Knife Sharpening - Going next level !

[old4570]

I have never owned a BASE for whetstones before .
I was wondering if my wet N dry sharpener would fit & it does !
So all 3 of my DIY will fit ( 2 x wet N dry + one diamond plate glued to a wood block )
Why , because so far I have had to go - one handed !
One hand to hold the block and the other for holding / sharpening the knife . ( PITA )

I also ordered a Shapton 1000 whetstone .. Yeah , I'm going to give hand sharpening a fair go .
Been meaning to buy a Shapton 1000 for a few years now .. For a while there .............
A) They were expensive - C19 inflation
B) C19 shortages - Just could not find them - Unless you were prepared to pay the C19 premium !
C) Prices have just recently normalized . ( More Normal )

So rather than buying more KNIVES , I have spent money on Diamond stones / sharpeners and sundry sharpening stuff = Like this base !
& I have a box full of junk knives to practice on !

 

[old4570]

OK , sharpened some knives !
The base really helps .. Now I just need more practice .
No , I can make the knives so sharp I can't feel the hair come off my arm ..
What I might have to do ............... Is some edge retention testing .. Wet N Dry ( hand ) VS Guided ( Diamond )

 

[old4570]

What I forgot to mention =

The edge is much better finished ( polished ) hand sharpening on the Wet N Dry than with diamond . Diamond always leaves scratch / or cut marks no matter how fine you go & under magnification looks jagged or hacksaw like ( diamond life ) . Edge looks much nicer with the wet N dry ! Now I am keen to see how the Shapton 1000 is going to perform .. Especially at the apex of the edge !

 

[old4570]

Ok ............
This knife = https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/hua-ao-d2.486704/ = Very poor performance !
I put a 800 grit Wet N Dry edge on the knife ( hand sharpening ) and .......... Let me check the video !
100 slice fail ... And I believe previously it failed @ 100 slices off the wet stone grinder .. So there ..

Next knife is the Ontario RAT 1 in AUS-8 ..........
800/1200 grit Wet N Dry hand sharpening = 200 slice fail .
600 grit diamond cut edge VIA my cheapest guided system = 350 slice fail ( yeah , no contest )

A) Guided sharpening is better ( possibly )
B) I need a lot more practice @ hand sharpening .
C) Blame it on the wet N dry ?

I started with the hand sharpened edge and then lay a guided edge over the existing edge matching edge angle .. ( Rat 1 ) Just for interest , the hand sharpened edge was not overly convex , only slightly so .

 

[russprechtl]

Could the diamond stone also be giving a "toothier" edge that is more durable?

 

[old4570]

Grit or tooth-iness can certainly affect edge retention .
The right grit for your steel can certainly maximize performance .
But one would need to test edges to see what works best .
Anyone interested in edge lore should check Dual Grit sharpening !

 

[nettle]

The finest diamond hone I use is 1000 grit. When I finish with the diamond hones I will strop with leather using 4 Micron and 2 Micron emulsions. This is more of a polished edge than toothy. I could go finer with the diamond hones but this works out for me.

 

[Lights and Guns]

I used to go DEEP down the rabbit hole with sharpening.
I've used the wicked edge guided system for over a decade at this point.
Must have sharpened 500 knives on it by now if I had to guess. It's great.

With that said, generally nowadays the only knives I really find myself having to sharpen are my kitchen knives, with those I'll generally only ever go up to 800-1000 grit and leave them with a bit of a toothy edge (microscopically) since it makes slicing in the kitchen 10x more effective. This is due to a job change years ago, I used to use my knives religiously at work, many times for a multitude of tasks. I would carry my sebenza often, to this day the 21's are my favorite.

I don't bother with strops anymore either .... yes, if you had a REALLY expensive knife you wanted to protect from material removal you'd want to strop, here and there allowing for further time between actual "sharpening". But nowadays I don't seem to have the time like I used too ...

With that said, once in a while I'll sit down, put a good show on and give all my kitchen knives a good sharpen almost therapeutic and it's nice to be able to maintain the skill of knife sharpening...

 

[nettle]

I have a Wicked Edge. About once a month I'll touch up the blades on our kitchen knives and my EDC. Takes about 10 minutes per knife. With the Wicked Edge the strop setup is the same as the diamond hones. Only takes a few minutes more. Worthwhile for me.

When you have sharpened knives like these for many decades the Wicked Edge setup is welcome relief.

 

[old4570]

Shapton 1000 whetstone is here ...

 

[Sabrewulf]

I love sharpening knives. Have been doing so for almost 3 decades as a sushi chef.

For my pocket knives, I use the KME guided system. Usually 1000 grit up to 5000 grit chosera stones.
For my work/kitchen knives, 1000 grit diamond, 4000 grit chosera stone, and then 8000 grit kitiyama stone for polish. They barely make noise when cutting paper. My yanagi (sashimi knife) is an single bevel blade, 12° total edge angle. It is absolutely wicked sharp. Most kitchens knives are 30° to 40° total edge angle.

 

[LuxLuthor]

I really love using my Edge Pro Professional I have had for 30+ years. I like being able to magnetically lock the blade on the table and get the perfect edge angle I want. It takes away the problem I had keeping the angle perfectly consistent using a stone. Especially with my set of Shun knives needing exactly a 16° angle, as well as many other types and angles.

Professional Precision Knife & Scissor Sharpener | Edge Pro Inc.

Experience the convenience and power of an Edge Pro professional precision knife & scissor sharpener. Our hand sharpening system for knives is the ultimate way to get precise, fast results.

www.edgeproinc.com

 

[old4570]

As soon as the weather warms a little , I hope to get is some Shapton Action ..

 

[LuxLuthor]

I have a Wicked Edge. About once a month I'll touch up the blades on our kitchen knives and my EDC. Takes about 10 minutes per knife. With the Wicked Edge the strop setup is the same as the diamond hones. Only takes a few minutes more. Worthwhile for me.

When you have sharpened knives like these for many decades the Wicked Edge setup is welcome relief.

WOW! That does look amazing. Much easier even than my Edge Pro. The $1500+ is a no-go for me though.