Thread: Knife sharpening for different tasks

Thought I would add my 2 cents for whats it worth in this thread as some may find it interesting.

I have many years experience working in high end restaurant kitchens both here and overseas, and own a number of very flash hand made japanese knives which I sharpened myself by hand on whetstones.

When I first started sharpening myself I would take all my knives to around 6k grit (depending on the finishing stone I had at the time) before stropping. I found this best for general purpose tasks, in particular vegetables which would cut alot smoother and cleaner. In general as mentioned by others, if it would shave hairs off my forearm we were good to go.

Over time I discovered if I had a knife that I primarily used for butchery work, or carving of cooked meats I preferred to only sharpen it to about 1k and leave it there. I definitely found this toothier edge type cut better and importantly lasted longer when used for protein work. But it was not as good for other tasks!

These days I am out of kitchens full time but due to my experience when I sharpen my hunting knives I only go to around the 1k mark, it seems to last longer and cut better in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Nick-D

A burr formed on a fine grit can be very even. Corners stone create a large more ragged burr.

Japanese sharpening absolutely is an art form, but its actully more focused on the polish and finish, rather than about absolute edge sharpness. Traditionally its not uncommon for the knife to be delivered unsharpened or only with a very basic edge bevel allowing for the owner to set there preferred edge angle and stone finish.

The sharpener is also generally the person who sets the knife geometry and does the bevel grinding etc. There are makers that do both, but its very common to have a pair of blacksmith and sharpener. Its a pretty cool rabbit hole as there are even mystery sharpeners sharpening under pseudonyms to be able to do a different grind or style than the one they are known for.

Yep, once you have the understanding of steel and angles combined with the edge finish - you can pretty much get a passable result on anything that needs sharpening and not just knives.

Some of the higher-$ stainless filleting knives are bloody mongrels to do anything with - they seem to get supplied without an actual 'defined' edge which makes it a real pest to follow the manufacturer's edge angle. It's like they have rolled the edge to a cutting point rather than ground the edge off at an angle in the traditional sense - almost like some of the circular tip cutters used in wool fadge sampling and cheese testing punches that are 'roll sharpened' in a ball device that ends up with a hard-skinned edge surface. I've run into a few of these that were all but useless after a few goes and a few hundred fish frames, and they basically needed to go onto a scary sharp or some other piloted stone or grinding device to recut the convex edge into a more traditional angle that is soft enough to be honed. Usually it's much to the owner's disgust too, as their fancy highly polished knife ends up scratched to make the thing cut again...

Originally Posted by Ivar

Thought I would add my 2 cents for whats it worth in this thread as some may find it interesting.

I have many years experience working in high end restaurant kitchens both here and overseas, and own a number of very flash hand made japanese knives which I sharpened myself by hand on whetstones.

When I first started sharpening myself I would take all my knives to around 6k grit (depending on the finishing stone I had at the time) before stropping. I found this best for general purpose tasks, in particular vegetables which would cut alot smoother and cleaner. In general as mentioned by others, if it would shave hairs off my forearm we were good to go.

Over time I discovered if I had a knife that I primarily used for butchery work, or carving of cooked meats I preferred to only sharpen it to about 1k and leave it there. I definitely found this toothier edge type cut better and importantly lasted longer when used for protein work. But it was not as good for other tasks!

These days I am out of kitchens full time but due to my experience when I sharpen my hunting knives I only go to around the 1k mark, it seems to last longer and cut better in my opinion.

Yeah - I don't usually bother past 1000 equivalent now.

Originally Posted by No.3

Yep, once you have the understanding of steel and angles combined with the edge finish - you can pretty much get a passable result on anything that needs sharpening and not just knives.

Some of the higher-$ stainless filleting knives are bloody mongrels to do anything with - they seem to get supplied without an actual 'defined' edge which makes it a real pest to follow the manufacturer's edge angle. It's like they have rolled the edge to a cutting point rather than ground the edge off at an angle in the traditional sense - almost like some of the circular tip cutters used in wool fadge sampling and cheese testing punches that are 'roll sharpened' in a ball device that ends up with a hard-skinned edge surface. I've run into a few of these that were all but useless after a few goes and a few hundred fish frames, and they basically needed to go onto a scary sharp or some other piloted stone or grinding device to recut the convex edge into a more traditional angle that is soft enough to be honed. Usually it's much to the owner's disgust too, as their fancy highly polished knife ends up scratched to make the thing cut again...

Try a mouse pad with wet and dry abrasive paper on it - the pad allows the paper to curve to follow the round edge sectional profile.

Originally Posted by No.3

Yep, once you have the understanding of steel and angles combined with the edge finish - you can pretty much get a passable result on anything that needs sharpening and not just knives.

Some of the higher-$ stainless filleting knives are bloody mongrels to do anything with - they seem to get supplied without an actual 'defined' edge which makes it a real pest to follow the manufacturer's edge angle. It's like they have rolled the edge to a cutting point rather than ground the edge off at an angle in the traditional sense - almost like some of the circular tip cutters used in wool fadge sampling and cheese testing punches that are 'roll sharpened' in a ball device that ends up with a hard-skinned edge surface. I've run into a few of these that were all but useless after a few goes and a few hundred fish frames, and they basically needed to go onto a scary sharp or some other piloted stone or grinding device to recut the convex edge into a more traditional angle that is soft enough to be honed. Usually it's much to the owner's disgust too, as their fancy highly polished knife ends up scratched to make the thing cut again...

Yeah I can't be bothered with convex edges. Juice isnt worth the squeeze. I just whack a regular edge bevel on there. Of course I have the luxury of having both a belt and disk sander so reprofiling edges is pretty quick and painless

These ones on the stainless filleters are not even 'convex' - they are some bastardised hybrid of something else. That's why I'm suspecting a roll-form of some sort to roll the edge into the knife - this work hardens the edge and it's awesome for the first few times you use the knife but the first time its gotta be touched up man what a nightmare! I don't bother trying to touch up one of those now - I just take the edge back to a traditional bevel (hopefully) under the hardened skin and work from that. It usually fixes the problem!

I use a Scarysharp, the guide to get a constant angle is very good for hack like me. Once knife is sharp as long as you dont rub it on bone then a good knife steel stays sharp for at least 5 deer. A quick steel is handy for touch ups but I find I dont need to carry one in the bush as knife stays sharp.
Also have a Syperco tri-angle for small knifes or in the truck/hut.
On a side note I have also become a fan of the EKA weirdly shaped gut hook knife thingy for the first skinning cuts, especially multiple animals - it has a blunt end and just opens skin up like a zip. Up each leg, up the centre to the end of the neck -job done. Then just punch the skin off. A skilled butcher would raise their eyebrows but its so easy and quick and safe especially when its been a long day that I find it useful