"My name is Ken ******** and I'm going to show you the traditional way to sharpen a Japanese knife with this Target brand knife on a belt grinder..."
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What he doesn't get, or address, is that it's not about making a choice to either grind more (from one side or the other) or change angles (on one side or the other) - it's about doing what the specific knife's edge requires (which might be a combination of both or whatever method) needed for each side (edge) to stay in relation to the blade's asymmetric shape.
Wow, Kens voice is really annoying. I've never used a Burr-King, but do you really have the belt cut towards the knifes edge? Seems like it could grab the edge if you grind at too high of an angle, and shoot the blade at your body.
Amazing people even take the time to make videos like these.
I read this this morning, I know it's not a j knife, but I have a 40 year old beater dexter that I resharpened to 80/20. Curious to see what this does for the knife.
Last edited by Slypig5000; 02-27-2013 at 06:39 PM. Reason: Spelling
Hey Dave. I know I'm late to this thread but I wanted to let you know that it shed some light on a few things for me. When I started sharpening I would hold my angles the same on both the right and left side and just as you describe I saw less bevel on the left side vs the right. I started adjusting my left side angle lower (or right side higher) till I had about the same amount of bevel on each side. I never really questioned what was behind it but I felt it was of importance. Thanks for taking the time to explain it!!
Sp lets see if I finally have this....
Using the example diagram of an asymmetric flat grind with an asymmetric 70/30 bevel on a right handed knife , to achieve a 30 ฐ included angle , the angles would be:
Left side of blade 70 X 30ฐ= 21ฐ
Right side of blade 30 X 30ฐ= 9 ฐ
Am I off on this?
Thanks in advance
Douglas
IMO it's a mistake to apply math, or to make a set rules to follow, when sharpening these knives. I feel that you'll be best served by following the asymmetry of the blade when sharpening vs using angle measurements.
If you're just trying to understand the principle, then you're warm.![]()
Well what I mean is that you're part of the way there, what you're missing is that we're talking about approximates with hand made knives so there's no rules that apply hence you're not going to do well if you try to figure out an exact ratio and then use math to sharpen to specific angles. You are getting the rough idea of it all correct though.
Thanks for the reponse.
I have sharpened 2 asymmetrical knives to equal angles on both sides and would like to get them back to what it was designed.
While math might not be the exact answer at least it will put me back in the ballpark.
Thank you for the info.
Douglas