Inconsistent angle was the hardest for me to overcome and eliminate a scooping motion. I found going slow, picking up the knife off the stone on the edge leading strokes, and occasionally reaffirming my angle using a Wedgek angle guide helped until I had built up enough muscle memory.
I personally think this is the hardest for many (including myself) as well! You really need to know what you're doing with the knife. The second hardest is getting a very nice edge with a sharp apex and no burr through whatever method.
Having an inconsistent angle is fine, as long as you don't go over a certain point. A knife sharpened at 15 degrees per side will be out cut by a knife sharpened at 8 to 15 degrees per side. The latter will just take longer, because all strokes at less than 15 degrees won't be making contact with the apex. Also, if you're good, you can sharpen a knife without forming a burr. Extremely difficult, but this should always be the goal, as it keeps burrs minimalized.
Thank you for the informative video! I'm curious, you mentioned the different edge angles for each type of steel, is spine thickness of the blade also a determining factor for the edge angles? And if so, are you taking both the type of steel and the spine thickness into consideration before you set your edge? Thank you again! 💜🌸
@@KnifewearKnives honestly it's the knives with the thick spines that led me to ask this question, I especially struggle with the blade geometry of the mass-produced "German steel" style of blade: the zellig Henckles and Wustoffs especially--if you have any advice about sharpening these, I would love to hear it! They're so tricky because they're so thick in the spine, I find myself putting lower angles on them than I would any other knife. Thanks for replying, I love your channel, it has taught me so much! 🌸
when should you remove the burr? When you finished the first side and you created a burr or is the first burr removed automatically with sharpening the second side? Thanks for your videos you are great guys
You remove the burr once you're done with both sides! And yes, the first burr doesn't need to be removed since you're immediately making one on the opposite side.
Awesome video. My freehand sharpening has improved, but I still can't figure out the strop. Do I load it with a compound or just leave straight leather and do you stick with the same angle? Or can I just strop on my stones. Cheers great video
Hey! I like to load the suede side with compound, since you want it to really grab that burr, but it's more helpful than vital. I use the smooth leather side as more of a total finishing step. You strop at the same angle you sharpen at, and you can also strop on your stones before moving to leather for a faster sharpen!
@@KnifewearKnives awesome thank you for the response!!!! And advise. Great channel I always look forward to what you guys are putting out there. Cheers from CA.
@@KnifewearKnives This is helpful! So suede for compound and bare smooth leather for finishing touches? I use bare leather to strop my knives before/after meal prep, just to straighten the edge.
@@jiahaotan696 Yep! I've seen people put compound on the leather side but don't see much point in doing that, to be honest. And bare leather works great for straightening! Sometimes a bit of a burr forms as knives dull out, and compound can help pull that off too.
@@KnifewearKnives thanks for the fast reply. I noticed my aogami super Shiro Kamo always forms a toothy edge AFTER use, but it is probably unrelated to burr formation(?)
The biggest problem I've had with sharpening was instructions not being specific or getting into details. No one told me how long to soak the stones until you. A travesty of communication.
Do you have any tips for a beginner trying to sharpen a couple of non-chef knives? I have a paring knife and a meat cleaver (both German) but I can't seem to improve the sharpness of either. It's hard for me to raise a burr on either one, so I'm guessing the angle is not right (obviously the nickel method won't work too well on the paring knife).
The nickel method is definitely not so handy for paring knives! The first step would be to take a close look at the edge of the knife, and compare it to knives you've sharpened successfully. The thickness of the "blade road", the part you're grinding, should be similar on knives sharpened at the same angle. For the cleaver, it may just require more work on the stone given the thicker blade, or a higher angle.
@@KnifewearKnives Thanks for the reply. I ended up using the "Sharpie method" which helped me produce a better result on the paring knife. The challenge with that one may be due to its edge not being 100% straight, there's a curve to it (designed for paring, obviously). Also I'm a total noob at this. I'm finding it harder to gauge the angle on the cleaver since it's a very thick blade, and the blade edge transitions from a rounded profile to a sharp one in a pretty gradual way. In other words, it's hard to tell where the blade road begins. One of the reasons I'm trying to sharpen these two is that I want to practice before attempting anything with my nice/ultra-thin Japanese knives. So to that end I think I'll buy a cheap Santoku knife to experiment on...
I have a question. When sharpening your knifes and let’s say you have multiple stones going from 200 grit to 16000 grit. Is it necessary to sharpen on each grit you have or what?
Not at all! I find going from 200, to 1000, then 4,000 8,000, 16,000 works well. Some folks like more steps, especially between 200 and 1000, but it's not essential. I wouldn't make larger jumps than that, as it can be difficult to polish scratches from a coarse stone on a very fine stone.
It would be nice if you'd show the sharpening process under a USB microscope at 200X magnification - so that we could see the bevel, the scratch marks, the burr, and the removal. That way we could see what's going on, which is why microscopes were invented. All you have to do is take photographs. USB scopes come with built in photo and video software, fully compatible with Windows 10.
Infinite resources sure would be fun! In the meantime, here's one of my favorite sites that does something similar. This dude uses an electron microscope and compares tons of products in depth, so hopefully this scratches that itch for you: scienceofsharp.com/
Keeping a consistent angle is definitely giving me the most problems. Especially at the base and tip of the knife.
Inconsistent angle was the hardest for me to overcome and eliminate a scooping motion. I found going slow, picking up the knife off the stone on the edge leading strokes, and occasionally reaffirming my angle using a Wedgek angle guide helped until I had built up enough muscle memory.
That's perfect! We use a trick with stacking dimes to find that angle, but once you've got the muscle memory, you're golden.
I personally think this is the hardest for many (including myself) as well! You really need to know what you're doing with the knife. The second hardest is getting a very nice edge with a sharp apex and no burr through whatever method.
Unlearning how my dad taught me to sharpen was my biggest obstacle
Having an inconsistent angle is fine, as long as you don't go over a certain point.
A knife sharpened at 15 degrees per side will be out cut by a knife sharpened at 8 to 15 degrees per side. The latter will just take longer, because all strokes at less than 15 degrees won't be making contact with the apex.
Also, if you're good, you can sharpen a knife without forming a burr. Extremely difficult, but this should always be the goal, as it keeps burrs minimalized.
Thank you for the informative video! I'm curious, you mentioned the different edge angles for each type of steel, is spine thickness of the blade also a determining factor for the edge angles? And if so, are you taking both the type of steel and the spine thickness into consideration before you set your edge? Thank you again! 💜🌸
Good question! It mostly comes down to the steel type and manufacture. Generally I don't worry about the spine thickness, unless it's super thick.
@@KnifewearKnives honestly it's the knives with the thick spines that led me to ask this question, I especially struggle with the blade geometry of the mass-produced "German steel" style of blade: the zellig Henckles and Wustoffs especially--if you have any advice about sharpening these, I would love to hear it! They're so tricky because they're so thick in the spine, I find myself putting lower angles on them than I would any other knife.
Thanks for replying, I love your channel, it has taught me so much! 🌸
when should you remove the burr? When you finished the first side and you created a burr or is the first burr removed automatically with sharpening the second side? Thanks for your videos you are great guys
You remove the burr once you're done with both sides! And yes, the first burr doesn't need to be removed since you're immediately making one on the opposite side.
Awesome video. My freehand sharpening has improved, but I still can't figure out the strop. Do I load it with a compound or just leave straight leather and do you stick with the same angle? Or can I just strop on my stones. Cheers great video
Hey! I like to load the suede side with compound, since you want it to really grab that burr, but it's more helpful than vital. I use the smooth leather side as more of a total finishing step. You strop at the same angle you sharpen at, and you can also strop on your stones before moving to leather for a faster sharpen!
@@KnifewearKnives awesome thank you for the response!!!! And advise. Great channel I always look forward to what you guys are putting out there. Cheers from CA.
@@KnifewearKnives This is helpful! So suede for compound and bare smooth leather for finishing touches?
I use bare leather to strop my knives before/after meal prep, just to straighten the edge.
@@jiahaotan696 Yep! I've seen people put compound on the leather side but don't see much point in doing that, to be honest. And bare leather works great for straightening! Sometimes a bit of a burr forms as knives dull out, and compound can help pull that off too.
@@KnifewearKnives thanks for the fast reply. I noticed my aogami super Shiro Kamo always forms a toothy edge AFTER use, but it is probably unrelated to burr formation(?)
zen & the art of the angle, stay withthe zen & your angle will appear
The biggest problem I've had with sharpening was instructions not being specific or getting into details. No one told me how long to soak the stones until you. A travesty of communication.
I want to be like Naoto when I grow up.
Do you have any tips for a beginner trying to sharpen a couple of non-chef knives? I have a paring knife and a meat cleaver (both German) but I can't seem to improve the sharpness of either. It's hard for me to raise a burr on either one, so I'm guessing the angle is not right (obviously the nickel method won't work too well on the paring knife).
The nickel method is definitely not so handy for paring knives! The first step would be to take a close look at the edge of the knife, and compare it to knives you've sharpened successfully. The thickness of the "blade road", the part you're grinding, should be similar on knives sharpened at the same angle. For the cleaver, it may just require more work on the stone given the thicker blade, or a higher angle.
@@KnifewearKnives Thanks for the reply. I ended up using the "Sharpie method" which helped me produce a better result on the paring knife. The challenge with that one may be due to its edge not being 100% straight, there's a curve to it (designed for paring, obviously). Also I'm a total noob at this.
I'm finding it harder to gauge the angle on the cleaver since it's a very thick blade, and the blade edge transitions from a rounded profile to a sharp one in a pretty gradual way. In other words, it's hard to tell where the blade road begins.
One of the reasons I'm trying to sharpen these two is that I want to practice before attempting anything with my nice/ultra-thin Japanese knives. So to that end I think I'll buy a cheap Santoku knife to experiment on...
I have a question. When sharpening your knifes and let’s say you have multiple stones going from 200 grit to 16000 grit. Is it necessary to sharpen on each grit you have or what?
Not at all! I find going from 200, to 1000, then 4,000 8,000, 16,000 works well. Some folks like more steps, especially between 200 and 1000, but it's not essential. I wouldn't make larger jumps than that, as it can be difficult to polish scratches from a coarse stone on a very fine stone.
For many years I never soaked my wet stones, that is 1967 - 2024. Thank you
Glad I could help!
Sharpening is more fun than cooking
I'm getting a burr on a kinda steep angle. Is that right ?
Yeah, but make sure your angle isn't too steep so you don't get too thick of an edge!
Not using the whole stone is the mistake I have been guilty off.
I fucking love this guy.
Your awesome dude.
Quality diamond stones will solve at least three of these mistakes.
Dont need water or oil, wont dish, or really wear unevenly.
4,5 and 8
Siracha bottle of water 😆👍
Ok please show us how to "true your stone".
Ask and you shall receive!
th-cam.com/video/1plZtOFPuCE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=DhhRWRET5V6_T_Vg
It would be nice if you'd show the sharpening process under a USB microscope at 200X magnification - so that we could see the bevel, the scratch marks, the burr, and the removal. That way we could see what's going on, which is why microscopes were invented. All you have to do is take photographs. USB scopes come with built in photo and video software, fully compatible with Windows 10.
Infinite resources sure would be fun! In the meantime, here's one of my favorite sites that does something similar. This dude uses an electron microscope and compares tons of products in depth, so hopefully this scratches that itch for you: scienceofsharp.com/
SORRI ?