As a few points about the blade thinning question. Carter's perspective comes from caring how the knife works as a cutting tool with no regard at all for how it looks, he recommends it for anyone, not just professionals, not just with high end knives - again, it is just about IF you want your knife to perform at its best as a cutting tool. If you thin the primary grind, it doesn't decrease edge retention, it increases it. If you are a chef for 30 years and the edge on your knife and you have never had the knife thinned out, then it just means : -you don't mind using the knife with a much thicker edge -you use the knife dull -you don't really use that knife that much (maybe you have a LOT of knives) and so on. The reality is that every time you sharpen the edge, the edge will get thicker. This increases subsequent sharpening time, and reduces cutting ability and edge retention. The changes are slow of course, but they build up over time. Carters approach is to do a little thinning each time if necessary vs letting the performance degrade, just accepting the performance loss until it gets so big you have to have a professional regrind.
Going to disagree with this. You're blade thickness will increase for sure, but the loss in cutting quality is going to be so miniscule it won't matter. For example go grab a chisel or plane iron from a professional woodworker. They will be easily shaving sharp, hell I can whittle hairs with mine and they hold their edge plenty well while slicing through much tougher material than you will find in any kitchen. The edge geometry is important, but flattening after every sharpening is just going to kill the lifespan of your knife. If and when you notice it's not performing to your standards, flatten it, if not don't worry about it.
@@inigomontoya4109 A chisel that can whittle hairs is implausible, and impractical. The edge of a commercial razor blade is maybe 8 degrees. A standard woodworking chisel is 25 degrees. For mortising, more like 30 degrees. Maybe 20 degrees for a planing chisel, but much lower than that and the edge becomes too fragile to do much with. Generally, you would sharpen the chisel by grinding the entire primary face. If sharpening by hand, it is obviously *much* faster to sacrifice a degree or two of cutting angle to create a secondary bevel. However, repeated sharpenings will thicken the blade, so before long you need to... create a new primary bevel. And to restore the original geometry, you will need to take off just as much metal as if you had been grinding the primary face the whole time. You deferred that extra work for a while, at the cost of sacrificing a degree or two of sharpness in the interim. Similar argument for thinning kitchen knives as you go.
@@inigomontoya4109 I have known Murray for close to twenty years and I think there may be a misunderstanding here. He does not advocate thinning every time you sharpen but checking to see IF the knife needs to be thinned. The biggest factor to cutting performance is all at the edge and how it transitions to the secondary bevel. I have carried one of his Brute Wharnecliffes for 18 years and even with daily use I have only thinned it three times. The loss of cutting ease as the blade thins is not trivial and you will certainly notice it. I go until the loss of performance becomes problematic and then thin it. Murray thinning the knife a very small amount more often just bypasses the loss of performance. I have sharpened his personal neck knife at Blade and it proportionally was no thinner than my one.
@@Nebulax123for expedience carter may not always follow his own advice, but thinning is a mandatory sharpening step for him according to his new sharpening method with hap stanley. It’s like eating healthy - you cannot go wrong recommending it even if you don’t always do it yourself.
when you sharpen a knife you necessarily move the edge up the vee ( the blades geometry) which gets thicker thicker and thicker until you reach the spine....this is a fact of geometry not an opinion. Now its is up to the knife owner to determine whether they can live will the degradation in cutting performance caused by the edge slowly getting thicker and thicker. some sharpening techniques keep this in check without calling it thinning. in the end it does not matter if you call it thinning or not. to keep a knife at peak performance you can not let the material directly behind edge get thicker over time........... some call it thinning :)
I got fed up with dull knives in my kitchen so I went to Amazon and bought some sharpening stones - when they arrived I realized I don't know how to use them so off to TH-cam. I was lucky enough to find your page. Thank you for being here and for your enthusiasm. I am so looking forward to using sharp knives.
Wasn't sure where to post this, but since you mentioned ruining knives... I ruined my new favorite knife, the Ricky 10" Burrfection knife, while sharpening it on a Cerax 1000 wet stone. No idea how it happened, but I scratched the right face of the knife. 😭 Any way to fix it? I would really like to buy one of your damaged knifes to practice on. BTW, that stone is amazing!!!!
Sandpaper. No joke. Work the grits. Work them dry. Once you get to 3k, it's pretty mirror like. If you want to go full mirror use wet/dry above 3k. I recommend 7k, 10k and for overkill 15k grits. Back n forward...not circles. Dw about how burrfect (perfect 🤣) you're going back n forward, it'll buff out. Don't believe? Try it on a crappy knife n see what you think! 🥰
I recently found your channel and have been just down right stunned by your decency and humanity. Your reviews and tutorials are always down to earth and conveyed in a manner that newcomers like me can understand and appreciate. Love it! Keep up the excellent work! Subscriber for life.
When I was a young man, I worked hard for little pay, and was not often happy or kind. I fought often and held grudges. As an older man now if there was one thing I could change it would be this: to be kind to people. Ryky, you have found this wisdom early in life. Enjoy your channel always.
Every time I watch your videos I get a warm feeling inside that makes me want to look at more and more knives hahahaha love ur vids. And to anyone out there making ur owe knives Imagine it takes a lot of time and practice keep up your good work
Ryky, have been with you from the beginning. I’m 69 and still use my chef knives for vegetable work when making large buckets of soup from my country garden. Just have to commend you as a great role model for young folks and just a great human being. I’m an old timer with SIC and Arkansas stones, happy with my edges, The high end knives are off my radar. Looking for a site or eBay vendor who sell chipped or decent used knives for repair.
I will only thin if I begin to feel a noticeable decrease in performance. I havent felt that yet, and I have damascus Miyabis, so they are plenty thin already. I might thin later on and might try to reetch the blade to.
Miyabis are terrible. Almost as bad as this guys misinformation filled videos. Every single Miyabi has visible shoulders behind the edge because the grinds are extremely thick. They try to make up for it with acute edge angles but that doesn't cut it. Miyabis are at least twice as thick as even a Shun behind the edge. I have 3 miyabis and I would never suggest anyone buy these overpriced and poorly designed knives.
I think Murray Carter pursues the absolutely best sharpness out of a knife. He suggests making the angle smaller and smaller until the edge doesn't hold, then back down a tiny bit. If he can double the work load to improve the sharpness by 5%, he would do it. Whether that's what you are looking for is up to you. But to me, I'm looking for pretty good sharpness without too much work, so I don't thin my knives that much. I think so far I only thinned my knives in one condition: when I got a new knife and its factory profile isn't thin enough. After that, I can sharpen it a lot of times without thinning.
Completely agree! as Ryky said he is a master sharpener.......he is chasing the perfect cutting edge and has the skill and is willing to spend the time for that.
I think there's a couple of nuances to the topic of thinning. If you buy a knife that's already thin behind the edge you don't need to thin the knife as often. Murray's knifes are super thin already and he recommends that the performance of your knife will only improve if it's thinner. If you are scared of learning to thin or thinning yourself, you can always send it somewhere to be thinned.
Just wanted to say thanks! Been watching your videos for a while now and just bought my first stone (cerax 1k) and I was able to finally get two of my cheap kitchen knives sharpened again including fixing some chips out of the length of one of them. Just wanted to swing by and say thanks! Glad I've learned this new skill and looking forward to continue to hone (lol) it and potentially getting a new better knife sometime in the future. Thanks again and keep up the high quality work and vids!
Great video, thanks. About the thinning, as a sharpener gets more experienced, he/she will develop a sense of grind, edge bevel, and apex/edge. After understanding these and developing the skills to assess them, and understanding what works better for what purpose, one can decide if they want to thin. If someone is asking whether they should thin etc, it means they don't have required experience yet to understand, assess, and modify characteristics of a blade. It can be a personal preference similar to what grit you finish. Good example in the video, thanks. However technically it is necessary over time but whatever as I said with experience it will be obvious.
Hi hope your keeping well and you and your family are safe just a quick question is there a good way of keeping a good edge on a serrated knife such as a bread knife many thanks and keep up the good work
I've thinned quite a few. The hardest was a Yanagi. Second hardest was a Chefs knife I used for 30 plus years. It was a Henkles...my primary on the line knife. I only do when necessary
This. We need more of this. Overall wholesomeness and love. God, so happy right now Edit: wow I think you are my first ever heart from a TH-camr. Right on
It's very easy for the internet trolls to hide behind their computer and make negative comments. They think they're tough guys but they hide like cowards. They would never say anything to your face. So keep doing what you doing, putting a smile on her face and entertaining us. We love it
Wow this man jst delivers raw knwlgde rgt n left without hyping anything huge respect brother I hope this channel grows hugely wishing u a grt success ahead keep it up
Love you Ryky, but there are a few things that are not exactly accurate that I'd like to clarify about. First, you mentioned how handmade japanese knives have a big primary bevel and a micro bevel at the edge, and factory-made knives have just the edge bevel. This is inaccurate, how so? Firstly the straight ground "primary bevel" you mentioned on handmade artisan knives is actually called the grind. That is used to create the TAPER of thickness from spine to edge of the knife. That same grind also exists in Yaxell knives that you mentioned, just that they're not visible because they're rounded, so called a linear grind. Many handmade artisan knives have linear grinds too (with varying degrees of roundedness as well). For example the Makoto Kurosaki SG2 knives & the Konosuke HD2 knives, Shibata Kohetsu's too! These grinds can sometimes be hollow/convex as well to maximize the thinness behind the edge. Secondly, about the micro bevel on Japanese artisan knives. That's inaccurate in the way that it in fact isn't a micro bevel. The reason is because those minuscule bevels at the edge are sharpened at the same angle as how you would sharpen a normal edge bevel, it is in fact a normal bevel. A so called "micro bevel" is sharpened at high angles (ie. 30 degrees) after you've sharpened your primary edge bevel, to reinforce the edge. The reason the bevel is so damn small is because their knives are ground so yummy damn thin behind the edge. Not because it's a "micro bevel" or is treated differently. A well ground knife out of the box, especially artisan knives will give you great cutting performance, not in sharpness, but in smoothness of the grind. With equal sharpness, a well ground knife goes through product significantly easier compared to ones that are not. How smooth can it be? You can have close to no wedging or none at all doing stuff like halfing an onion, halfing potatoes, apples and tall products alike, it doesn't require more effort than ordinary cutting. Knives that are not hand ground often struggle with those things, I've seen a miyabi wedge on every onion lol. As you sharpen those knives over the years, you wear the edge down to the part of the grind that is thicker. That decreases the performance of the knives and makes the knives feel less smooth cutting (largely unrelated to actual sharpness). The thinness behind the edge makes up for a large part of the cutting performance, so that's where many avid Japanese knives fan & chefs alike will think of doing thinning. It is unnecessary to a certain degree, but we people that splurge big money on those knives like to have that silky smooth performance like how it was out of the box for as long as we can. Sometimes we thin a knife (usually lower priced) OOTB if we hate the grind lol. But as you said it does open up a large can of worms, we look into methods of getting back the same finish (or just a good looking finish) like hand sanding/finishing & stuff like fingerstone polishing, and there's more techniques, tools & options to further complicate things up. Also, thinning doesn't reduce your knife's edge holding ability. The knives, even as thin as the Kato example that you showed is able to hold an edge as well IF NOT better than if it were to be thicker behind the edge. How so? Well, a knife's edge is able to hold up from wear as long as there is sufficient material behind it. In most cases it is sufficient. It DOES, however, make the blade more prone to chipping, hence more delicate to work with. That's one of the reason some chefs don't thin out their edge even after years of use, it's cause you can just bang on the knife and roll out prep hard all day without the worry of the knife chipping easily. I'd agree that as you said in that it is highly unnecessary for 99% of the common users to do thinning. However, if you have that one knife that was cutting bliss when it was new and just no longer like what it was anymore, consider sending it in for thinning if not doing it yourself, brings the life back into a knife.
sean, appreciate the thorough comment, but i think you may have missed my point in your arguments. you obviously are an expert, and i'm not trying to say wrong in any of your points, but please consider my points as more general, as opposed to picking exact words, and terminology, and only experts like you understand. regarding "grind", i may not have explicitly said "grind" for the kato, but did mentioned that's what it is, when talking about the yaxell. so yes, i see how you can call that erroneous, but the point was made. and about micr--bevels, you are taking the stance they it MUST be 30 degrees (which is fine), but i was not talking about degrees, and simply explaining the cutting of Kato R2 i was referring to. if you allow light to reflect off the cutting cutting edge, you'll see a "micro-bevel" be it 12, 30, or 45 degrees, which is less than .1mm wide. to me, that classifies as a mirco-bevel. like i said, you are an obvious expert. i'm simply trying to explain a few points for everyday people like me can understand.
@@Burrfection Hi Ryky, what I meant with the micro bevel was that it actually isn't a micro bevel, but just a super tiny normal edge bevel because of how thin the knife was ground. From a viewer's perspective, IMO you kinda made it sound like the Kato has a zero grind all the way down and only has a micro bevel at the edge. The reason it's a normal bevel instead of what's called a micro bevel is cause it's actually sharpened normally, around the 10-15 degrees range. I do get your stance of not talking about angles but I'm just use them as rough references. A micro bevel is actually what they do after they sharpen in a regular edge bevel (like the one on yaxell) and they raise the angle to grind in the micro bevel which is usually thinner than a hair, to reinforce the edge. The reason I wanted to point those out was because you have one of the largest reach in the knife world, as far as educating an audience goes. I think it's good to be accurate and consistent with the terms used so that it's less confusing for beginners. I don't think I've missed the point but to clear things up I figured making a thorough comment can clear things up better. Also gotta point out that I'm not an expert...just an avid enthusiast that was fortunate enough to learn from a kind community of knife people. And to be honest you're the one that got me into sharpening and knife collecting few years ago heheh! Appreciate your videos as ever Ryky!!
I don't know why, but I just ended up binge watching your Knife Sharpening Restoring, damage knife opening... man almost theraputic. Which also reignited my knife interest .. sub +1
My dude, you're just the best. I've been watching you for a while and have used your videos, almost exclusively, as reference as I've gotten more and more into knives and cooking. By in large, you have helped me far more than any other content creator in those pursuits and I thank you so much for that. Just a couple of weeks ago I finally decided to take the plunge into knife sharpening using whetstones and was stressed as hell about it; I've been desperately afraid of ruining my knives' edges. But, after hyping myself up and drinking a gallon of coffee (in hindsight I could have done without the caffein jitters), I finally worked up the courage to put blade to stone....and it definitely could have gone better hahaha. However, I've continued to watch your videos -- using them to work on my form/process -- and already I've made huge improvements on the quality of my sharpening. Obviously I'm nowhere near master-level, but it's turning into something that I'm less afraid of and actually enjoy doing. That high you get from cutting through a magazine for the first time after sharpening is top-notch. So thank you so much for that and for just overall being the wholesome person you are. And ffs please stay safe and healthy! :D
Perfect statement on people that post very negative comments. I feel they are just jealous angry people. If you happy with what you post or make your self. If they cant give constructive criticism. Blow them off they dont deserve your energy. Thank for all your videos. Always full of useful info. Keep them coming.
Thank you for this. It flattening a blade has been a question of mine for a while. I feel much better ad much more competent as a newbie to the sharpening world
Thank you for your videos! You are a good person. That is clear to see. You're also correct about the negative people. A lot of people like that can't bring themselves to give compliments or think positively. It consumes you over time and one gets to the point where they can't realize they've grown to be toxic.
There will always be people who don't like what you're doing. You know you're on the right track when there are people who love what you're doing. Selfless, humble, helpful and kind. Trust yourself. Thanks Ryky! ❤️❤️
Also im pretty sure my wife isnt all that happy with my new addiction of collecting expensive knives. I just got my first (shun classic 8 inch) chefs nife ladt week and because of you i am hooked on these knives something about having a knife made from generations of samurai blacksmiths is so satisfying. So again thank you for the new hobby.
hello mate, hope you are fine, i'm from Algeria and you can't find fancy knives here, due to low income generally, but we've got some marks on sale as "Fischer, Bargoin, Arcos, Icel, Laika, Opinel and the best of them around are Victorinox" i've got a bunch of all of those but i really have some difficulties to sharpen my knives, i can repair the edge but never make it through the paper test, skinning sheep is the worst thing for my knives, so my Q is can you made a review on Victorinox knives and any suggestions how to deal with sheep skins.
Yet again Ryky your sharing of knowledge has helped me and all the other watchers. You are awesome. If Only SG2 knives were cheaper in Australia, I am sure more would have them. Keep up the good work. Inspiring and informative as always. Be safe and thanks again.
My opinel is from carbon steel and has heavy patina. The patina actually protects the steel from rusting and it is more beautiful in my opinion. It never bothered me to cut food with patina knife
Only channel I have ever subscribed to. Really enjoy the impartial content. Used the info to purchase sharpening stone. Thanks. I have about 10 knives mostly geared toward hunting and fishing. No Japanese knife. I will purchase possibly two matching knives as gifts for my son and daughter.
Iv never thined any of my zwilling knives but i have thined both my tojiros when i got them and never needed to do it again. Shuns dont tend to need it either from the few that iv used. They knives i did thin where for plate garnishing and very specific and delicate cuts not a chef knife or hard use knife.
I enjoy your videos. I was watching one on stropping today. Everything I've ever seen on stropping uses compound on the rough side of the leather. Some people follow that up with polishing on smooth leather without compound. But I see that you use compound on the smooth side. Now I'm confused. Can you explain?
Update Hi Ryky Question : Just noticed my Chefs knife has lost its curve, wasn't much, but have noticed chopping with rocking non affective now Did not realise my knife had a slight curve, you were right........again! Bad sharpening can take that curve out :) lack of skill here, knife now slicer, should I just take this as a learning curve and buy a new chefs knife as I now miss the curve Regards, Gary ..........AU
It is so true that people will bash things you do or make but can't do it there self. That is in all kinds of creating / making things. Not only with knives :)
Hey Ryky thanks for all the great videos you put out ! I have a question that I am sure you have heard 1000 times but I'm looking for an all around set was considering a Suehiro new Cerax 1000/6000 combo stone then maybe a 380-450 stone for repairs and chips I'm not going to use it for 20 knives just a few at 60 RH and lower. Don't want to spend a whole lot. I saw the combo cerax for $65 on Amazon. Any other thoughts or suggestions Thx again Rich
Great to see you giving more knives away! On the thinning question, I've only tried to thin German knives like Burgvogel, Henckels, Wus... Etc. because of the weight or to correct the over use of powered sharpeners. Most were not hollow ground and we're corrected on a belt sander. Blade thickness/taper at the edge had a definite effect on the amount of drag the knife has through food. Which is why I moved to thinner Japanese knives and started sharpening all my knives at lower angles! That's why I watch your videos!
so basically you realized that his claim that only steels harder than 62 hrc can withstand thin edges was false, like half of the other things he says.
I bought a couple of custom knives and a whetstone in Osaka a couple of years ago, and thanks to your channel I can sharpen them properly! The shop I bought them at did show me how to sharpen them, but by the time I needed to do it, I had forgotten lol. btw, bought a buffalo leather strop off your site and found it to be much higher quality over less expensive options on Amazon
Well done Ryky It was very heart warming listening to your your guidance to the op that was getting trolled, not many care about others these days, says a whole lot about your caring personality, Regards, Gary ............AU
Love the videos man! I fell in love with cooking a few years back got a decent set of Calphalon knives. I had always paid for sharpening but from your videos I have gained the confidence to start sharpening my self. Just had my first run yesterday. Turned out ok. Muscle memory and form need some work before I venture into getting better knives. Anyway, thank for the great videos and keep it up man!
Josh Mooney I learned from Ryky a few years back too. The most important thing to learn at the beginning, speaking from my own experience, is to lock your wrist and don’t rotate the blade. What stones did you end up going with?
Hey man! I recently found your channel and it helped me a lot! I purchased 2 Yaxxel Ran 69 knives a few years ago and they lost their edge, as well as I could notice some smaller chips all along the edge. While I DID try the Yaxxel "wheel" knife sharpener it didn't really do anything except to scracth my knives. At least it didn't fix the chip. I purchased a King wetstone now (double sided with 200 and 1000 grit) and working my technique! Keep up the good work!
I really loved this video! You inspire so many people, and are a down to earth person. I’m happy to hear you didn’t let any of those negative people stop what you are doing. I’ve learned a lot from the people’s questions in this video. Very interesting and informative. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Hi have been loving your videos! 5 years ago I received a gift from my grandmother during my culinary school training. A Miyabi 7000MCD. Even though I am left-handed and at the time 16 I didn’t know it was a right-handed knife. It really was the most comfortable knife ever. Couple years passed by and I had it sharpened by a knife shop that has maintained my uncle’s restaurant knives for over 20 years. My knife came back with 4 chips and 4-5mm less on the heel... Any tips how I should restore it? I would like to sharpen it myself but I don’t know where to start or which whetstone to use.
As I said before, my knifes are mostly butchers knifes that have been used by my great-grandmother. She founded a dynasty of butchers with shops all over my hometown, ending in 1980, when there was no male heir, and the females had no interest in running a company. So everything was sold. Some of my knifes are said to be used by my great-grandmother back in 1870. They never have been thinned out, and with my humble abilitys of sharpening knifes I am at least able to keep them razor sharp. Not hair popping, but sharp. Before I came into sharpening my knifes by myself, I gave them away for sharpening. This happened last time 15 or more years ago, as this became quite expensive. Most work I have to do, especially with the old blades, is using a honing steel, I have one of those used in the butchery. Maybe the steel of the rod and the steel of the knifes match perfect, both are from the same period. My more modern or new knifes, kitchen and EDC, are maintained with a leather strap with green compound. I use stones only when I chip a knife, or if it needs a nee bevel, just because I am not that good at it.
Today I sharpened my knives for 3rd time and already feel improvement on the edge. I've had a lot of help and information from your vids. Thanks and stay wholesome! ;)
Hi, Ryky this is my very first comment on any youtube channel and i want to tell you that you are a great teacher. I've learned a lot from you till i can sharpen my knives properly. So, Thank you!
Murry suggests that if you have a western style knife it probably could be thinned. And the a little bit of matainance thinning is required everything you reestablish a primary edge else that secondary bevel will grow more a more obtouse ie. less sharp. He dose not go as far as to say you should re-face the knife rather just let that happen over time as you sharpen your knives. My procedure is to use 1000 to 6000 to 8000 grit and finish of leather and 8000 surface polish on my secondary edge looks better then the original face. But id feel differently if it was Demarcus or etched these are working knifes that I use all the time.
I love what you are doing, helping people in the ways you do. Keep to good contet going. Im hyped for the new Studio, do you plan on giving a tour in the future?
Carter's thinning philosophy makes a lot of sense to me. I don't buy super knives, neither do the people I know. Everyone just buy those knife block set of whatever brand when it's on sale. Those knives have a thick spine going parallel all the way down to a microbevel cutting edge. Once that dulls you practically have to sharpen at 45 degrees on both side if you don't plan to thin it out.
Good answers, glad the channel's doing great. Thinning knives with whetstones is a huge pain in the butt, but the result if you do it right is awesome -- nothing like effortlessly sliding through your veggie prep. If you want the best possible cutting experience for the least money, getting a cheap Shirogami #1 knife and manually grinding the primary bevel until it's nice and uniform, and reaches the edge, followed by a very thin micro-bevel will produce a pretty awesome cutting-experience. But if you do that, the edge will be more brittle and vulnerable to chipping if you cut hard things with it or just cut in general with bad technique. I personally think it's worth spending a little extra to buy a knife that comes with a nice thin profile, although I think over time I have ended up refining the primary bevel on almost all of my knives -- it's something I do very rarely.
appreciate the input. thinning has its place and purpose. i was only addressing the question of it being required at every sharpening session, which is a bit overkill for most people.
We need GAW winner videos! It would be cool to see who the knives went to and photos of their repairs i.e. the new life that's been breathed into some of those poorly abused knives. Cheers Ryky
Its kinna dumb how everything HAS to have a definite yes or no answer. For thinning blade, it really depends on what knife it is. A gyuto is mostly gonna be okay without thinning. But sometimes pettys get pretty thick, and the cutting edge just becomes thick asf after a couple years of use. You really cant cut things without forcing the blade through
No matter what, all Knives get thicker the more you sharpen them, so if you want the original performance you have to thin. I like to at least keep my Knives cutting like when they were New
I was just coming here to say exactly this, it all depends on the application, I definitely wouldn't thin a gyuto, but I thin my boning knives regularly - that said, my boning knives get 8-10hrs a day of constant use, and are also used more for slicing as opposed to chopping etc.
I’m new to your channel, but I’m loving your dedication and attention to details. Quick question: Nobu knives .. where can I buy them.... I searched online and can’t find actual store.
Murray Carter is an amazing blade Smith. And definitely knows his stuff, as do you. I've taken things from both of you as well as many others and developed my own sharpening style. I've thinned a couple knives the way Murray does it. I think maybe one turned out the way I pictured in my head. Your channel is one of my favorites on my watch list. I've since taken up making blades, but still frequent your channel. Thanks for doing what you do.
When you say at 2:18 that thinning removes support from the cutting edge, you misunderstand Carter's point. Yes, he often thins blades to his preference (a different issue), but once that is done his aim in removing material from the primary bevel at every sharpening is to restore the secondary bevel (cutting edge) to its original geometry. If you never remove any material from your primary bevel, *every sharpening increases the width of your secondary bevel.* Yes, by only a tiny amount, but you would remove a correspondingly tiny amount from the primary bevel to correct this. To the extent that this "removes support from the cutting edge", it is support that was not originally there, i.e. it returns the secondary bevel to its original width. This issue becomes more pronounced with the overall thickness of the blade (which is one of the reasons that Carter often starts by thinning the entire blade to his preference) and with the frequency and aggressiveness of sharpening. If your blade is very thin, and you do not remove much material from the secondary bevel, you might not feel the need to adjust the primary bevel for long time, or ever. If you sharpen aggressively and/or frequently, and/or the primary bevel is relatively steep, you will need to deal with changes in your blade's geometry. In terms of angles, Carter's approach is equivalent to keeping the "lower half" (cutting side) the same but moving it upward toward the spine (as if material was deleted from the spine and the blade was "scrolled upward" toward the spine, which becomes marginally thinner). Your approach also "scrolls" the cutting edge upward toward the spine (as all sharpening does) but the "deletion" occurs at the secondary bevel, keeping the width of the spine but widening the secondary bevel. This will affect cutting performance, but whether it is noticeable depends on the circumstances.
On the same note of the Masamoto stones, Kikuichi makes a 1000 and 5000 but the 5 is out of stock. Would you recommend those over Naniwa for my Kikuichi blade or should you let knife companies to be just that and go with a sharpening stone company like Naniwa?
As far as thinning a blade, I've seen a video where Murray Carter himself said he thins his knives, personally made knives, because of his laminate construction. If he didn't thin the secondary bevel, the harder carbon steel core will have to obtuse of an angle where it is forge welded to the softer stainless steel.
Hi, Ryky first time fan and also a customer. I am looking for some compounds for stropping and wanted to see what you recommend. I have looked at your videos for stropping and you recommend Herold but I can't find this compound anywhere. Your suggestion is greatly appreciated.
So jealous of that full magnet knife background lol. I would do my whole house like that as wallpaper if my money and wife would let me Haha. Your channel is the best! God bless you and the fam i hope everyone who follows this channel are safe and healthy.
Wise words Ryky. Haters gonna hate, and feel ever more validated in this day and age. Only with perseverance will things right themselves in the future. Thanks for addressing this.
hi! amazing vidoes for learnibg how to sharpening knives! just a question! in one video you said. on european knives you dont go over 1000grit since the metal doesnt support it. i have a few wüsthof knives wich has vg10 steel. is that steel hard enough for stones over 1000grit?
i think it's supposed to be possible to get really sharp knives with 1000 grit or less, as long as you're good at it. but the 6000 grit king stones make the cutting edge really pretty so i never tried finishing on a 1000 grit stone... but i don't really know, i feel like my thinner knives are easier to get sharp compared to some other knives, but i can usually cut vegetables without much issues but paper doesn't always cut well. whetstones are quite pricey and you may not need much more than one, but it's probably fine to try some more if you want to
I loved this insightful video 👍 keep up the good work. If anyone could comment about the negative aspects of blue steel or super steel relative to white steel? I prefer blue because of higher RC. THANK YOU
Kamal, thank you for all your great input on the channel. white2, will top out around 62, and that's pushing it. most of the time, you'll see 60-61 rockwell, but blue2 regularly is 62+ and blue super get to 62-63 almost without trying, with 65 being the highest i have seen.
Franscisco, the hardest part is to not treat them like a drunk heckler on stage. But the fast way to shut that stuff down is to straight up ask them to show you what THEY produce. (it tends to shut them up) I get that stuff when selling the custom brass knuckles, and the occasional knife I make. Don't let them grind you down (no pun intended) and keep on going, every knife made, every blade sharpened, is a new learning experience and you WILL improve every time you make a new one.
Or the comments of "Oh I can make that in my shop." I look them square in the eye and tell them to do it, bring it to the next show because I want to see what you make. (I'm actually genuine at that point, because I want to see new makers out there, and I buy more than what I sell.) And also, if you ever get the chance (You as in anybody doing custom making/sharpening or are generally curious about getting into the industry.) Go to a custom knife show, meet the makers, show off what you are doing, and you can get some really great advice on setting handles/scales (the thing that I really suck at) grinding equipment ect. Sure there are Divas in the industry, but 99 percent of the people I met are down to earth and will encourage you to keep going.
Best College student affordable all round chefs knife? I do a lot of Vegetable and meat cutting with the same serrated parring knife because it stays "sharp" better than other crap at Walmart for a similar price.
Suggestions Please include the spell of the products you are talking about in the video description I’m terrible at spelling and these brands are quite challenging to spell (understatement). I am new to this stuff so I don't know if you are talking about the brand, the model or the series or what. This makes it quite frustrating to look up. I don't need a hyperlink (preferably to your store or affiliate) although that would be great but a spelling would be enough to get me started if i want to buy/research more.
My 8 inch Shun kitchen knife(actual name unknown) had some visible chips in the edge. Not obvious, but there on close inspection. I used a stone to take out the chips while keeping the angle steady at around 15 to 20 degrees both sides. My edge slices through paper with a pleasant whistle. But that proves nothing. Because the knife goes into the tomato easily, and then "jams". I assume the edge is to big. I need to take away material behind the edge. That's thinning isn't it?
I've been aware of your channel for quite a long time now. But just recently subscribed so I can keep up with your content better. So first of all, thank you for all the awesome content. I've been using whetstones for 10-15 years now. But primarily coarser stones in combination with files on larger tools and equipment, things like axes and such. Which don't require a super fine edge. As well as touching up pocket knives occasionally. Due to the many people in my household that aren't really interested in properly maintaining a knife. I've never invested in good cutlery due to the fear of someone ruining it. So all of my kitchen knives are really cheap softer steel Chinese knives. But I just recently decided to try to put a good edge on my kitchen knives. Partly for practice, and partly because I would just like to have sharper knives in the kitchen. My question has to do with burr development when sharpening. I've noticed with these knives that as the burr develops, it's very rough and jagged. Almost like it's tearing as it develops on the edge. Have you had any experience with abnormal burr development on soft/cheap steels? Or is this 100% my technique? Thanks in advance if you find the time to answer this question. But if anyone else has any insight into this, I'd appreciate your input as well. :)
Ryky. I am planning to get a gyotou and a Nakiri. Can you recommend me a few brands to look at? Most common brands I hear about are shun and Miyabi. Are they overhype? Also saw you doing reviews about the Enso knives and was interested in that as well.
bought a tojiro dp nakiri, feels somewhat heavy(200 gram is a bit more than my other knives) and i think it's somewhat tick. tojiro seems quite expensive in eu compared to other places though miyabi nakiris looks quite curved. i don't know if that would necessarily be problematic but trying to chop or push cut with a nakiri that isn't flat enough could be bothersome, it's hard to tell shape when ordering online. some shun or kai "nakiris" looks like they might be usubas instead, judging by how it looks like the tip has a bit of an angle, might be fun trying though. don't know if that is the case, but usubas are chisel shaped rather than double beveled, some webpages seem to say vegetable knife or cleaver instead of nakiris. shun and miyabi are fine, but they are somewhat pricey would be nice if you could see weight, thickness and how flat the edge is online i don't know if i know all that much about knives
Have you ever tried Masamoto sharpening stones specifically the 1000 and 5000 because I can get both for $170. I have a Kikuichi 210mm chefs and plan on getting Miyabi Birchwood paring. I'm not sure if I should go this route or Naniwa Pro 800 and 3000? Thanks!
the 1k...... too slow for my taste. 6k is identical to this 6k amzn.to/2SQk89V. you can mix/match between cerax 1k, rika 5, naniwa pro 800 and 3k, and you'll have a far better whetstone set. bur.re/stones
I posted some knives I had reprofiled and rehandled on a Facebook group. Enough people love it that I am keen to do more. I'm not out there to please anyone. I'm out there to extend myself and learn. If people want to be constructive I'm listening If people are out to slam me, my selective hearing comes in handy.
Sorry if this is the wrong location to post my question and the fact it is too long: I'm getting into bbq and want to step up my knife game after watching $9 vs $900 Knife Sharpener? On the project farm’s channel I discovered wet stone to be a great choice so started googling and wound up here. I have Zwilling J A Henckels. and victorinox knives (because america test kitchen) both not very hard knives. I am looking to get started with wet stone sharpening (i would rather buy quality once and cry once) after watching your video (How To Choose Best Japanese Sharpening Whetstone) I’m looking to get Naniwa Chosera 800 Grit Stone 1st 2nd i was going to get Chosera 3,000 Grit Stone Question is a 3000 grit stone worth it on soft steel european knives I can't find the video but you said soft steel can only hold and edge up to a 3000grit stone (might of been How To Choose Best Japanese Sharpening Whetstone) Video (Knife Sharpening w/ National Champion BBQ Pitmaster Harry Soo) said only go to 1000grit with soft steels and said will be follow up proving it that i can't find Video to watch is just fine as a response
Hi Ryky, I have been following you for a couple of years. I remember the early days and some of the flak you have taken. There are still people out there making snide comments about your line of knives. In spite of the negative comments by certain individuals, I bought one of your knives for my daughter and it is her favorite. You give sound advice and the purpose of my purchase was to also support what you do. I believe in your morals and ethics. You try to do better for your fellow man, I remember you did charity work back in your college days. I don't typically comment on videos, but I tend to be more vocal during your giveaways and when I see people trying to tear down someone that is a decent person. Keep up the good work, you can't please everyone. I recommend you to all my friends and family. I can't afford to be a patreon, but I try to support you in other ways. Keep being you.
As a few points about the blade thinning question.
Carter's perspective comes from caring how the knife works as a cutting tool with no regard at all for how it looks, he recommends it for anyone, not just professionals, not just with high end knives - again, it is just about IF you want your knife to perform at its best as a cutting tool.
If you thin the primary grind, it doesn't decrease edge retention, it increases it.
If you are a chef for 30 years and the edge on your knife and you have never had the knife thinned out, then it just means :
-you don't mind using the knife with a much thicker edge
-you use the knife dull
-you don't really use that knife that much (maybe you have a LOT of knives)
and so on.
The reality is that every time you sharpen the edge, the edge will get thicker. This increases subsequent sharpening time, and reduces cutting ability and edge retention. The changes are slow of course, but they build up over time. Carters approach is to do a little thinning each time if necessary vs letting the performance degrade, just accepting the performance loss until it gets so big you have to have a professional regrind.
Or the chef has someone sharpen his or her knives and does not realize that they have been thinned...
Going to disagree with this. You're blade thickness will increase for sure, but the loss in cutting quality is going to be so miniscule it won't matter.
For example go grab a chisel or plane iron from a professional woodworker. They will be easily shaving sharp, hell I can whittle hairs with mine and they hold their edge plenty well while slicing through much tougher material than you will find in any kitchen.
The edge geometry is important, but flattening after every sharpening is just going to kill the lifespan of your knife. If and when you notice it's not performing to your standards, flatten it, if not don't worry about it.
@@inigomontoya4109 A chisel that can whittle hairs is implausible, and impractical. The edge of a commercial razor blade is maybe 8 degrees. A standard woodworking chisel is 25 degrees. For mortising, more like 30 degrees. Maybe 20 degrees for a planing chisel, but much lower than that and the edge becomes too fragile to do much with.
Generally, you would sharpen the chisel by grinding the entire primary face. If sharpening by hand, it is obviously *much* faster to sacrifice a degree or two of cutting angle to create a secondary bevel. However, repeated sharpenings will thicken the blade, so before long you need to... create a new primary bevel. And to restore the original geometry, you will need to take off just as much metal as if you had been grinding the primary face the whole time. You deferred that extra work for a while, at the cost of sacrificing a degree or two of sharpness in the interim.
Similar argument for thinning kitchen knives as you go.
@@inigomontoya4109 I have known Murray for close to twenty years and I think there may be a misunderstanding here. He does not advocate thinning every time you sharpen but checking to see IF the knife needs to be thinned. The biggest factor to cutting performance is all at the edge and how it transitions to the secondary bevel. I have carried one of his Brute Wharnecliffes for 18 years and even with daily use I have only thinned it three times. The loss of cutting ease as the blade thins is not trivial and you will certainly notice it. I go until the loss of performance becomes problematic and then thin it. Murray thinning the knife a very small amount more often just bypasses the loss of performance. I have sharpened his personal neck knife at Blade and it proportionally was no thinner than my one.
@@Nebulax123for expedience carter may not always follow his own advice, but thinning is a mandatory sharpening step for him according to his new sharpening method with hap stanley.
It’s like eating healthy - you cannot go wrong recommending it even if you don’t always do it yourself.
when you sharpen a knife you necessarily move the edge up the vee ( the blades geometry) which gets thicker thicker and thicker until you reach the spine....this is a fact of geometry not an opinion. Now its is up to the knife owner to determine whether they can live will the degradation in cutting performance caused by the edge slowly getting thicker and thicker. some sharpening techniques keep this in check without calling it thinning. in the end it does not matter if you call it thinning or not. to keep a knife at peak performance you can not let the material directly behind edge get thicker over time........... some call it thinning :)
I got fed up with dull knives in my kitchen so I went to Amazon and bought some sharpening stones - when they arrived I realized I don't know how to use them so off to TH-cam. I was lucky enough to find your page. Thank you for being here and for your enthusiasm. I am so looking forward to using sharp knives.
Wow that ending was so wholesome :')
Wasn't sure where to post this, but since you mentioned ruining knives... I ruined my new favorite knife, the Ricky 10" Burrfection knife, while sharpening it on a Cerax 1000 wet stone. No idea how it happened, but I scratched the right face of the knife. 😭 Any way to fix it? I would really like to buy one of your damaged knifes to practice on. BTW, that stone is amazing!!!!
Sandpaper. No joke. Work the grits. Work them dry. Once you get to 3k, it's pretty mirror like. If you want to go full mirror use wet/dry above 3k. I recommend 7k, 10k and for overkill 15k grits.
Back n forward...not circles. Dw about how burrfect (perfect 🤣) you're going back n forward, it'll buff out.
Don't believe? Try it on a crappy knife n see what you think! 🥰
I recently found your channel and have been just down right stunned by your decency and humanity. Your reviews and tutorials are always down to earth and conveyed in a manner that newcomers like me can understand and appreciate. Love it! Keep up the excellent work! Subscriber for life.
Wow, thank you!
When I was a young man, I worked hard for little pay, and was not often happy or kind. I fought often and held grudges. As an older man now if there was one thing I could change it would be this: to be kind to people. Ryky, you have found this wisdom early in life. Enjoy your channel always.
Willie, thank you for sharing some wisdom and your very kind words. They mean a lot
Every time I watch your videos I get a warm feeling inside that makes me want to look at more and more knives hahahaha love ur vids. And to anyone out there making ur owe knives Imagine it takes a lot of time and practice keep up your good work
Awesome! Thank you!
Ryky, have been with you from the beginning. I’m 69 and still use my chef knives for vegetable work when making large buckets of soup from my country garden. Just have to commend you as a great role model for young folks and just a great human being. I’m an old timer with SIC and Arkansas stones, happy with my edges, The high end knives are off my radar. Looking for a site or eBay vendor who sell chipped or decent
used knives for repair.
That is awesome. keep doing what you are doing and learning. you are an inspiration to me
Ryky, Thanks for the vids. I have learned how to sharpen the proper way bc of you. Keep them coming. All the best and stay safe.
Do what you do ignore the negative comments. Only care about the people who care about you! Thank you for your answer!
I will only thin if I begin to feel a noticeable decrease in performance. I havent felt that yet, and I have damascus Miyabis, so they are plenty thin already. I might thin later on and might try to reetch the blade to.
Miyabis are terrible. Almost as bad as this guys misinformation filled videos. Every single Miyabi has visible shoulders behind the edge because the grinds are extremely thick. They try to make up for it with acute edge angles but that doesn't cut it. Miyabis are at least twice as thick as even a Shun behind the edge. I have 3 miyabis and I would never suggest anyone buy these overpriced and poorly designed knives.
I think Murray Carter pursues the absolutely best sharpness out of a knife. He suggests making the angle smaller and smaller until the edge doesn't hold, then back down a tiny bit. If he can double the work load to improve the sharpness by 5%, he would do it. Whether that's what you are looking for is up to you. But to me, I'm looking for pretty good sharpness without too much work, so I don't thin my knives that much. I think so far I only thinned my knives in one condition: when I got a new knife and its factory profile isn't thin enough. After that, I can sharpen it a lot of times without thinning.
Completely agree! as Ryky said he is a master sharpener.......he is chasing the perfect cutting edge and has the skill and is willing to spend the time for that.
I think there's a couple of nuances to the topic of thinning. If you buy a knife that's already thin behind the edge you don't need to thin the knife as often. Murray's knifes are super thin already and he recommends that the performance of your knife will only improve if it's thinner. If you are scared of learning to thin or thinning yourself, you can always send it somewhere to be thinned.
Just wanted to say thanks! Been watching your videos for a while now and just bought my first stone (cerax 1k) and I was able to finally get two of my cheap kitchen knives sharpened again including fixing some chips out of the length of one of them. Just wanted to swing by and say thanks! Glad I've learned this new skill and looking forward to continue to hone (lol) it and potentially getting a new better knife sometime in the future. Thanks again and keep up the high quality work and vids!
Great video, thanks for sharing. What was the brand knife you mentioned towards the end you use? The stainless version
The ending is so sweet that you almost forget whats happening with covid-19.
Great video, thanks. About the thinning, as a sharpener gets more experienced, he/she will develop a sense of grind, edge bevel, and apex/edge. After understanding these and developing the skills to assess them, and understanding what works better for what purpose, one can decide if they want to thin. If someone is asking whether they should thin etc, it means they don't have required experience yet to understand, assess, and modify characteristics of a blade. It can be a personal preference similar to what grit you finish. Good example in the video, thanks. However technically it is necessary over time but whatever as I said with experience it will be obvious.
Hi hope your keeping well and you and your family are safe just a quick question is there a good way of keeping a good edge on a serrated knife such as a bread knife many thanks and keep up the good work
I've thinned quite a few. The hardest was a Yanagi. Second hardest was a Chefs knife I used for 30 plus years. It was a Henkles...my primary on the line knife. I only do when necessary
This. We need more of this. Overall wholesomeness and love. God, so happy right now
Edit: wow I think you are my first ever heart from a TH-camr. Right on
It's very easy for the internet trolls to hide behind their computer and make negative comments. They think they're tough guys but they hide like cowards. They would never say anything to your face. So keep doing what you doing, putting a smile on her face and entertaining us. We love it
Thanks for all your great content. Keep up the great work. I appreciate all your teaching. I have learned so much. 👍
I appreciate that!
Wow this man jst delivers raw knwlgde rgt n left without hyping anything huge respect brother I hope this channel grows hugely wishing u a grt success ahead keep it up
Appreciate that
Love you Ryky, but there are a few things that are not exactly accurate that I'd like to clarify about.
First, you mentioned how handmade japanese knives have a big primary bevel and a micro bevel at the edge, and factory-made knives have just the edge bevel.
This is inaccurate, how so? Firstly the straight ground "primary bevel" you mentioned on handmade artisan knives is actually called the grind. That is used to create the TAPER of thickness from spine to edge of the knife. That same grind also exists in Yaxell knives that you mentioned, just that they're not visible because they're rounded, so called a linear grind.
Many handmade artisan knives have linear grinds too (with varying degrees of roundedness as well). For example the Makoto Kurosaki SG2 knives & the Konosuke HD2 knives, Shibata Kohetsu's too! These grinds can sometimes be hollow/convex as well to maximize the thinness behind the edge.
Secondly, about the micro bevel on Japanese artisan knives. That's inaccurate in the way that it in fact isn't a micro bevel.
The reason is because those minuscule bevels at the edge are sharpened at the same angle as how you would sharpen a normal edge bevel, it is in fact a normal bevel. A so called "micro bevel" is sharpened at high angles (ie. 30 degrees) after you've sharpened your primary edge bevel, to reinforce the edge.
The reason the bevel is so damn small is because their knives are ground so yummy damn thin behind the edge. Not because it's a "micro bevel" or is treated differently.
A well ground knife out of the box, especially artisan knives will give you great cutting performance, not in sharpness, but in smoothness of the grind. With equal sharpness, a well ground knife goes through product significantly easier compared to ones that are not. How smooth can it be? You can have close to no wedging or none at all doing stuff like halfing an onion, halfing potatoes, apples and tall products alike, it doesn't require more effort than ordinary cutting. Knives that are not hand ground often struggle with those things, I've seen a miyabi wedge on every onion lol.
As you sharpen those knives over the years, you wear the edge down to the part of the grind that is thicker. That decreases the performance of the knives and makes the knives feel less smooth cutting (largely unrelated to actual sharpness).
The thinness behind the edge makes up for a large part of the cutting performance, so that's where many avid Japanese knives fan & chefs alike will think of doing thinning. It is unnecessary to a certain degree, but we people that splurge big money on those knives like to have that silky smooth performance like how it was out of the box for as long as we can. Sometimes we thin a knife (usually lower priced) OOTB if we hate the grind lol.
But as you said it does open up a large can of worms, we look into methods of getting back the same finish (or just a good looking finish) like hand sanding/finishing & stuff like fingerstone polishing, and there's more techniques, tools & options to further complicate things up.
Also, thinning doesn't reduce your knife's edge holding ability. The knives, even as thin as the Kato example that you showed is able to hold an edge as well IF NOT better than if it were to be thicker behind the edge.
How so? Well, a knife's edge is able to hold up from wear as long as there is sufficient material behind it. In most cases it is sufficient. It DOES, however, make the blade more prone to chipping, hence more delicate to work with. That's one of the reason some chefs don't thin out their edge even after years of use, it's cause you can just bang on the knife and roll out prep hard all day without the worry of the knife chipping easily.
I'd agree that as you said in that it is highly unnecessary for 99% of the common users to do thinning. However, if you have that one knife that was cutting bliss when it was new and just no longer like what it was anymore, consider sending it in for thinning if not doing it yourself, brings the life back into a knife.
Finally someone with proper knife knowledge 🙏 100%accurate Sean
sean, appreciate the thorough comment, but i think you may have missed my point in your arguments. you obviously are an expert, and i'm not trying to say wrong in any of your points, but please consider my points as more general, as opposed to picking exact words, and terminology, and only experts like you understand.
regarding "grind", i may not have explicitly said "grind" for the kato, but did mentioned that's what it is, when talking about the yaxell. so yes, i see how you can call that erroneous, but the point was made.
and about micr--bevels, you are taking the stance they it MUST be 30 degrees (which is fine), but i was not talking about degrees, and simply explaining the cutting of Kato R2 i was referring to. if you allow light to reflect off the cutting cutting edge, you'll see a "micro-bevel" be it 12, 30, or 45 degrees, which is less than .1mm wide. to me, that classifies as a mirco-bevel.
like i said, you are an obvious expert. i'm simply trying to explain a few points for everyday people like me can understand.
@@Burrfection Hi Ryky, what I meant with the micro bevel was that it actually isn't a micro bevel, but just a super tiny normal edge bevel because of how thin the knife was ground. From a viewer's perspective, IMO you kinda made it sound like the Kato has a zero grind all the way down and only has a micro bevel at the edge.
The reason it's a normal bevel instead of what's called a micro bevel is cause it's actually sharpened normally, around the 10-15 degrees range. I do get your stance of not talking about angles but I'm just use them as rough references.
A micro bevel is actually what they do after they sharpen in a regular edge bevel (like the one on yaxell) and they raise the angle to grind in the micro bevel which is usually thinner than a hair, to reinforce the edge.
The reason I wanted to point those out was because you have one of the largest reach in the knife world, as far as educating an audience goes. I think it's good to be accurate and consistent with the terms used so that it's less confusing for beginners. I don't think I've missed the point but to clear things up I figured making a thorough comment can clear things up better.
Also gotta point out that I'm not an expert...just an avid enthusiast that was fortunate enough to learn from a kind community of knife people. And to be honest you're the one that got me into sharpening and knife collecting few years ago heheh! Appreciate your videos as ever Ryky!!
@@steppbrooEFT lovely conversation! This is gold! The student has become a master. Maybe not The Master, but certainly a master.
I don't know why, but I just ended up binge watching your Knife Sharpening Restoring, damage knife opening... man almost theraputic. Which also reignited my knife interest .. sub +1
My dude, you're just the best. I've been watching you for a while and have used your videos, almost exclusively, as reference as I've gotten more and more into knives and cooking. By in large, you have helped me far more than any other content creator in those pursuits and I thank you so much for that. Just a couple of weeks ago I finally decided to take the plunge into knife sharpening using whetstones and was stressed as hell about it; I've been desperately afraid of ruining my knives' edges. But, after hyping myself up and drinking a gallon of coffee (in hindsight I could have done without the caffein jitters), I finally worked up the courage to put blade to stone....and it definitely could have gone better hahaha. However, I've continued to watch your videos -- using them to work on my form/process -- and already I've made huge improvements on the quality of my sharpening. Obviously I'm nowhere near master-level, but it's turning into something that I'm less afraid of and actually enjoy doing. That high you get from cutting through a magazine for the first time after sharpening is top-notch.
So thank you so much for that and for just overall being the wholesome person you are. And ffs please stay safe and healthy! :D
Perfect statement on people that post very negative comments. I feel they are just jealous angry people. If you happy with what you post or make your self. If they cant give constructive criticism. Blow them off they dont deserve your energy. Thank for all your videos. Always full of useful info. Keep them coming.
Quote from flat mate "omg you're watching that guy talking about stones again". :-D
Flat as in apartment?
Very confused American here.
Thank you for this. It flattening a blade has been a question of mine for a while. I feel much better ad much more competent as a newbie to the sharpening world
Thank you for your videos! You are a good person. That is clear to see. You're also correct about the negative people. A lot of people like that can't bring themselves to give compliments or think positively. It consumes you over time and one gets to the point where they can't realize they've grown to be toxic.
There will always be people who don't like what you're doing. You know you're on the right track when there are people who love what you're doing. Selfless, humble, helpful and kind. Trust yourself. Thanks Ryky! ❤️❤️
Also im pretty sure my wife isnt all that happy with my new addiction of collecting expensive knives. I just got my first (shun classic 8 inch) chefs nife ladt week and because of you i am hooked on these knives something about having a knife made from generations of samurai blacksmiths is so satisfying. So again thank you for the new hobby.
hello mate, hope you are fine, i'm from Algeria and you can't find fancy knives here, due to low income generally, but we've got some marks on sale as "Fischer, Bargoin, Arcos, Icel, Laika, Opinel and the best of them around are Victorinox" i've got a bunch of all of those but i really have some difficulties to sharpen my knives, i can repair the edge but never make it through the paper test, skinning sheep is the worst thing for my knives, so my Q is can you made a review on Victorinox knives and any suggestions how to deal with sheep skins.
Yet again Ryky your sharing of knowledge has helped me and all the other watchers. You are awesome. If Only SG2 knives were cheaper in Australia, I am sure more would have them. Keep up the good work. Inspiring and informative as always.
Be safe and thanks again.
And I love your attitude and generosity. Heart wrenching to listen and watch this. All the best my friend.
What are your thoughts on Masahiro Virgin Carbon knives? Thanks for what you do, and happy, healthy vibes to you and your family!
My opinel is from carbon steel and has heavy patina. The patina actually protects the steel from rusting and it is more beautiful in my opinion. It never bothered me to cut food with patina knife
I have learned so very much from you Ryky. Always great content, great attitude, very wholesome. Love you
Only channel I have ever subscribed to.
Really enjoy the impartial content.
Used the info to purchase sharpening stone. Thanks. I have about 10 knives mostly geared toward hunting and fishing. No Japanese knife. I will purchase possibly two matching knives as gifts for my son and daughter.
Iv never thined any of my zwilling knives but i have thined both my tojiros when i got them and never needed to do it again. Shuns dont tend to need it either from the few that iv used. They knives i did thin where for plate garnishing and very specific and delicate cuts not a chef knife or hard use knife.
Another take would be to sharpen a convex or a hamaguri grind.
Starting at 8-10 degrees and working your way up
That Ryusen Ryky VG-10 profile is literally exactly my preference. Well done on the design, man.
New to your channel and actually more into pocket knives, but I love your videos. I have learned a lot from you. Thanks for all you do!
Glad you like them!
I enjoy your videos. I was watching one on stropping today. Everything I've ever seen on stropping uses compound on the rough side of the leather. Some people follow that up with polishing on smooth leather without compound. But I see that you use compound on the smooth side. Now I'm confused. Can you explain?
I have the same question. Following!
Yes it was. It is so good that you are always thinking of other and taking care of then. 👍👍👍👍
Update
Hi Ryky
Question : Just noticed my Chefs knife has lost its curve, wasn't much, but have noticed chopping with rocking non affective now
Did not realise my knife had a slight curve, you were right........again! Bad sharpening can take that curve out :)
lack of skill here, knife now slicer, should I just take this as a learning curve and buy a new chefs knife as I now miss the curve
Regards,
Gary
..........AU
It is so true that people will bash things you do or make but can't do it there self. That is in all kinds of creating / making things. Not only with knives :)
Hey Ryky thanks for all the great videos you put out ! I have a question that I am sure you have heard 1000 times but I'm looking for an all around set was considering a Suehiro new Cerax 1000/6000 combo stone then maybe a 380-450 stone for repairs and chips I'm not going to use it for 20 knives just a few at 60 RH and lower. Don't want to spend a whole lot. I saw the combo cerax for $65 on Amazon. Any other thoughts or suggestions Thx again Rich
Thank you for answering the youtube 101 question. It is really helpful on a very broad level!
Great to see you giving more knives away! On the thinning question, I've only tried to thin German knives like Burgvogel, Henckels, Wus... Etc. because of the weight or to correct the over use of powered sharpeners. Most were not hollow ground and we're corrected on a belt sander. Blade thickness/taper at the edge had a definite effect on the amount of drag the knife has through food. Which is why I moved to thinner Japanese knives and started sharpening all my knives at lower angles! That's why I watch your videos!
so basically you realized that his claim that only steels harder than 62 hrc can withstand thin edges was false, like half of the other things he says.
I bought a couple of custom knives and a whetstone in Osaka a couple of years ago, and thanks to your channel I can sharpen them properly! The shop I bought them at did show me how to sharpen them, but by the time I needed to do it, I had forgotten lol. btw, bought a buffalo leather strop off your site and found it to be much higher quality over less expensive options on Amazon
Well done Ryky
It was very heart warming listening to your your guidance to the op that was getting trolled, not many care about others these days,
says a whole lot about your caring personality,
Regards,
Gary
............AU
Love the videos man! I fell in love with cooking a few years back got a decent set of Calphalon knives. I had always paid for sharpening but from your videos I have gained the confidence to start sharpening my self. Just had my first run yesterday. Turned out ok. Muscle memory and form need some work before I venture into getting better knives. Anyway, thank for the great videos and keep it up man!
Josh Mooney I learned from Ryky a few years back too. The most important thing to learn at the beginning, speaking from my own experience, is to lock your wrist and don’t rotate the blade. What stones did you end up going with?
@@curseofthegreat naniwa chosera 800 and suehiro 3000
Josh Mooney Cerax 3000? Rika 3000?
Hey man! I recently found your channel and it helped me a lot!
I purchased 2 Yaxxel Ran 69 knives a few years ago and they lost their edge, as well as I could notice some smaller chips all along the edge. While I DID try the Yaxxel "wheel" knife sharpener it didn't really do anything except to scracth my knives. At least it didn't fix the chip. I purchased a King wetstone now (double sided with 200 and 1000 grit) and working my technique! Keep up the good work!
I really loved this video! You inspire so many people, and are a down to earth person. I’m happy to hear you didn’t let any of those negative people stop what you are doing. I’ve learned a lot from the people’s questions in this video. Very interesting and informative. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Absolutely love how positive you are. Great videos.
Hi have been loving your videos!
5 years ago I received a gift from my grandmother during my culinary school training. A Miyabi 7000MCD. Even though I am left-handed and at the time 16 I didn’t know it was a right-handed knife. It really was the most comfortable knife ever. Couple years passed by and I had it sharpened by a knife shop that has maintained my uncle’s restaurant knives for over 20 years. My knife came back with 4 chips and 4-5mm less on the heel...
Any tips how I should restore it? I would like to sharpen it myself but I don’t know where to start or which whetstone to use.
As I said before, my knifes are mostly butchers knifes that have been used by my great-grandmother. She founded a dynasty of butchers with shops all over my hometown, ending in 1980, when there was no male heir, and the females had no interest in running a company. So everything was sold.
Some of my knifes are said to be used by my great-grandmother back in 1870. They never have been thinned out, and with my humble abilitys of sharpening knifes I am at least able to keep them razor sharp. Not hair popping, but sharp.
Before I came into sharpening my knifes by myself, I gave them away for sharpening. This happened last time 15 or more years ago, as this became quite expensive.
Most work I have to do, especially with the old blades, is using a honing steel, I have one of those used in the butchery. Maybe the steel of the rod and the steel of the knifes match perfect, both are from the same period.
My more modern or new knifes, kitchen and EDC, are maintained with a leather strap with green compound.
I use stones only when I chip a knife, or if it needs a nee bevel, just because I am not that good at it.
Love your videos, keep up the positive attitude and informative Q & A's .
Ryky Your are a GREAT man...Thank You for all you do.Love you Brother from Ray in Michigan.
I really enjoy watching your videos. I never fail to learn something.
Today I sharpened my knives for 3rd time and already feel improvement on the edge. I've had a lot of help and information from your vids. Thanks and stay wholesome! ;)
Hi, Ryky this is my very first comment on any youtube channel and i want to tell you that you are a great teacher. I've learned a lot from you till i can sharpen my knives properly. So, Thank you!
I am honored
Murry suggests that if you have a western style knife it probably could be thinned. And the a little bit of matainance thinning is required everything you reestablish a primary edge else that secondary bevel will grow more a more obtouse ie. less sharp. He dose not go as far as to say you should re-face the knife rather just let that happen over time as you sharpen your knives.
My procedure is to use 1000 to 6000 to 8000 grit and finish of leather and 8000 surface polish on my secondary edge looks better then the original face. But id feel differently if it was Demarcus or etched these are working knifes that I use all the time.
I love what you are doing, helping people in the ways you do. Keep to good contet going. Im hyped for the new Studio, do you plan on giving a tour in the future?
Carter's thinning philosophy makes a lot of sense to me.
I don't buy super knives, neither do the people I know. Everyone just buy those knife block set of whatever brand when it's on sale. Those knives have a thick spine going parallel all the way down to a microbevel cutting edge. Once that dulls you practically have to sharpen at 45 degrees on both side if you don't plan to thin it out.
Good answers, glad the channel's doing great.
Thinning knives with whetstones is a huge pain in the butt, but the result if you do it right is awesome -- nothing like effortlessly sliding through your veggie prep.
If you want the best possible cutting experience for the least money, getting a cheap Shirogami #1 knife and manually grinding the primary bevel until it's nice and uniform, and reaches the edge, followed by a very thin micro-bevel will produce a pretty awesome cutting-experience. But if you do that, the edge will be more brittle and vulnerable to chipping if you cut hard things with it or just cut in general with bad technique.
I personally think it's worth spending a little extra to buy a knife that comes with a nice thin profile, although I think over time I have ended up refining the primary bevel on almost all of my knives -- it's something I do very rarely.
appreciate the input. thinning has its place and purpose. i was only addressing the question of it being required at every sharpening session, which is a bit overkill for most people.
I love to hear a knowledgeable expert in all sincerity pass on what they have honestly earned. Thank You please keep on doing what You do best.
So nice of you
We need GAW winner videos! It would be cool to see who the knives went to and photos of their repairs i.e. the new life that's been breathed into some of those poorly abused knives. Cheers Ryky
Its kinna dumb how everything HAS to have a definite yes or no answer. For thinning blade, it really depends on what knife it is. A gyuto is mostly gonna be okay without thinning. But sometimes pettys get pretty thick, and the cutting edge just becomes thick asf after a couple years of use. You really cant cut things without forcing the blade through
No matter what, all Knives get thicker the more you sharpen them, so if you want the original performance you have to thin. I like to at least keep my Knives cutting like when they were New
I was just coming here to say exactly this, it all depends on the application, I definitely wouldn't thin a gyuto, but I thin my boning knives regularly - that said, my boning knives get 8-10hrs a day of constant use, and are also used more for slicing as opposed to chopping etc.
some outdoor knives aren't as tall as a chef knife and can have a very thick spine, so might want to plan sharpening a bit differently
I’m new to your channel, but I’m loving your dedication and attention to details. Quick question: Nobu knives .. where can I buy them.... I searched online and can’t find actual store.
they are launching in a few months. i'm just lucky enough to get a first-look at their knives..... more coming soon
Murray Carter is an amazing blade Smith. And definitely knows his stuff, as do you. I've taken things from both of you as well as many others and developed my own sharpening style. I've thinned a couple knives the way Murray does it. I think maybe one turned out the way I pictured in my head. Your channel is one of my favorites on my watch list. I've since taken up making blades, but still frequent your channel. Thanks for doing what you do.
Wow Mr R, you are a truly good dude and may your good deeds be rewarded back to you many times.
Just doing my best
When you say at 2:18 that thinning removes support from the cutting edge, you misunderstand Carter's point. Yes, he often thins blades to his preference (a different issue), but once that is done his aim in removing material from the primary bevel at every sharpening is to restore the secondary bevel (cutting edge) to its original geometry. If you never remove any material from your primary bevel, *every sharpening increases the width of your secondary bevel.* Yes, by only a tiny amount, but you would remove a correspondingly tiny amount from the primary bevel to correct this. To the extent that this "removes support from the cutting edge", it is support that was not originally there, i.e. it returns the secondary bevel to its original width.
This issue becomes more pronounced with the overall thickness of the blade (which is one of the reasons that Carter often starts by thinning the entire blade to his preference) and with the frequency and aggressiveness of sharpening. If your blade is very thin, and you do not remove much material from the secondary bevel, you might not feel the need to adjust the primary bevel for long time, or ever. If you sharpen aggressively and/or frequently, and/or the primary bevel is relatively steep, you will need to deal with changes in your blade's geometry.
In terms of angles, Carter's approach is equivalent to keeping the "lower half" (cutting side) the same but moving it upward toward the spine (as if material was deleted from the spine and the blade was "scrolled upward" toward the spine, which becomes marginally thinner). Your approach also "scrolls" the cutting edge upward toward the spine (as all sharpening does) but the "deletion" occurs at the secondary bevel, keeping the width of the spine but widening the secondary bevel. This will affect cutting performance, but whether it is noticeable depends on the circumstances.
Question: what are the primary purposes for chefs knives. What can be done with an 8" that cannot be done with a 6", and so on. Thanks! I'm a newbie
On the same note of the Masamoto stones, Kikuichi makes a 1000 and 5000 but the 5 is out of stock. Would you recommend those over Naniwa for my Kikuichi blade or should you let knife companies to be just that and go with a sharpening stone company like Naniwa?
As far as thinning a blade, I've seen a video where Murray Carter himself said he thins his knives, personally made knives, because of his laminate construction. If he didn't thin the secondary bevel, the harder carbon steel core will have to obtuse of an angle where it is forge welded to the softer stainless steel.
Hi, Ryky first time fan and also a customer. I am looking for some compounds for stropping and wanted to see what you recommend. I have looked at your videos for stropping and you recommend Herold but I can't find this compound anywhere. Your suggestion is greatly appreciated.
This whole comment section is bliss man, keep doing what you do! Regards from Malaysia
So jealous of that full magnet knife background lol. I would do my whole house like that as wallpaper if my money and wife would let me Haha. Your channel is the best! God bless you and the fam i hope everyone who follows this channel are safe and healthy.
Wise words Ryky. Haters gonna hate, and feel ever more validated in this day and age. Only with perseverance will things right themselves in the future. Thanks for addressing this.
hi! amazing vidoes for learnibg how to sharpening knives! just a question! in one video you said. on european knives you dont go over 1000grit since the metal doesnt support it. i have a few wüsthof knives wich has vg10 steel. is that steel hard enough for stones over 1000grit?
i think it's supposed to be possible to get really sharp knives with 1000 grit or less, as long as you're good at it.
but the 6000 grit king stones make the cutting edge really pretty so i never tried finishing on a 1000 grit stone...
but i don't really know, i feel like my thinner knives are easier to get sharp compared to some other knives, but i can usually cut vegetables without much issues but paper doesn't always cut well.
whetstones are quite pricey and you may not need much more than one, but it's probably fine to try some more if you want to
Such a cool surprised for both of them!
I cracked a smile there, speaks beautifully of you man :)
I loved this insightful video 👍 keep up the good work. If anyone could comment about the negative aspects of blue steel or super steel relative to white steel? I prefer blue because of higher RC. THANK YOU
Kamal, thank you for all your great input on the channel. white2, will top out around 62, and that's pushing it. most of the time, you'll see 60-61 rockwell, but blue2 regularly is 62+ and blue super get to 62-63 almost without trying, with 65 being the highest i have seen.
wow, im so happy for those people who will be receiving that artistry knives .im so touch.more power and thank you, learned a lot. :)
Franscisco, the hardest part is to not treat them like a drunk heckler on stage. But the fast way to shut that stuff down is to straight up ask them to show you what THEY produce. (it tends to shut them up) I get that stuff when selling the custom brass knuckles, and the occasional knife I make. Don't let them grind you down (no pun intended) and keep on going, every knife made, every blade sharpened, is a new learning experience and you WILL improve every time you make a new one.
Well said. Spoken like a true gentleman
Or the comments of "Oh I can make that in my shop." I look them square in the eye and tell them to do it, bring it to the next show because I want to see what you make. (I'm actually genuine at that point, because I want to see new makers out there, and I buy more than what I sell.)
And also, if you ever get the chance (You as in anybody doing custom making/sharpening or are generally curious about getting into the industry.) Go to a custom knife show, meet the makers, show off what you are doing, and you can get some really great advice on setting handles/scales (the thing that I really suck at) grinding equipment ect. Sure there are Divas in the industry, but 99 percent of the people I met are down to earth and will encourage you to keep going.
i love it. need to use that line next time "bring it"
Best College student affordable all round chefs knife? I do a lot of Vegetable and meat cutting with the same serrated parring knife because it stays "sharp" better than other crap at Walmart for a similar price.
Q and A was very informative, thank you
Glad you enjoyed it!
As a chef it helped with older blades
Suggestions Please include the spell of the products you are talking about in the video description
I’m terrible at spelling and these brands are quite challenging to spell (understatement). I am new to this stuff so I don't know if you are talking about the brand, the model or the series or what. This makes it quite frustrating to look up. I don't need a hyperlink (preferably to your store or affiliate) although that would be great but a spelling would be enough to get me started if i want to buy/research more.
Hows the move coming? GREAT information today!
My 8 inch Shun kitchen knife(actual name unknown) had some visible chips in the edge. Not obvious, but there on close inspection. I used a stone to take out the chips while keeping the angle steady at around 15 to 20 degrees both sides. My edge slices through paper with a pleasant whistle. But that proves nothing. Because the knife goes into the tomato easily, and then "jams". I assume the edge is to big. I need to take away material behind the edge. That's thinning isn't it?
I've been aware of your channel for quite a long time now. But just recently subscribed so I can keep up with your content better. So first of all, thank you for all the awesome content.
I've been using whetstones for 10-15 years now. But primarily coarser stones in combination with files on larger tools and equipment, things like axes and such. Which don't require a super fine edge. As well as touching up pocket knives occasionally.
Due to the many people in my household that aren't really interested in properly maintaining a knife. I've never invested in good cutlery due to the fear of someone ruining it. So all of my kitchen knives are really cheap softer steel Chinese knives. But I just recently decided to try to put a good edge on my kitchen knives. Partly for practice, and partly because I would just like to have sharper knives in the kitchen.
My question has to do with burr development when sharpening. I've noticed with these knives that as the burr develops, it's very rough and jagged. Almost like it's tearing as it develops on the edge. Have you had any experience with abnormal burr development on soft/cheap steels? Or is this 100% my technique?
Thanks in advance if you find the time to answer this question. But if anyone else has any insight into this, I'd appreciate your input as well. :)
I like your answer to Francisco's question!
Thank you!
Ryky. I am planning to get a gyotou and a Nakiri. Can you recommend me a few brands to look at? Most common brands I hear about are shun and Miyabi. Are they overhype? Also saw you doing reviews about the Enso knives and was interested in that as well.
bought a tojiro dp nakiri, feels somewhat heavy(200 gram is a bit more than my other knives) and i think it's somewhat tick. tojiro seems quite expensive in eu compared to other places though
miyabi nakiris looks quite curved. i don't know if that would necessarily be problematic but trying to chop or push cut with a nakiri that isn't flat enough could be bothersome, it's hard to tell shape when ordering online.
some shun or kai "nakiris" looks like they might be usubas instead, judging by how it looks like the tip has a bit of an angle, might be fun trying though. don't know if that is the case, but usubas are chisel shaped rather than double beveled, some webpages seem to say vegetable knife or cleaver instead of nakiris.
shun and miyabi are fine, but they are somewhat pricey
would be nice if you could see weight, thickness and how flat the edge is online
i don't know if i know all that much about knives
Have you ever tried Masamoto sharpening stones specifically the 1000 and 5000 because I can get both for $170. I have a Kikuichi 210mm chefs and plan on getting Miyabi Birchwood paring. I'm not sure if I should go this route or Naniwa Pro 800 and 3000? Thanks!
the 1k...... too slow for my taste. 6k is identical to this 6k amzn.to/2SQk89V. you can mix/match between cerax 1k, rika 5, naniwa pro 800 and 3k, and you'll have a far better whetstone set. bur.re/stones
I posted some knives I had reprofiled and rehandled on a Facebook group. Enough people love it that I am keen to do more. I'm not out there to please anyone. I'm out there to extend myself and learn. If people want to be constructive I'm listening
If people are out to slam me, my selective hearing comes in handy.
Sorry if this is the wrong location to post my question and the fact it is too long: I'm getting into bbq and want to step up my knife game after watching $9 vs $900 Knife Sharpener? On the project farm’s channel I discovered wet stone to be a great choice so started googling and wound up here. I have Zwilling J A Henckels. and victorinox knives (because america test kitchen) both not very hard knives. I am looking to get started with wet stone sharpening (i would rather buy quality once and cry once) after watching your video (How To Choose Best Japanese Sharpening Whetstone) I’m looking to get Naniwa Chosera 800 Grit Stone 1st 2nd i was going to get Chosera 3,000 Grit Stone
Question is a 3000 grit stone worth it on soft steel european knives
I can't find the video but you said soft steel can only hold and edge up to a 3000grit stone (might of been How To Choose Best Japanese Sharpening Whetstone)
Video (Knife Sharpening w/ National Champion BBQ Pitmaster Harry Soo) said only go to 1000grit with soft steels and said will be follow up proving it that i can't find
Video to watch is just fine as a response
found the video Stop Polishing German (soft) knives
Hi Ryky,
I have been following you for a couple of years. I remember the early days and some of the flak you have taken. There are still people out there making snide comments about your line of knives. In spite of the negative comments by certain individuals, I bought one of your knives for my daughter and it is her favorite. You give sound advice and the purpose of my purchase was to also support what you do. I believe in your morals and ethics. You try to do better for your fellow man, I remember you did charity work back in your college days. I don't typically comment on videos, but I tend to be more vocal during your giveaways and when I see people trying to tear down someone that is a decent person. Keep up the good work, you can't please everyone. I recommend you to all my friends and family. I can't afford to be a patreon, but I try to support you in other ways. Keep being you.
Very insightful information for the knife lover and the ending with the thoughtful give a ways was priceless. Happy trails stay safe out there.
love the advice and great last part of the video. you rock!!!!