Why we need to thin

Folks,
I found a couple of good diagrams that will help illustrate what happens when we don't thin a knife, i.e. this first picture is where the vast majority of knives are at now.

So in the picture above, you can see how repeated sharpening to the primary bevel only (cutting edge) will gradually move that edge up into the belly of knife. Metal is removed when sharpening, it has to be otherwise it is not sharpening. Imagine a 10 or 20 year old knife that has been sharpened a few times or more, the original geometry of the knife is altered and the knife is not performing the way it should or could.

So I thin the knife by removing the metal as depicted in red in the diagram below:

It's a process that just knocks some of shoulder of the bevel off as seen in the bottom of this picture, and  then to maintain the factory geometry or just create a better cutting knife, I keep the knife thin over time as I work on the primary bevel.

Machines don't do this.

Naturally Sharp

Hi,

I suppose you all know that there are different whet stones:

Oil Stones,
Synthetic Water Stones
Natural Water Stones

My favourite are Synthetic Japanese Water Stones and some of the best in the world are Shapton, Chosera and Arashiyama.  There are many others too, Nubatama Bamboo, Imanishi for example

But what would happen if we took a beautiful stone like the Arashiyma 6,000 and created a slurry with a natural water stone, something in the 10, 000 grit range?

Well, I will tell you, it creates a beautifully polished edge that is both quite sharp and very functional in any kitchen. My friend Ken Schwartz, a gifted sharpener gave me a piece of a natural water stone that comes from caves in Kyoto Japan and with that piece I created a slurry, or muddy paste that can enhance the sharpening effect.

I was very pleased with the results.

The picture below is the amazing Arashiyama 6,000 grit Japanese Water Stone, man made with the natural water stone that I used as a Nagura stone to create the magical paste on top, the slurry.

Sharpening knives is pretty freaking cool, this is just something that is fun to do, the results will vary with the knives/steel of course.  At some point in time I will own some full size Natural Stones but that isn't something on my radar yet.  I am not even saying that they are better for sharpening knives, however on traditional Japanese knives, you can create some beautiful finishes on them bevels with them.

Some more before and after stuff.

So this is a nice little Japanese hand made knife that has seen better days. These carbon knives can rust and chip easily if not taken care of properly but I promise you, they will perform better than your average European knife.  (well not this one)

So the first step is to remove the rust and I use Bar Keepers Friend for that, I pick that up at Cucina Moderna. It's great for removing rust without scratching, I use a cork and make a little paste with the product. It is like Comet or Ajax but better for this particular purpose.

I then repaired the edge with a Belt Sander and some special Trizact belts, it's just a matter of being very cautious, using good lighting and taking your time.

After that I sharpened it up to 10,000 grit.

This is about an hours work in total, I hope the owner will be pleased:

Thanks for being here, I appreciate it.

Scissors

So I finally jumped off the fence and purchased the Scissors Attachment for my Edge Pro Professional.
I have not seen many reviews but I fully trust the designer. I was confident it would do a nice job on the everyday scissors. I am still waiting to find out how the salon shears are doing that I did.

The system is quite amazing actually, I took this dull scissors back up to factory level sharp in 10 minutes using the same Japanese Water Stones that I do knives with.

I also did some grass shears with them, not the big shears, these are the smaller, scissor like Fiskar clippers that I use and they turned out great.

So give me your scissors, for $8.00 they will be sharp again, that's for the average size, smaller ones would be less.

Can I sharpen my own knives - I don't have any training?

Ok,  you are wondering if you can actually get a knife sharp, you've never had a lesson.

I would say YES definitely, the fact that you are reading this means that you have an interest, that is a fantastic starting point.  The process of getting a knife sharp is not difficult, you need to realize that there are many different levels of sharpness. All you need to do is make your knife sharp enough to work in the kitchen. It probably is dull now so if you measure a knife edge on a scale form 1 to 10, with 1 being dull, all you need is to take it up one notch.

It is only people like me who are not satisfied until we reach level 12, seriously, you have the ability to sharpen your knives.

I am amazed by people who would spend $200.00 on a Chef's Choice, which is likely the best of the electric sharpeners. Now for $200.00 I could buy some incredible Japanese Water Stones and get knives sharper than 95% of the people on earth have ever seen.

For $30.00 you could buy one water stone and get a knife far sharper than any machine. Now if you don't have any interest in sharpening knives by hand than yeah, go get that machine or just go buy new knives every 6 months or something but because you are reading this, I am guessing you have the urge to learn....good for you.

The knife pictured here cost $3,500 US. So imagine if someone gave that too you as a gift, or you won it or something. Knives like this, believe it or not, are no sharpened, the owner is expected to sharpen it.  (This is a  whole new topic). Now the knife is sharp, it will blow any new Henckels away.

Anyway, what do you do, imagine running a knife like this through the knife slayer, the Chef's Choice, gees, it was even hard typing that.

Don't hesitate to learn to sharpen a knife on your own, all you need is one stone to get started.  All you need is to get to level 1, I could teach you that or just watch some videos.

You just need to understand what it is you are doing, what makes a dull knife sharp.

You are removing the fatigued metal by abrading it away with the water stone, you are exposing the fresh new metal underneath.You are getting side A and side B to meet. Pretty easy isn't it.

Get off the fence, and don't worry about ruining your knife, gees it isn't jewelllery, it's just a knife, you are not going to break it.

Here is the key, the Burr.

Now get to it friends.

Thinning

So what is thinning anyway,  what's the big deal with thinning?

Is it important??

HECK YEAH!

Simply put, and I am not putting this in simple terms because I don't think you would understand it otherwise, I'm putting it simply because the concept and technique is quite basic, nothing complicated about it but not many people that I meet are aware of the importance of it.

So imagine sharpening that Primary Edge Bevel and every time you do it a little metal is removed, that is what is supposed to happen, so that is a good thing.  Well imagine doing that often, over time, that edge would become quite thick, it would move up into the secondary edge or back bevel as depicted above. The angle of the knife, the factory angle of 20 degrees for example would become wider and wider.  Basically the knife becomes too thick and in fact most knives are too thick when they come from the factory.  

So Thinning is the process of sharpening the secondary bevel (back bevel), you are not really sharpening it but removing metal in that area by careful positioning of that portion of the knife on the stones and grinding away the unwanted metal, the metal that is making the knife thick. 

So how do you do it you ask?  

If the primary edge is sharpened at let's say 20 deg (typical of most European knives, Grohmanns) well to thin the knife you would lay the knife down closer to the stone, almost flat on the stone and go to work, so you are working at 15 or 13 degrees. You are not making the knife sharp now, you are thinning and making the knife much more effective. You can  polish this Relief Face or Relief as it is called to a very high polish if you like, if you have the patience and right water stones, this Relief Face can become like a mirror.  I really love doing this to a knife, it's pretty cool.

Remember, you are not trying to make the knife sharp during this process, you are thinning the knife, you can do this to a new knife.

Once you have the Relief Face accomplished, now you can sharpen the knife by raising the angle slightly and you will find the knife will become exceptionally sharp and it will become sharp very quickly. I'm telling you, this is the way to make your knife sharper than you have ever seen before. 

Also, once thinned, you can just sharpen the primary edge the next time, just keep an eye on the thickness of the knife as time passes. 

I know I make it sound simple and it isn't as simple as it seems but I firmly believe that a knife is meant to be sharpened. 

If you go out and get yourself a water stone and try to sharpen your own knife, GOOD ON YA, so what if it doesn't work, at least you tried. It was dull anyway.  (Bring it to me, I'll fix it for you).

So thinning is essential to maintain the geometry of the knife, to keep it an effective too.

NOW this is why gadgets do not work, the electric sharpeners for example. Do you think you can create a Relief Face with an electric knife sharpener??

Knife sharpening is cool, it is fun and extremely rewarding. The Relief Face (thinning) is somewhat advanced, you don't need to worry about it at first. There is sharpening and then there is Extreme Sharpening. 

Bottom Line - If you have one water stone and you sharpen your own knife, regardless of the results, you need to pat yourself on the back for attempting. One lesson could make a huge difference but there are many great videos out there. Check out  Jon Broida on You Tube or visit Japanese Knife Imports. Jon is a very nice man and gifted sharpener. His videos are exceptional.

Awesome sharpening videos

Bob Kramer Sharpening Kit

Folks, I just picked up the very nicely put together sharpening kit by Zwilling and Bob Kramer.
It is the complete system except for a strop but that is easy to get around.

Sharpening Kit

The video linked above has it all and I have had the pleasure of trying it out. The sink bridge is very nicely made, it looks good too, made of bamboo. The 3 stones are the perfect combo,  the 400 is in my opinion the cornerstone of any sharpening system. To be more accurate a coarse stone is the critical component and the 400 stone is a perfect choice, the 500 grit stone is great as well.

These are Chosera stones and they are mounted on glass and with the 400 is the 1k and 5k stones. As I said, I use this combo quite often.

Pretty nifty kit I do have to say, comes with a video which is not too bad, it provides enough information for anyone to get started and to create a very nice edge if you pay attention.

I don't actually need the kit myself, I already have the stones and bridge, I'll probably sell it if I get any one who wants to buy it.

I highly recommend it.