Basic sharpening

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Nick112

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hi am curious how you do your basic sharpening, in this case f.e aogami super gyuto that is semi dull, if I start on a 1k stone, i do f.e 20 strokes with quite some pressure, at the heel ony and feel for burr, feel a little burr and want more burr so I go 10 more strokes, feel for burr. Now there is strong burr. Then I continue up the blade appr the same amount of strokes on each section and feel for burr. Once strong burr is achieved along the whole of the blade I flip the knive. Do like 15 strokes at the heel only with slightly less pressure than the first side, I go on till I removed the burr, often it ends up 75-80% of the strokes of the first side, I move up the blade and repeat. Is it important to build up burr on that side to?

Then I flip back to the first side, with much less pressure I do like 1/3 of the strokes at each section, so in this example 10, do I need to create tiny amount of burr this time to?
flip the knife and use the same low amout of pressure do like 10 strokes at each section for burr removal. Should I aim to create a tiny burr now?

Sometimes I repeat a third round with very little pressure, otherwise I move on to the 3k stone.

Please let me knoe how I can improve this first steps.

Thanks
 
Yours sounds like a good technique. I suggest, though, that you watch the Japanese Knife Imports sharpening series on YouTube. It's a great wealth of information on beginning sharpening.
 
Thanks. For the very first sharpening of the first side, I try to create strong burr, is that needed? Or is it enough with light burr on the 1k stone for a semi dull knife?

Also do I need to create burr (and how strong burr) after each round/ flip of the knife on the 1k stone? I.e do I only need burr on the very first side, or on both of the sides of the first round of sharpening.
Thanks
 
Also do I need to create burr (and how strong burr) after each round/ flip of the knife on the 1k stone? I.e do I only need burr on the very first side, or on both of the sides of the first round of sharpening.
Form the burr on one side. Once you have the burr running all the way from heel to tip, flip the knife over and sharpen until you get a burr on the opposite side. Thereafter, it's all about burr removal.

Check out Peter Nowlan's videos at knifeplanet.com for some good instructions.
 
Thanks Michi for taling your time to answer. What are the consequences if I happen to get burr after those to initial sides?

Also how strong do I need the burr to be, what are the pros/cons of creating strong or tiny burr on the first initial round?
 
What are the consequences if I happen to get burr after those to initial sides?

Also how strong do I need the burr to be, what are the pros/cons of creating strong or tiny burr on the first initial round?
If you keep getting a burr after the the first two sides, it's an indication that you are using too much pressure and removing more metal than necessary. Also, while there is a burr on the edge, the knife won't cut well.

You use firm pressure only for the first two passes, to establish a burr on each side. After that, it's much lighter pressure for removing the burr. You don't need a massive burr. If you can feel the burr with your fingertips, that's enough.
 
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Just a quick reminder that sharpening is simply removing metal from the sides of the blade until the edge forms a clean apex. The burr is just a way to tell if you've removed enough metal to reach the edge. If you could actually tell by extra sensory perception instead of feeling for the burr, that would be preferable as it removes and wastes the least amount of metal.

Check out this cartoon below:
7jqZegOh.jpg


You don't need a big burr, you just need to make sure you have it consistently along the entire edge on the first side. Then when you flip the knife, you need to make sure you have it all along the second side too because that's the only way you'll know if you removed enough metal from that side as well.

That will usually leave you at the third image in the cartoon, the wire edge. This is fragile and won't last as a sharp edge. When you reduce pressure on subsequent passes, you're trying to remove the burr without regenerating it as large as previously. Because it's weak, you don't need as much pressure, plus too much pressure just reforms the burr.

Your goal is to reach the forth image with a clean apex, no burr. Some people like to pull the edge through a cork or hard felt block to deburr and/or strop on material like leather, balsa wood, newspaper as the final step.

Note also that your gyuto should be extremely sharp off a 1k stone. The 3k is merely refining, but many people are entirely happy with the best edge off 1k when it comes to a gyuto or general purpose chefs knife especially for some types of stainless steel.
 
Milkbaby and others. Thanks for answering in the thread. As a last step pull the edge on a cork or on tree, I cant see how that is a good thing, is it or not?
Better stropping on unloaded leather?
 
Milkbaby and others. Thanks for answering in the thread. As a last step pull the edge on a cork or on tree, I cant see how that is a good thing, is it or not?
Better stropping on unloaded leather?

Pull through cork/wood/felt/whatever, then go back to the stone, using very light pressure, to refine the Apex.
 
Also, keep in mind there are TONS of pages/threads about sharpening here.
The "search" button is your friend. It's definitely worth a dive in to read a lot of the older threads.
 
Also, keep in mind there are TONS of pages/threads about sharpening here.
The "search" button is your friend. It's definitely worth a dive in to read a lot of the older threads.
Yep heaps of threads about sharpening and deburring.

Here is a recent examle:

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/index.php?threads/41570/

But it is only one of many.

If KKF's search function doesn't help, use a search engine such as Google.
 
As long as your burr is even, and you are at the correct angle, a light burr should be fine. Otherwise you are just wasting steel on your blade. After getting a burr going section by section like you are, I would do a few full strokes or longer section strokes to make sure that the edge is even. Then flip over, repeat, deburr, and move onto the next stone. you can go back and forth a couple times with lighter pressure as well if you want. Can be useful if your next stone is a huge jump in grit
 
As long as your burr is even, and you are at the correct angle, a light burr should be fine. Otherwise you are just wasting steel on your blade. After getting a burr going section by section like you are, I would do a few full strokes or longer section strokes to make sure that the edge is even. Then flip over, repeat, deburr, and move onto the next stone. you can go back and forth a couple times with lighter pressure as well if you want. Can be useful if your next stone is a huge jump in grit
I wouldn't leave a stone and go to the next, finer one before I can't reduce the burr any further and it only flips.
 
I wouldn't leave a stone and go to the next, finer one before I can't reduce the burr any further and it only flips.
Yeah for sure, my deburring process is to flip it over a few times using full strokes to flip the burr and even out the edge, then pull horizontally on the stone to deburr, then clean up on felt.
 
Key to it all is consistency. You don't need any specific amount of burr - but it should be consistent across the knife. When it is, you're done. You don't need to sharpen at a specific or absolute angle - but your angle should be consistent. You definitely don't need a specific number of strokes, but be consistent and do enough to get it done.
 
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