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2702
Don't stress it friend. You CAN do it. Putting too much pressure on yourself will only complicate things. Relax.
Maybe start a thread in the Sharpening sub-forum asking for help and direction. Tell the folks what you're observing and such. Great people who love to help.
2703
The trick about sharpening is to rub your knife across a stone at a fixed angle Wobble is the killer.
The greatest thing I did for my sharpening was to figure out what allowed me to hold the angle consistent as I moved the knife. For me that was sharpening like Kramer (long strokes across the whole blade). I may not be as good as the top sharpeners, but my knives scare my family and make me happy.
2704
A tiny bit of wobble is unavoidable when hand sharpening. The more control it, the better but no doubt you can have a degree or two of variation and still have good edge, especially on thinner knives with harder steel. I'm not advocating sloppiness by any means just saying not to get too freaked out.
A tiny bit of wobble is unavoidable when hand sharpening. The more control it, the better but no doubt you can have a degree or two of variation and still have good edge, especially on thinner knives with harder steel. I'm not advocating sloppiness by any means just saying not to get too freaked out.
Dan-
Senior Member
2705
It’s also much easier to learn on tiny knives (under 210s). I would not try to start out on a proper 270 or 300mm knife.
It’s also much easier to learn on tiny knives (under 210s). I would not try to start out on a proper 270 or 300mm knife.
2706
I actually don't like to recommend people going down too small, like a paring knife. I know that's common but I find the the smaller the knife the less stable. I also like knives with a little bit of height.
Agreed though on the extra long stuff.
2707
Yeah, you'll always have some wobble without a jig, but I had really bad wobble until I changed my technique.
And I agree small knives are their own challenge. I can do 210/240 with no issue but I struggle still with paring and pocket knives.
Yeah, you'll always have some wobble without a jig, but I had really bad wobble until I changed my technique.
And I agree small knives are their own challenge. I can do 210/240 with no issue but I struggle still with paring and pocket knives.
spaceconvoy
Senior Member
2708
The trick is controlled wobbling. Set your angle lower than your target and wobble consistently to reach that target angle. Then pass it off as 'micro-convexing'
The trick is controlled wobbling. Set your angle lower than your target and wobble consistently to reach that target angle. Then pass it off as 'micro-convexing'
Jovidah
I'll make you a sponsor offer you can't refuse...
2709 Ever since I heard that convex edges are better anyway I completely stopped giving a damn about going out of my way to perfectly hold the same specific angle. Doesn't seem to have negatively affected my results...
2710
I'm sure you can figure it out man..
Sharpening is mostly a matter of knowledge, strict form, practice, and patience,
One of the things some people tend to miss (or overlook) with sharpening: how much of the overall success of the entire sharpening process hinges on the first grit.
The further you take this grit to refinement, the easier and more compounding each subsequent grit is.
Say you're starting at 1k and you don't set the tone for overall sharpening by:
Then any and all subsequent grits will seem quite ineffective and slow to make further improvement.
The more you accomplish with first grit; the better off, and easier, everything else is in the knife sharpening process.
I'm sure you can figure it out man..
Sharpening is mostly a matter of knowledge, strict form, practice, and patience,
One of the things some people tend to miss (or overlook) with sharpening: how much of the overall success of the entire sharpening process hinges on the first grit.
The further you take this grit to refinement, the easier and more compounding each subsequent grit is.
Say you're starting at 1k and you don't set the tone for overall sharpening by:
- removing the micro chips
- removing all glinting from the edge of the blade for apex alignment
- shaping the Apex to 3/4 the finish product
- removing as much of the burr as possible..
Then any and all subsequent grits will seem quite ineffective and slow to make further improvement.
The more you accomplish with first grit; the better off, and easier, everything else is in the knife sharpening process.
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Jovidah
I'll make you a sponsor offer you can't refuse...
2710 This is exactly what I always did wrong at the beginning. I used to move up to higher grit way too fast, thinking it'd actually get sharp on the higher grits. Nope... it should be proper sharp after the mid-grit.
Michi
I dislike attempts to rewrite history
2,712
Brought to you courtesy of the self-appointed count verifier…
^ Nope, 2,711. No understating progress, either!
Brought to you courtesy of the self-appointed count verifier…
2713
HER (looking at a @JoBone IG post on my phone): This one is beautiful. This piece is called a bolster right?
ME: Close. Bolsters are metal and a little different. That's called a ferrule.
HER: What's the difference? Why are they called different things when it's just the end of the handle?
ME: Hmmm... (grab a couple different knives)... Think of a bolster as just that, bolstering the handle. It's metal and sorta adding strength to what might otherwise be a weak spot in this type of handle. Ferrules are cosmetic. (Discuss tangs and wa vs. western construction).
HER: So is the blade and the bolster all one piece?
ME: They used to be but now only on expensive stuff.
HER: Interesting. I'll forget but the more I hear it the more I remember.
Sorry @ch_br, I can't post too often to your thread as mine has begun enjoying learning. She'll never get too deep but I reckon after 30+yrs around a knife nut she's finally surrendering some.
HER (looking at a @JoBone IG post on my phone): This one is beautiful. This piece is called a bolster right?
ME: Close. Bolsters are metal and a little different. That's called a ferrule.
HER: What's the difference? Why are they called different things when it's just the end of the handle?
ME: Hmmm... (grab a couple different knives)... Think of a bolster as just that, bolstering the handle. It's metal and sorta adding strength to what might otherwise be a weak spot in this type of handle. Ferrules are cosmetic. (Discuss tangs and wa vs. western construction).
HER: So is the blade and the bolster all one piece?
ME: They used to be but now only on expensive stuff.
HER: Interesting. I'll forget but the more I hear it the more I remember.
Sorry @ch_br, I can't post too often to your thread as mine has begun enjoying learning. She'll never get too deep but I reckon after 30+yrs around a knife nut she's finally surrendering some.
Jovidah
I'll make you a sponsor offer you can't refuse...
2714 Ferrules aren't just cosmetic. And there's plenty of Sabs with a metal ferrule.
2715
Re wobble, there was a guy on Reddit recently who'd come up with a neat contraption that you could bolt on to the knife as you sharpen, basically an angle measure that gives feedback with coloured LEDs or a beep or something.
Then I thought, maybe … the poor man's version of that could be … get a desk lamp and position it so it reflects into your eyes when you've got the angle you want … and then sharpen with that as a reference.
Extra points for not slicing the power cord.
Idea thanks to Ed Fredkin, who once told a story from when he used to fly for the Air Force. They were doing zero-G experiments and wanted him to basically fly free-fall, in an early iteration of the "Vomit Comet". So they put a super complicated multi-axis accelerometer gadget into the cockpit with all kinds of dials and spinners so he would know when he was free-falling correctly.
Next flight, he got into the cockpit, got up to altitude, and turned the gadget off. Then he took a pencil eraser out of his pocket, let it go in front of his face, and – in his words – "just flew in formation with the eraser."
Re wobble, there was a guy on Reddit recently who'd come up with a neat contraption that you could bolt on to the knife as you sharpen, basically an angle measure that gives feedback with coloured LEDs or a beep or something.
Then I thought, maybe … the poor man's version of that could be … get a desk lamp and position it so it reflects into your eyes when you've got the angle you want … and then sharpen with that as a reference.
Extra points for not slicing the power cord.
Idea thanks to Ed Fredkin, who once told a story from when he used to fly for the Air Force. They were doing zero-G experiments and wanted him to basically fly free-fall, in an early iteration of the "Vomit Comet". So they put a super complicated multi-axis accelerometer gadget into the cockpit with all kinds of dials and spinners so he would know when he was free-falling correctly.
Next flight, he got into the cockpit, got up to altitude, and turned the gadget off. Then he took a pencil eraser out of his pocket, let it go in front of his face, and – in his words – "just flew in formation with the eraser."
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2716
This is the same guy, BTW, who gave us Fredkin's Paradox…
... which should make him the patron saint of KKF "which knife should I buy" threads.
This is the same guy, BTW, who gave us Fredkin's Paradox…
... which should make him the patron saint of KKF "which knife should I buy" threads.
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2714 Ferrules aren't just cosmetic. And there's plenty of Sabs with a metal ferrule.
2717
Yeah well, I'm not getting into fine details and exceptions when she's just starting to show an interest. She can recognize the difference now and that's quite exciting for me thanks.
2718
Cliff's video is a perfect example that (knowledge) understanding what is happening during the different stages of sharpening and applying those procedures--even to an imperfect sharpening media-- can produce solid or better results.
Dan-
Senior Member
2719
Frequent small boxes delivered by DHL can become much less of an issue if DHL occasionally brings small boxes from Aubade.
Frequent small boxes delivered by DHL can become much less of an issue if DHL occasionally brings small boxes from Aubade.
2720
Setting a crisp straight shinogi on a knife with Damascus cladding made of two materials with wildly different hardness and wear resistance (white 2 and wrought iron twist…) is really, really annoying.
Setting a crisp straight shinogi on a knife with Damascus cladding made of two materials with wildly different hardness and wear resistance (white 2 and wrought iron twist…) is really, really annoying.
2721
Replace the knife with a honyaki?
Replace the knife with a honyaki?
2,733
"Chef, do you like repeating yourself?" - Cook
"No! I hate it! I hate telling the same person the same thing over and over and over and over....like I'm a skipping record. I don't understand why I have to repeat myself about the same things." - Me
"Me too." - Cook
"
" - Me
____________________________________
"So do you know what's wrong with it?" - Cook to Maintenance Guy
"Not yet, I just started looking at it." - Maintenance Guy
"Chef, do you like repeating yourself?" - Cook
"No! I hate it! I hate telling the same person the same thing over and over and over and over....like I'm a skipping record. I don't understand why I have to repeat myself about the same things." - Me
"Me too." - Cook
"
" - Me____________________________________
"So do you know what's wrong with it?" - Cook to Maintenance Guy
"Not yet, I just started looking at it.
" - Maintenance Guy
2725
Things that make you go "Hmmmmm
":
Checking the 'bay (via the Canadian site) for "vintage carbon knife". 4 sellers, clearly the same person as photo backgrounds are identical, all around for 10 or so years, all with 2K+ sales and all with 100% seller ratings.
Something seems a little strange there.
Things that make you go "Hmmmmm
":Checking the 'bay (via the Canadian site) for "vintage carbon knife". 4 sellers, clearly the same person as photo backgrounds are identical, all around for 10 or so years, all with 2K+ sales and all with 100% seller ratings.
Something seems a little strange there.
2727
Am I working? Yeah this is working on a Monday with a migraine
Am I working? Yeah this is working on a Monday with a migraine
2728
My sympathies. If I may make a recommendation – I have experienced good relief with this genre of product. https://amzn.eu/d/aRGaTJB
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2729
Thanks
My personal situation is complicated by a number of medications that I currently on. Every one has headaches as a potential side effect so it has been "fun". The underlying issue will hopefully resolved by surgery in the very near future.
2730:
Appreciate the sharpening advice all! Been experimenting with a new method of sweeping the entire blade while maintaining edge leading strokes. The motion looks like I have Parkinson’s, but it seems to have decent results so far and feels easier to maintain the angle versus the edge leading sections I was doing previously. Definitely have a bit more wobble in the process I need to work out though.
Not sure how busy your schedule is, but the one thing I’ve found that helps keep migraines from going on for a few days (beyond the normal hydrate, excedrin extra strength ) is get a wash cloth wet, toss in the freezer to get it cold. Then put it on the base of the neck and lay somewhere dark until it’s not cold any longer. Not necessarily a cure all, but it definitely seems to help by constricting blood flow.
Appreciate the sharpening advice all! Been experimenting with a new method of sweeping the entire blade while maintaining edge leading strokes. The motion looks like I have Parkinson’s, but it seems to have decent results so far and feels easier to maintain the angle versus the edge leading sections I was doing previously. Definitely have a bit more wobble in the process I need to work out though.
Not sure how busy your schedule is, but the one thing I’ve found that helps keep migraines from going on for a few days (beyond the normal hydrate, excedrin extra strength ) is get a wash cloth wet, toss in the freezer to get it cold. Then put it on the base of the neck and lay somewhere dark until it’s not cold any longer. Not necessarily a cure all, but it definitely seems to help by constricting blood flow.
