As a semi reformed professional, I have serious views on kitchen knife
sharpening. I had every cook in every kitchen I ever worked in pick up one of my
knives without asking and say, "Hey, is this thing..." At which point they would
start bleeding because just running the pad of their thumb across the blade was
often enough to break the skin. I'm a little (freakishly) obsessed with
sharpness. It was inevitable that I get into hand tools.

So here are my two cents on kitchen knife sharpening. If you are going to use a
jig realize that every kitchen knife with the exception of a Sheep's Foot paring
knife has a curved blade. I have yet to find a jig that does even an adequate
job on curved edges.

It's also important to remember that the total included angle from the factory
is usually between 40 and 60 degrees on western knives. Traditional Japanese
knives are often single bevel and as little as 15 degrees for sushi knives.

That said I tend to closer to 30 degrees total included angle to strike a
balance between durability and fine work. My Wüsthof Chef's knife is 40ish total
included angle. My MAC Slicer is closer to 20 degrees.

The actual angle is less important than consistency. As you free hand sharpen a
kitchen knife you will slowly change the bevel from the factory edge to the
angle your hands naturally follow. I usually work a new (to me) knife on a
course stone until I raise a burr the full length of the edge on one side, then
do the same on the other. I lose a few thousandths of an inch of blade this way.
Now the knife is sharpened to the angle I naturally use. Because it is used to
my hands now it will be more consistent. I can shave my face with my Chef's
knife (Rockwell 56-58, high carbon stainless) if I have no other options, and
remember it's total included angle is around 40 degrees. The real test of
sharpness is a ripe tomato. If you can slice a ripe tomato with a knife without
deforming it, your knife is sharp.

For touch ups I use an F. Dick Monocrystaline Diamond Hone/Steel. It is similar
to a very fine diamond stone in that it removes and polishes out imperfections
and corrects the bevel. I use it every single time I pick up a knife. Another
reason to freehand, so your angles are similar.

If I were to use a traditional steel I would use something that looked like a
burnisher for a card scraper. The point of a steel in that case is to straighten
and smooth the edge as it gets folded over through use. A smooth steel is better
at that than the ridged steels that are sold so often.


Jeff

> On Apr 17, 2015, at 9:22 AM, Joe West  wrote:
> 
> GGs
> I bought a knife sharpener.
> 
> http://www.worksharptools.com/guided-field-
sharpener-221.html">http://www.worksharptools.com/guided-field-
sharpener-221.html
> 
> It works well.  But, I can't get my knifes sharp enough to shave hair off my
arm.  I wonder if there is something wrong with my technique.  How do others
sharpen their knives?
> 
> Joe West
> Sent from my iPod
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