What HRC is recommended for stones 5000+

[JesusisLord]

What HRC would you recommend your knives to be for stones 5000+ in grit if you don't want it to lose its bite?

 

[M1k3]

It's more about carbide type and amount, than HRC.

Aogami #1 at about 66 HRC will respond to the stone better, than say REX121 at 62 HRC.

 

[jedy617]

Personally I would buy the knife you want first at the hrc you want, and then look into stones if you need to change something up in regards to your sharpening setup

 

[JesusisLord]

It's more about carbide type and amount, than HRC.

Aogami #1 at about 66 HRC will respond to the stone better, than say REX121 at 62 HRC.

I hear high Carbon in the steel plays a factor as well, since high carbon knives can hold an edge longer.

 

[jedy617]

that factors into carbide amount. Carbon forms carbides with other elements.

 

[M1k3]

I hear high Carbon in the steel plays a factor as well, since high carbon knives can hold an edge longer.

It does. More carbon generally means the steel can reach a higher hardness (very simple explanation, but, there's more to it than that). But the thing is, iron carbides are softer than the abrasive in sharpening stones.

 

[Benuser]

Personally I would buy the knife you want first at the hrc you want, and then look into stones if you need to change something up in regards to your sharpening setup

This. Find out which stones, progression and techniques work best with a given knife.
More or less bite will first depend on choices made by the maker. Which steel and which Heat Treatment. The same steel may present very different properties depending on the HT. Grain and carbide size and distribution may hugely differ and vary independently from Rockwell hardness.
I wouldn't fight against the steel's properties. It makes IMHO little sense to look for a lot of bite with a very finely grained steel, or expect the smoothest edge with a coarse structure. Expect in both cases a disappointing result and a poor edge retention. An aggressive edge with a finely grained steel will hold until the teeth got abraded, which is likely to happen very quickly as there's such a small contact area with food and board that has to bear all the forces without having any structure behind to support it. The polished edge with huge carbides won't hold due to the lack of edge stability: fine stones don't abrade carbides but weaken the surrounding, with carbides breaking out.
Given a knife you better enhance its properties. By the choice of the stones, large jumps in grit size or a narrow progression, the time you're spending on different stones. Only deburring on intermediate stones, or really polishing out the scratch pattern of the previous ones. You may vary the used technique on different stones. Only edge leading or scrubbing. More or less pressure, mud, water.
It's well worth to explore different possibilities. But remember: by far most work and most time is to be spent with the first stone.

 

[Blank Blades.]

But... High hrc+high grit+high carbide=high good

 

[M1k3]

You're high.

 

[Blank Blades.]

You're high.

Im just grieving my venev. And tired :'(

 

[mockit]

What HRC would you recommend your knives to be for stones 5000+ in grit if you don't want it to lose its bite?

70 . I kid. I agree with the sentiments stated above. Buy the knife you want for whatever reasons. Figure out how to sharpen it after. I think how edges feel is very subjective and related to personal preference. Most people settle for a mid-grit stone between 2-5k or a natural stone of some kind. Your mileage may vary, but I advise focusing on practical use in the kitchen. Chasing HHT is really fun, but you can get CRAZY sharp at <5k. See what that Ouka can do for a while on different steels. Only a few steels are supposedly difficult to sharpen with typical abrasives, and they are more common in the folding knife world. They are both high HRC and high toughness like Magnacut, Cruwear, and 15V. I have not really had issues getting softer stainless sharp, but the cheapest stuff I have is from Global at HRC 56-57. Low HRC / low toughness (cheap stainless) ------ high HRC / high toughness (super steels) is the spectrum we sharpen on, right? As long as you are not on the extremes, it shouldn't matter THAT much. Consider an inexpensive strop plus/minus compound before a 5k+ as well. Will let the real experts chime in further!

For people who want to care for their edges... 800-1k + 3-4k and a strop is more than enough. For people who want to sharpen abused knives add a 400-500. For people who want to thin or repair knives... as coarse as you can tolerate. Of course, on this forum... the number of knives you need is n+1 followed by the number of stones you need to sharpen them which is n+2 .

 

[btbyrd]

Am I the only one who doesn‘t sharpen at 5K+? I stop around 4k and finish on a strop with compound.

 

[MattPike4President]

Am I the only one who doesn‘t sharpen at 5K+? I stop around 4k and finish on a strop with compound.

I stop at my Gesshin 2k most of the time for my heavy use work knives, sometimes a Naniwa Pro 800. I find the edge plenty functional at the level of refinement and I like to imagine it lasts longer

 

[Matt Jacobs]

Am I the only one who doesn‘t sharpen at 5K+? I stop around 4k and finish on a strop with compound.

I usually stop at 2k and strop for all my kitchen knives. I will about 1x per year use my 5k on all my knives to try it out but generally I love a 2k edge.

 

[Cliff]

I finish at 1-2K for tomatoes, peppers, and most butchery; 4-6K for general purpose knives; 8-12K for fish and maybe fancy garnishes and apples (I cut a lot of apples).

 

[SirCutAlot]

Usefull carbon content in terms of hardness stopps at about 0.75% . Full hardness is possible with this C content. All over will form carbides.

 

[Barmoley]

I am so confused, what does HRC have to do with sharpening grid? Any steel commonly used in kitchen knives would be considered high carbon steel.

 

[mk4pi]

Normally you would care more about what kind of abrasive use in your stone (diamond, CBN, alumina oxide, silicon carbine, etc..) and what kind of steel you want to rub on it.

So how about you tell us which stones and which knife/steel you want to sharpen?

 

[Kawa]

Am I the only one who doesn‘t sharpen at 5K+? I stop around 4k and finish on a strop with compound.

It can be fun if you're a home cook who likes to sharpen and play around.

 

[Benuser]

It can be fun if you're a home cook who likes to sharpen and play around.

Sure. And I use finer stones for maintaining my carbons, even when initially finished "only" with a NP3k. Touching-up with Belgian Blue is by far the simplest, but with a Junpaku 8k or a SP12k is fun. Or for polishing a bit behind the edge.