Notaskinnychef
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way more flex than i expected to see
Dt itk vs Rodrigue mid tech
- Thread starter K-Fed
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K-Fed
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As far as angles go I usually start with the "default" of around 15 a side and go from there. So far I've sharpened an ever so slight left hand bias into the bevels, probably 60/40ish, and it has held it pretty well so for so next sharpening go round I may make the angles lower but from what I could gather myself this knife is pretty close to a 50/50 grind so I don't think i'll make them too much more asymetrical.
skiajl6297
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I really like this Pierre mid-tech knife. Thin, light, stainless, gets very sharp (with my limited sharpening abilities). So far the bulk of the work has been home mise en place, limited to pretty basic stuff - and the knife has handled all things well. The only limited complaint is that there is a considerable amount of sticktion when julienning onions given the thin profile (my onions were walking up the side of the blade to the point where the stacks were hitting the board before the blade) if that makes any sense. Dicing and fine tip work are a breeze and strong suits of the knife. Slicing cooked meats also simple and quick.
As mentioned above, I developed minor patina from cutting hot chicken thighs - but it was easily polished out with BKF and looks like new now. On my Gesshin 4k stone, was pretty quick cutting, took longer to raise a burr than my Dexter carbon practice knife, but no shocker there. Left a good bit of swarf on the stone which required more frequent dousings to cut cleanly. Deburring on cork worked well and the knife ended up pretty darned sharp. Still learning to get a good burr without taking too much metal - so am still taking it slowly. Struggling with wavy angles bigtime. Need to stay slow. But in sum, sharpened up nicely and cuts really well. Waiting on my strop from Marko, and will give it some runs with 1 micron diamond paste to further refine. Very excited to see what this can do.
Long way of saying this knife is gorgeous, functional, stainless, and has the fit and finish of a custom knife, with the customer service of Pierre. All in all, well worth the money so far. Glad to answer any questions as well - and sympathies to poor K-Fed - his knife had a tumble. Also thanks to K-Fed for letting me add my two cents to his thread.
As mentioned above, I developed minor patina from cutting hot chicken thighs - but it was easily polished out with BKF and looks like new now. On my Gesshin 4k stone, was pretty quick cutting, took longer to raise a burr than my Dexter carbon practice knife, but no shocker there. Left a good bit of swarf on the stone which required more frequent dousings to cut cleanly. Deburring on cork worked well and the knife ended up pretty darned sharp. Still learning to get a good burr without taking too much metal - so am still taking it slowly. Struggling with wavy angles bigtime. Need to stay slow. But in sum, sharpened up nicely and cuts really well. Waiting on my strop from Marko, and will give it some runs with 1 micron diamond paste to further refine. Very excited to see what this can do.
Long way of saying this knife is gorgeous, functional, stainless, and has the fit and finish of a custom knife, with the customer service of Pierre. All in all, well worth the money so far. Glad to answer any questions as well - and sympathies to poor K-Fed - his knife had a tumble. Also thanks to K-Fed for letting me add my two cents to his thread.
today was my first day with the itk, instant joy using it. it's a wonderful cutter. has a bit of heft so definitely work horse material. has a better profile in actual use than from looking at it, lots of flat area despite a slightly high nose. suppose because of its length (270) the tip rides higher to counter the natural arm movement. is it just me, or does the 'on board' feel feel a bit soft (but very smooth and refined)? is it what all aeb feels like (due to small carbides?)? takayuki grand cheff feels soft in use as well.
K-Fed
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Iirc the Takayuki is on the softer side at ~58 hrc and devin shoots for ~ 62.5. That being said aebl, devin's especially, reminds me of blue super both in use and on the stones. Pretty amazing stuff with dt's heat treat. I'd bet most people would be hard pressed to tell the difference between a good carbon blade and dt's aebl if they didn't already know better.
update on itk use. been using for prep work, blows right through foods so well that it actually makes doing bulk prep rather fun. this arrived with a mild lefty bias. i've never tried such a thing being right handed and all, so didn't know what to expect. safe to say it doesn't effect me what so ever.
Originally Posted by skiajl6297
Question for Lefty and K-Fed - this is my first brand new knife! I have never sharpened a new knife for the first time. (I have been practicing on numerous knives, carbon, pm, and have the basics down, but would appreciate any guidance or feedback you might have on sharpening this guy.)
Any suggestions on how to attack the mid tech from an angle/assymetry standpoint? I was struggling to understand the grind last night (with rulers) and trying to focus my eyes on the bevels (knife so thin hard to focus!) and just was having a tough time seeing any variance from 50/50 bevels.
Any insight (or suggested angles of attack) from your sharpenings?
I am hoping to spend more time this weekend with the knife and will report back here with impressions.
As far as angles go I usually start with the "default" of around 15 a side and go from there. So far I've sharpened an ever so slight left hand bias into the bevels, probably 60/40ish, and it has held it pretty well so for so next sharpening go round I may make the angles lower but from what I could gather myself this knife is pretty close to a 50/50 grind so I don't think i'll make them too much more asymetrical. ( Quote)
Angle of attack. Kfed is right.
My approach wld be an angle that the edge is touching the surface of the stone.
a) Firstly, I wld place the blade flat on the stone. You shld be able to see or better still feel that the edge is not touching the surface of the stone. On 70/30 grinds you can use the secondary bevel level to feel for the height required( hence angle). Then I wld raise accordingly till the edge is touching the stone to address the sharpening on the edge IF you need to thin behind the edge drop the angle so slightly that the edge is just not touching the stone. Use your eyes if the angle is too minute, the finger touching the stone/ edge area will tell you whether there is a gap. With no gap, the edge is touching the stone
b) If the blade is a thin laser like and the gap is so minute that it si difficult to feel or touch, then generally starting at lower angle around 10 degrees as a guide and then work on the final angle ( slightly higher say 15 egrees) whld be enough to sharpen the knife.
c)) on worn out knives, you will need a lower angle to thin the secondary edge and then work on the primary angle. I always sharpen at 2 angles a) secondary b)primary as this way,I will not be confronted with alot of steel removal in future for if you only sharpen say at 15 degrees all teh time, over a few sessions, teh edge will get thicker and thicker as it recedes upwards. Even in my steeling I apply this so that I will not be confronted with alot of steel removal at one go!
d) IF the sharpening is done by free hand, you wld be extremely lucky that it is 50:50 grind. A righty sharpener will have a right side biased sharpening as the way the knife is held and the pressure applied; unless when the knife is turned over for sharpening, this natural tendency is compensated.
have fun.
D
skiajl6297
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Zitangy - thanks for the added insight! With my limited experience I was able to get this thing ridiculously sharp, and it will only get more refined with proper stropping.
Maybe midtech isn't the right term - if this is the standard for the middle of the road tech, you can bet this isn't the only Pierre knife I will own.
Maybe midtech isn't the right term - if this is the standard for the middle of the road tech, you can bet this isn't the only Pierre knife I will own.
you are welcome. Once you understand what you need to do, apply whatever methods you have that works for you.. you are all set! initially, you may have to spend a few minutes evaluating what to do.
a) IF you are unsure, if after a few honing strokes, there is a reasonable edge when you cut paper, not much steel removal required. IF still blunt.. time for more serious steel removal.
b) over time, by just touching'feeling the edge.. you will know how much steel to remove adn the appropriate stone to start adn the feedback will tell you to reduce pressure/ lighten your strokes ; when to change stone to a finer grit adn before that..to remove the burr before the next level.
c) Practice makes perfect... touch everyone's knife edge but not their dicks and evaluate the sharpness .. as quoted by someone in their tag line.. You will definitely get there. When things do not work out... go back to teh basics adn start from there adn figure a better plan as your initial plan didn't work out.
Have fun and stay sharp.... and hv a nice week-end.
D
