And pardon the awful, awful pun (although I imagine that’s the most common one used in situations like this).
So, I decided to sharpen my knives. Especially the one that I bought new and then tried to cut cheese and had to use my thumb to push the damn thing through, only to realize that I was pushing against the blade (no cuts to my skin fortunately).
So, I got one of those fancy grinders (no idea what it’s called, the long cylindrical one that you hold on one hand while grinding the knife in the other) and have no clue how to use it.
Some resources I’ve found mention that I should grind on a 45*, some at a 23*.
I have a variety of knives (standard kitchen stuff) - do they require different “grinds” for each type of knife? Is there a single best angle to use? If so, what is it?
Are you talking one of these things? If so, that’s more of an edge straightener than a sharpener. They work well to maintain your knives, but if your knives are really dull, I would just take them to a professional to get 'em sharpened.
Anyhow, the technique I use is definite NOT to sharpen at 45 degrees. More like 15-25 degrees off the stick. I take the sharpening stick in my left hand, hold the point vertically against the counter (so it’s basically standing up on its tip, with my left hand holding it up). I take the knife to be straightened and take six swipes against the stick on one side, and then three on the other. I basically pretend I’m trying to take a thin slice off the stick. That gives me the correct angle and motion. Remember to pull back smoothly as you “slice” to make contact with the entire length of your blade.
I hope that makes some modicum of sense. It’s one of those things better explained in pictures.
Cheese really is not a good medium to test knife sharpness with. Meat or vegetables would be better. With your steel in your weak hand and with your knife in your dominant hand, drag the blade across the steel, alternating sides, and keeping your angles consistant at somewhere between 17 and 23 degrees.
My brother is a chef and (that I am aware of) just uses the sandpapery metal pole thing (hereon, sharpener.) The method he taught me is:
Knife in primary hand, sharpener in secondary
Place the base of the blade at the top of the sharpener, the blade pointed towards yourself
Drag down and out, so that as you move down the sharpener, the tip of the knife comes off towards the base of the sharpener
Alternate between the top and bottom of the sharpener to get both sides of the blade
This is actually a fairly rapid movement (and will make you fear that you are going to cut your hand), but should be done about four or five times for each side of the blade
WASH THE KNIFE OFF and dry
I would say it is at about a 30 degree angle. Too sharp and the edge doesn’t last as long (and that metal is going somewhere…)
He also advocates the European way of holding your fork and knife. Certainly it is what finally enabled me to cut tough meat on my own as a child without knocking stuff off of my plate as my meat got thrown about. Having the fork coming in from the side allows you to brake the horizontal force of the knife much easier than if you just have the fork plunged in from directly above. (Just a suggestion for any with young children experiencing this issue.)
Get yourself a Spyderco Sharpmaker. It’s the best system I know of for consistently getting a good edge on nearly anything that can be sharpened. It will even sharpen serrated knives. I’ve been using one for about 10 years and wouldn’t consider using anythig else. If you decide to get one, spend the extra bucks and get the diamond coated accessory rods at the same time. They greatly speed up the sharpening process on very blunt knives or on blades where you are changing the bevel.
A steel is great for dressing an edge. However if you have a dull knife that needs the edge restored, may I recomond a Lansky sharpening system.
The advantage of the Lansky system is that the knife is held in a frame and the stone is guided at a precise repeatable angle. You want a 22 degree angle on that blade? No problem.
About once a year I do all my knives with the Lansky and then touch them up every use or so with a steel.
I second the whole recommendation. Lansky has a similar tool for somewhat cheaper. I personally prefer a flat whetstone (I like DMt diamond stones) 'cause I sharpen some large and odd shaped blades like machetes and axes which don’t work with kits, but they do take a bit of skill and technique to use, whereas the Spyderco system straightforward and works for any reasonably-sized pocket, sheath, or kitchen knife, including serreted knives.
I’ve used kit sharpeners–specifically the Lansky clamp alignersystem–which clamps to the knife blade and use a guide to maintain an angle, but I don’t really care for them. They don’t work well on larger knives because you need to keep repositioning them, and they don’t clamp securely to blades with odd geometry or a “false edge” on top. I also can’t get enough stroke with broad blades, which means I end up doing a bunch of annoying little strokes. I’ve found that with a little practice I can develop a technique that lets me hold a consistant angle on a blade without a guide.
As for the recommended angle on your knife; 25 deg is a good, general purpose angle; it’s what I use for my chef’s blade. For a finer knife, like a fillet knife or the fine “utility” knife that I use for slicing vegetables, I’ll go with a 20-22 degree angle. (These are “single-sided” angles, meaning you get the same bevel on both sides.) I don’t own or use any single-bevel knives like those for preparing sushi and the like, but the usual angle for those is 30 degrees. In general, too shallow of an angle gives too weak of an edge, which is easily damaged, and too deep of an angle gives too much resistance for clean slicing. What’s more important than the angle, though, is the consistancy of the angle, so even if one of the angle stone kits doesn’t give you the exact angle you want it’ll still give you a reliable grind.
Most production knives come out of the box dangerously unsharp (Buck and Gerber, I am talking about you!) and need some serious sweating to get a proper edge on them. I was unimpressed by the Wustof knives a cow-orker recently purchased; they were so bad he couldn’t slice tomatos, though once he took them to a knife store and had them sharpened they were pretty wicked and have held an edge ever since. Benchmade puts an excellent edge on their knives, though.
I usually take my knife to the butcher counter at my local supermarket and they will sharpen my blades while I shop, for free.
To test the sharpeness I drag the blade across my fingernail, like whittling a stick except the blade is straight up and down. A dull blade will slide fairly easily, a sharp blade will have difficulty.
About 20 degrees on the “steel” (sharpening stick) is correct. Some will argue that it will dull fast however if it is a high quality blade it will last a while. Chefs that I work with are in the habit of using it before each cutting task, and these guys have the finest knives you can buy. As already stated all it does is straighten the blade, it won’t sharpen it. If you maintain the sharpeness of the blade with the steel you will rarely, if ever, need to have the knife sharpened. Careful when using it though, most people use it with a downward motion (towards the hand using the steel), if you miss the guard it can cause a nasty cut. I have the scars to prove it.
I wouldn’t recommend using a sharpening system often. It grinds down your blade basically making your knife not as tall. A blade is tapered (of course!) so the further up the blade you go the harder it is to maintain a sharp edge. I have worked in kitchens with blades so short you bang your knuckles every time you chop!
We used to have one similar to that Spyderco, but I must be a klutz, because I could never get my knives sharp on it. Then Mr. Pug bought me an electric gizmo (Chef’s Friend?) which has three separate notches through which you pull the blade, one after the other. In each notch is a vibrating stone surface facing a magnet; the magnet holds the blade at a perfect angle, and as you progress from one notch to the next, it successively puts on a rough burr, then a finer hone, and finally a superfine hone. Voila! Even I can sharpen 'em up now.
