How sharp is sharp enough?

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holdmyphone

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Until recently I've always sharpened my knives on a king kds 1000/6000 combo stone, but I picked up an old razor hone which interestingly gives a less polished edge than the 6k, maybe 4-5k range and I'm liking it. Still great cutting performance with a little more durability and a little more tooth to get through those waxy tomato skins.

I'm probably on the more pragmatic side of things, but I know there are some people out there trying to get ultimate performance and sharpen up to 8k, 10k+ grit for kitchen knives... Of course it also depends on the task and type of knife. I'm curious, how high do you guys go?
 
It depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you are sharpening to get practical results, 4k is enough; if sharpening for fun, i like to push it to ohira renge suita/ohira karasu/ao renge suita to finish hard carbon.
 
Practically speaking I too like to be in the 1-3k range for stainless and 3-5k range for carbon. I use mostly naturals now and which depends on how I am feeling. Practically speaking I could stop at Aizu every time but I normally don't.
 
Depends on steel and style; a cleaver in 1141 goes up to 2k, whereas an usuba in shiro1 goes usually to 10k, or further if I feel I can tell the difference. I've seen far too many cooks ruin a nice stone (and edge) by trying to sharp a steel beyond what it can hold or they can achieve
 
Depends on the type of prep I'm doing, I have dedicated knives

Mincing Scallions - 8-10k (White #2 santoku)
General Mirepoix/Tomatoes - 3-5k (various carbon gyuto)
Trimming and Deboning Meats - 2-3k (carbon petties)

I actually the King 1k/6k is a great stone IF your entire arsenal is carbon, it's garbage on most stainless, but respectable on carbon steels. 1k side for meats and 6k for fish and veg, the 6k edge in particular is fantastic.
 
Gesshin Synthetic Natural gives a great edge for general kitchen use. Once we move to natural stones Ohira Suita gives great edge with a lot of bite. Ohira Asagi will make your knife feel like a razor - but still have enough bite. I would stop there :)
 
Gesshin Synthetic Natural gives a great edge for general kitchen use. Once we move to natural stones Ohira Suita gives great edge with a lot of bite. Ohira Asagi will make your knife feel like a razor - but still have enough bite. I would stop there :)

I really like my Ohira Asagi too. It removes metal quickly, leaves a fine edge with just enough bite. I have not pulled the trigger on an Ohira Suita, though.
 
It depends, usually I need a super sharp edge to make sashimi.
 
I sharpen until it is fragile and easily dulled so I don't need to wait long for another chance to sharpen.
 
Interesting... A lot more people using lower grit finish than I expected, for a knife forum anyways :)
 
I never thought about using different grits for different blades and different steels, makes sense .
 
I sharpen until it is fragile and easily dulled so I don't need to wait long for another chance to sharpen.

I guess that would be fun to do if I didnt use my knives professionally. But id rather not sharpen all my knives once a week.
 
I guess that would be fun to do if I didnt use my knives professionally. But id rather not sharpen all my knives once a week.

I can understand that, for sure. I love to sharpen everyday, though, but I have knives specifically dedicated to that task. Not so into chewing up my preferred stock.
 
I keep double beveled knives, deba, honesuki and usuba at 5k. Yanagiba and takobiki I go up to 12k. Different edges for different blades/tasks.
 
Depends on what you're doing. For me all my knives are microbeveled, and all on high-grit stones, regardless of steel. For board work I just use a steeper microbevel. Knives for in-hand cutting stay relatively shallow, even Krupp/4116. All microbevels are put in with stropping strokes.
 
Depends on what you're doing. For me all my knives are microbeveled, and all on high-grit stones, regardless of steel. For board work I just use a steeper microbevel. Knives for in-hand cutting stay relatively shallow, even Krupp/4116. All microbevels are put in with stropping strokes.

I am glad to see that I am not the only one who does this, micro with a stropping stroke.
 
What would you say is the advantage of microbevels? Preventing chipping? That's really all I've heard people use them for.
 
Yah basically, a thin edge that is still pretty keen and stays that way lots longer and, less prone to chipping.
 
A good discussion of keen vs sharp
in terms of edge geometry
was written by that guy who did the electron microscopy
 
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