My new Shun is chipped

Shun knives, while very attractive are prone to chipping when new, I believe this is due to the very tiny bevel at the edge, there is not much there to support the edge so they chip easily

This is is not necessarily an indication that there is something wrong with the knife or if it has been abused.

The good news is that they are not difficult to repair with a coarse water stone.

Chipped Shun and Global knives

Here is a quartet of chipped Shuns, practically new.  

To repair the damage, you need to remove the metal along the edge, how much metal do you remove?  Enough so that the chip disappears, you are going to basically destroy the factory edge and create a new one, a stronger one and it will be just as sharp or sharper than new.

Hold the knife on the coarse stone, 400 grit for example or 150 if you have it, take care, the objective here is to take away metal, there is no way around this. You cannot fill in the hole so you have to reshape the primary edge.

Grind on both sides of the knife at 40-45 degrees, and monitor the work by constantly visually checking, this can happen quickly, quicker than you think.  Remember, you are not worried about making it sharp now, just making it useable again.  

Once the damage is repaired, lower the angle to 15 degrees or so, this is a bit of guess work here so don't sweat it. Put 2 quarters on the end of the stone on top of each other and lay the spine of the knife down so it touches the top quarter, there is a good angle to use. Don't like that one, use 3 quarters.

Now you sharpen the knife, starting again with a coarse stone, 400-500 would be nice and then continuing through your progression up to 2,000 or 5,000 or just 1,000 if that is what you have.

Keep it simple

Hi.
Many people are interested in sharpening their own knives but they don't know how to get started, what they need. They are often afraid that they will ruin their knives.

I look at it this way, if the knife is dull and you don't want to give it to me then learn yourself, you paid good money for that knife, its' dull, fix it, it isn't hard.

You can start with one stone from Lee Valley, a 1,000 grit stone is all you need to get that first start, to see if you can do it, yes 2 stones is better, the 800 grit and lets say 3,000 grit or even 2,000.  ( I buy all my stones on line by the way but I started at Lee Valley, they have some good ones)

Remember what you trying to do, you need to remove that tired out metal that has folded over on the edge and expose the fresh new steel underneath and make Side A and Side B meet at the exact same plane at an angle of your choice, keep it simple though. Raise the spine of the blade an inch off the stone, put 3 quarters under it to use as a guide, or 5 quarters, the exact angle is not important.

The most important thing you can do is to mark the edge of the edge with a sharpie, paint the area you want to actually grind the metal away at. It's pretty simple, you just paint the edge with the sharpie, and go for it, you need to remove that sharpie mark. You can keep using that technique to gauge yourself, to ensure you are on target.

Raise the burr on both sides of the blade and then remove the burr. Lighten up on the stroke when you have done this, and just finish the knife with some nice, gentle swipes of the edge over that well lubricated stone (water).

Don't expect amazing results the first 10 times, just get a feel for it. 

Now pat yourself on the back for just considering it. You can do it, it just takes a little courage and patience. Practise on an inexpensive knife if you need to. Go slow and concentrate on maintain the angle you choose, don't worry if it is not exactly 19 degrees.  Who the hell can hold the knife at exactly 19 degrees and just look at it and say "yup that is 19 deg".

Good luck

Broken Bob Kramer knife

Folks, this beautiful knife just had a broken tip which as you can see is fixed. 

Now if you ever want to treat yourself to a beautiful knife, one that is extremely sharp, will stay sharp for a long time and is very comfortable, pick one of these up.

Bob Kramer by Zwilling (Henckles).  The only place to buy them in Halifax is at Paderno in Bayer's Lake.