noob sharpening question

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Stumblinman

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I just sharpened my knife (50/50) and it shaves one way but not the other. Is that a tell tale sign of improper technique ? I don't feel a burr.
Thanks
 
By "one way" do you mean direction or side of the knife? Generally IME, it's a little easier to shave arm hair with the grain (elbow --> wrist) than against, so I wouldn't be surprised if you could shave with the grain but not against. The knife needs to be sharper to shave against. If you are talking about the right side of your knife versus the left, that's would most likely have to be your shaving technique.
 
Try slicing into a piece of paper, you won't always feel a burr wih yr fingers. If the knife drags one way or another, you may have a small burr remaining.

Also, you say 'one way not the other' it will be easier to shave against the grain of the hair, have you tried flipping the knife and shaving in the same direction?

The real test though is what is it like at cutting food? How will does the edge hold up? You can always buy more onions,but arm hair takes ages to grow back ;)
 
thanks ! I actually tried to do it again and I think maybe one side was still wet from the stones. I was going against both times and I guess one side was a little wet so it slid. I was just about to video went both ways cut hair and I look funny with one arm shaved. :D Paper is good with a push, I guess it must have been the water and got me a little concerned. Thanks for the responses !
 
Glad to hear you got it sorted out. Of course cutting product is the only true test, but other than that my litmus test is cutting paper with a push cut, no slicing forward or backward. I like to check like that up and down the knife, and I also like to do a full length slicing cut to check for any burrs or nicks anywhere on the blade.
 
Being softer and more fibrous i find Paper towels or TP more revealing than paper. It will leave fibres in any burr remaining making them stand out
 
well didn't try the fibrous but found out, yeah, it was the burr holding me up. Obvious now that I think about it. I was doing the cork burr deal but found that if it isn't a hair burr or ahhhh wire burr it didn't take it off immediately. I guess the burr will be my nemesys for a bit while I find out how to get rid of it other then stropping motion on an old steel 'steel'. All is good right now cause I have the sharpest edge in the restaurant and I am to keep it that way.
 
Being softer and more fibrous i find Paper towels or TP more revealing than paper. It will leave fibres in any burr remaining making them stand out

i noticed this with bob kramer as well.

well didn't try the fibrous but found out, yeah, it was the burr holding me up. Obvious now that I think about it. I was doing the cork burr deal but found that if it isn't a hair burr or ahhhh wire burr it didn't take it off immediately. I guess the burr will be my nemesys for a bit while I find out how to get rid of it other then stropping motion on an old steel 'steel'. All is good right now cause I have the sharpest edge in the restaurant and I am to keep it that way.

congratulations!
 
murray carter deburs and strops with newspaper. i kinda do that.
 
i'll try that out thanks.

i strop with a sheet of news paper folded 2 or 3 times dry to deburr and strop.
 
Another NOOB SHAROPENING Q - I thought best put here rather than starting a new thread...

The #240 side of my combi stone is almost worn away [the #1000 side is good for a while yet.]

When I replace this, would a #400 stone be more/just as useful? Bear in mind I would need this to sharpen dull old knives belonging to friends as well as any of my own nice knives, so I need something that will still quickly cut through metal....
 
Somethinf along the lines of a 150-240 for quickly grinding away metal then 400 for setting the bevel. But that's just me. Less work that way, less need to use up one or two stones and give more life to other stones as well.

Eventually you'll find out on your own what works best for you
 
Another NOOB SHAROPENING Q - I thought best put here rather than starting a new thread...

The #240 side of my combi stone is almost worn away [the #1000 side is good for a while yet.]

When I replace this, would a #400 stone be more/just as useful? Bear in mind I would need this to sharpen dull old knives belonging to friends as well as any of my own nice knives, so I need something that will still quickly cut through metal....

Gesshin 400, Beston 500 or Choosera 400 are the usual low grit recommendations. With good reason too. Each of them have some really strong points. No real reason to go lower unless you have a ton of steel to remove quickly.
 
I just sharpened my knife (50/50) and it shaves one way but not the other. Is that a tell tale sign of improper technique ? I don't feel a burr.
Thanks

I'm surprised no one has asked or maybe I missed it but what knife are you sharpening?
 
It was a Shun classic 8" chef's. I think what was happening was the burr or wire edge was flopping and with some newspaper stropping all was well. I've since moved onto a new knife and will have new questions, like why do some knives get stained gray from the grit and is there any problem with straightening a hollow bevel ?
 
I don't know what a grey stain is. What stone and what knife are you talking about. Maybe some pictures will help. As for flattening a hollow bevel, what do you mean straightening? Fattening? What knife is this as well?
 
Gesshin 400, Beston 500 or Choosera 400 are the usual low grit recommendations. With good reason too. Each of them have some really strong points. No real reason to go lower unless you have a ton of steel to remove quickly.

Thanks ThEoRy, I will look out for one of those.
 
why do some knives get stained gray from the grit?

Not totally sure but are you talking about mud from the stones getting stuck in the cladding? Some knives have cladding so soft you can pretty much scratch it with your fingernail. I have noticed this a few times, most noticeably when thinning a Tojiro DP
 
I meant to ask about this too. I've thinned my Tojiro DP paring knife a bit with a Bester 1200 and now the sides are a matte grey; it does seem like stone mud stuck in the cladding. Is there anything I could do to fix it?
 
Sorry that was a quick post by me. I'm still figuring out how to take really good pictures. I swear I'll have to set up a mini studio to get the lighting right. :) I'm working with a Moritaka 210 Blue Gyuto. I know all about the knife maker/purveyor/history and don't want to go into that in this thread please. What I found out when thinning was the bevel is actually slightly concave for lack of better words. I'm using a King 1000/6000 combo right now. It's not hitting the full bevel and only hitting top and bottom (edge) and in the middle (looking horizontal) it's not hitting and the original grind marks are still there. Aahhhh I know not easy to understand in words. working on pics.
 
all i've learned about taking photos are setting my camera on auto and using natural light. lol.

concave? so it's hollow ground?
 
IMG_7500_zpsecec1ce5.jpg



Pretty much where the grey is it doesn't touch the stone. You can see some left to right marks that came from the factory. When I hit it with the 1000 the whole bevel is gray and then the 6K brightens it up. Sorry it's a crap pic and after a couple services.
 
That's just the secondary bevel and while yes it does have some grind issues it can theoretically be flattened. The question is are you sharpening the primary bevel or just laying the wide bevel flat on the stone?
 
so what i'm seeing here is that knife used to have a kurouchi finish and you took it off? what knife is that?
 
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