@ModRQC in another thread said German knives are good for sharpening practice, so I took that as my cue for today’s practice session. For reference I had been using an electric knife sharpener on my Wusthofs for about 20 years (Chef’s Choice brand). The sharpener actually works pretty well and hasn’t removed a significant amount of metal, and gets knives sharp enough to cut paper albeit with a coarse feel. Also I got tired of using a loupe, so I got myself a freestanding magnifying glass. Big magnifying glass = photo-op.
Probably goes without saying, but I consider myself a total noob. Here’s the Wusthof’s edge from the electric sharpener; it’s CrMoV steel.
I thought I might need to use my shapton glass SG500, but decided to start with the SG1000. Below is a pic after just a few minutes on the 1k with hardly any pressure, it’s crazy how much smoother it got with very little effort. Sharpening was super fast compared to my old VG10 Shun. Not that the Shun is a PITA, but it does take quite a bit longer than the soft CrMoV. As a beginner I’m pretty happy that I nailed the bevel right off the bat, although on closer inspection I was a little less than perfect on the initial curve of the belly and there’s a little wave or two from the electric sharpener that I didn’t get out.
Based on advice from this forum I stopped there, stropped it, and called it a day. It’s reasonably smooth through paper now.
For comparison, here’s my Shun after the 4k shapton glass. It’s hard to tell from the image but it’s visibly smoother than the 1k. You can also see some stubborn red sharpie that refuses to come out! The 4k edge on the Shun is noticeably smoother through paper than the 1k edge on the Wusthof.
Seeing the edges through the magnifying glass is pretty cool, although probably a 1-trick pony. Next up I need to take a close look at my Shiro Kamo which I’ve only lightly touched with the 4k stone since I got it last month. It’s always both enlightening and frustrating to look up close and see “smooth, smooth, dammit missed a spot, smooth, smooth”. Seems like I always have a bit of trouble with the curve of the belly.
Probably goes without saying, but I consider myself a total noob. Here’s the Wusthof’s edge from the electric sharpener; it’s CrMoV steel.
I thought I might need to use my shapton glass SG500, but decided to start with the SG1000. Below is a pic after just a few minutes on the 1k with hardly any pressure, it’s crazy how much smoother it got with very little effort. Sharpening was super fast compared to my old VG10 Shun. Not that the Shun is a PITA, but it does take quite a bit longer than the soft CrMoV. As a beginner I’m pretty happy that I nailed the bevel right off the bat, although on closer inspection I was a little less than perfect on the initial curve of the belly and there’s a little wave or two from the electric sharpener that I didn’t get out.
Based on advice from this forum I stopped there, stropped it, and called it a day. It’s reasonably smooth through paper now.
For comparison, here’s my Shun after the 4k shapton glass. It’s hard to tell from the image but it’s visibly smoother than the 1k. You can also see some stubborn red sharpie that refuses to come out! The 4k edge on the Shun is noticeably smoother through paper than the 1k edge on the Wusthof.
Seeing the edges through the magnifying glass is pretty cool, although probably a 1-trick pony. Next up I need to take a close look at my Shiro Kamo which I’ve only lightly touched with the 4k stone since I got it last month. It’s always both enlightening and frustrating to look up close and see “smooth, smooth, dammit missed a spot, smooth, smooth”. Seems like I always have a bit of trouble with the curve of the belly.
