I just made a leap in developing the ability to sharpen knives tonight. I thought I'd share this with other newbies, who may - like me - be struggling to master this ancient skill!
This post is for those who never seem to get a decently sharp edge, whatever method you try.
Using a DMT Fine/Coarse sharpener, I worked a couple of stainless steel chef's knives to a reasonable edge. However, in the spirit of learning to sharpen by learning what to look for (ie by learning how to "read" the edge as I grind it), I held the point of the knife blades to a piece of wood and with the blades almost horizontal. I then "sanded" the edge of the blades with the DMT grit. I did this under a spotlight so I could see the effect of my work on the edge of the blade.
In other words, I didn't rest the sharpener and move the knive blade; I rested the knife blade and moved the sharpener.
The reason I did this was to see the effect of the DMT on the blade edge. I wanted to discover how consistent my grind was down the length of the blade, how deep it was and how much pressure took off how much stainless steel.
My knives are somewhat sacrificial in this because they are easily-replaced kitchen chef's knives.
I discovered that the coarse DMT side really grinds off quite a lot but this is useful for resetting a blade that may have lived a long life without being sharpened well.
I discovered that I tend to grind away less metal where the blade curves most sharply towards its point. This was about an inch form the tip on my two chef's knives.
I found that switching to the fine side of the DMT was necessary to produce an edge bead that could be moved from edge to edge by grinding the side that the bead is pointing to.
I also found that finishing up on a ceramic rod was necessary to really get rid of the bead. At that point, on my bigger six-inch knife, I was able to shave a few hairs from my arm. Just. Not with graceful ease. Nevertheless, this is why I think this experiment was a success.
Other observations:
I think I probably applied too much pressure when using the knife on the DMT.
I had the back of the blade much closer to the DMT than I have in the past (IE a shallower angle between blade and sharpener). I see different reports about having a 30deg angle and a 15deg angle...
The knife edges still don't look great and are still not as uniform (along their length) razor sharp as I aspire to.
But I think switching the blade and the sharpener and doing it under a bright spotlight helped reassure me about what effect my sharpening was having and gave me confidence in how much effect I really was having.
When I refine this I will sharpen my Woodlore knife, which lies unused since I bought it four years ago! I also have a Mora that - like the Woodlore knife and unlike my chef's knives - has a distinct bevel that clearly needs to be ground when the edge is ground.
Hope this helps someone else. My real point is to encourage you to experiment on less valuable blades in order to get a sense of the basics of this.
Good luck!
This post is for those who never seem to get a decently sharp edge, whatever method you try.
Using a DMT Fine/Coarse sharpener, I worked a couple of stainless steel chef's knives to a reasonable edge. However, in the spirit of learning to sharpen by learning what to look for (ie by learning how to "read" the edge as I grind it), I held the point of the knife blades to a piece of wood and with the blades almost horizontal. I then "sanded" the edge of the blades with the DMT grit. I did this under a spotlight so I could see the effect of my work on the edge of the blade.
In other words, I didn't rest the sharpener and move the knive blade; I rested the knife blade and moved the sharpener.
The reason I did this was to see the effect of the DMT on the blade edge. I wanted to discover how consistent my grind was down the length of the blade, how deep it was and how much pressure took off how much stainless steel.
My knives are somewhat sacrificial in this because they are easily-replaced kitchen chef's knives.
I discovered that the coarse DMT side really grinds off quite a lot but this is useful for resetting a blade that may have lived a long life without being sharpened well.
I discovered that I tend to grind away less metal where the blade curves most sharply towards its point. This was about an inch form the tip on my two chef's knives.
I found that switching to the fine side of the DMT was necessary to produce an edge bead that could be moved from edge to edge by grinding the side that the bead is pointing to.
I also found that finishing up on a ceramic rod was necessary to really get rid of the bead. At that point, on my bigger six-inch knife, I was able to shave a few hairs from my arm. Just. Not with graceful ease. Nevertheless, this is why I think this experiment was a success.
Other observations:
I think I probably applied too much pressure when using the knife on the DMT.
I had the back of the blade much closer to the DMT than I have in the past (IE a shallower angle between blade and sharpener). I see different reports about having a 30deg angle and a 15deg angle...
The knife edges still don't look great and are still not as uniform (along their length) razor sharp as I aspire to.
But I think switching the blade and the sharpener and doing it under a bright spotlight helped reassure me about what effect my sharpening was having and gave me confidence in how much effect I really was having.
When I refine this I will sharpen my Woodlore knife, which lies unused since I bought it four years ago! I also have a Mora that - like the Woodlore knife and unlike my chef's knives - has a distinct bevel that clearly needs to be ground when the edge is ground.
Hope this helps someone else. My real point is to encourage you to experiment on less valuable blades in order to get a sense of the basics of this.
Good luck!
