would tend to lift more on the back stroke. Strokes for folks, I guess! :D

I'm not actually sharpening backwards. I'm setting up for the next stroke. It works teally well for me.

While that "sounds good", it is an old wives tale. Sure, if you pulled metal toward the edge and leave it, that is not great, but a burr is necessary to form and you need to remove it anyway. As a professional, who makes knives on a 72" x 2" grinder, you definitely have times when you run the machine backwards. No problem.

Same thing my brothers say. Why that sharp? Why does a dog lick his okd fella? Cause he can 😂😂😂 thanks for watching.

​@@robksknifeworkshaha brilliant!

Me

Craftsmen that work with sharp tools for example. Just because a kitchen knife was used in this demonstration does not mean that's the only thing the taught lesson applies to. The shape and details might vary, but the principles stay the same.

😂😂😂😂😂

First whetstone Morihei 1000, Naniwa 3000, Morihei 6000, Imanishi 8000

@@robksknifeworks Thanks for getting me motivated. Just made 5 kitchens knives less dull then before 👍 Will practice some more (on outdoor knives) before I tackle my only Japanese knife (santoku). I used 700-1500-3000 and 8000 + a way too short stropping board. Thanks 👍

I have a 110 grit and 220 grit stone to do the fast cutting. Diamond stones are also pretty good for that. Have you tried the Suehiro or Shapton 220? The Suehiro is very hard, where the Shapton is quite soft and muddy.

@@robksknifeworks no only tried FMT diamond stones

Thanks mate.😁

Thank you. I will say it works well for me.

Good idea. I know that some people use balsa.

Personally, I prefer creating a burr unless the knife is just getting a touch up. Maybe not "essential" but eases my mind. Beginners or newbies gain the most probably. Having said that as a knife sharpener to my local market, creating a burr gives me the confidence that my work is not flawed. Perhaps I'm a creature of habit.

I think it depends. A knife in pro hands is often used for a specific job and can get dull in just parts of the knife. Without a burr you can end up with an unevenly sharpened edge without realising. I sharpen a lot of knives, mostly Japanese hand made 1 or 2, and generally prefer to get an even small burr, go through my stones and hone. I like Rob's explanation.

Oh dear-somebody really doesn’t know about knife sharpening - the bear indicates that you are creating an apex, and if you Apex correctly and sharpen from there, the knife will remain sharp much much longer - I suggest you go and look at outdoors55 it’s all very, very simple

The edge/apex of a knife actually gets work or strain hardened (see chatGPT or google), ideally you want to use this harder material to create your new edge as it will stay sharp longer. The process of creating a burr removes (all or some of) this layer of harder metal, which means creating burrs is not the optimal way of sharpening.

@@neutraloptions What a bullshit

I find jigs a bit of a pain to use. I tried the years ago and just preferred whetstones. Also,I don't think you get the consistency on the curves. IMO, whetstones seem to work better. Lastly, you don't get the choice of stones with jigs. I have three 3000 grits stones to choose from. Also, there are a growing number of people wanting to finish on natural stones these days

great video - hands on information 👍

freehand sharpening is also so much faster

@@closeaus88 It definitely is not. I do it both ways. A jig is faster and more precise. Freehand is necessary for certain blade shapes or very fine bevel angles on some Japanese blades.

I very rarely use fixed angle for anything because I find in almost all if not all instances a convexed edge works preferably. A convexed kitchen knife will shrug off the cutting medium better than a flat grind with primary bevel. A chopping blade chops better; a whittling knife whittles better and so forth. If you always use a fixed angle on a flat grind your blade will get thicker behind the edge, requiring regrind. Freehand sharpening can accomplish thinning of the secondary and primary bevels as well as the blending of the two in convexity. Fixed angle is a basic science. Freehand is a high art. Just playing devil's advocate here... Long live individual preference!