Less is More

First of all, I'm sorry I have been absent for a bit, renovating my sharpening area so it makes it better to instruct there.

The title "Less is More" refers to pressure but I will talk about that soon.

One of the things I want to emphasise for those who would like to learn to sharpen is that you don't need to go out and purchase premium water stones and a lot of them, as I have said many times,  you could start with one.

I sharpen knives professionally so I can justify purchasing a lot but in reality I could get away with three water stones and my Atoma 140 plate for sharpening. Remember though, this is not just a profession for me, in fact that comes way down the line, sharpening is a passion and obsession for me so I will NEVER have enough water stones.

Here is a good place to start with one stone selection if you are on a budget or just not sure if this is something you will want to do often. Or, you may just be learning to keep your own knives in tip top condition and if so, good for you, that is awesome.  Remember, the least expensive Japanese Water Stone is better than the most expensive electric knife sharpener. (Now I'm not talking about those crappy oil stones you can by in a hardware store for 7 bucks, those are garbage)

Now this King 1200 stone is pretty good, I prefer it over the 1,000 King and this only costs about $30.00. You can soak this permanently in water, and it has a great feel to it.

The other nice to have is a stone holder of some type, yes I know you can use a 2X4 over a sink or something but you can get a stone holder for $20.00 and it is much better. You will not be distracted by the stone shifting or something stupid. (This is my recommendation, a piece of wood over a container of water is fine, just the fact that you are doing this at all is cool)

I have this really cool pond/stone holder, it is Suehiro product and it is just perfect for my needs, I picked it up in Phoenix and love it.

Now if you are only sharpening your own knife or knives you will not be too concerned about flattening, you wouldn't have to purchase an expensive plate to flatten them, some 320 wet/dry sandpaper would do the trick.

However, if you did purchase a coarse Atoma or the less expensive DMT plate you COULD use that not just for flattening but also as a coarse stone. If you did let your knives get dull and the 1,000 stone just seemed to be taking an eternity to do the trick, that coarse plate would be magic.

  LESS IS MORE:

I use my beloved Naniwa 220 water stone a lot, in fact I have already ordered a new one, I couldn't handle not having a spare.

Naniwa 220 (Lobster)

As you can see in the picture this one is ready for flattening, a very very regular chore.

Back to my point: I noticed that if I eased up on my pressure, and this is applicable to the Edge Pro,  the burr formed more quickly than if I used heavy pressure. If you have read any of my previous entries you know that pressure variances make a huge difference on my sharpening results. I always start with moderate to heavy pressure depending on the condition of the edge and then I repeat the process of burr formation with light pressure and finally, no pressure. 

However, I noticed that when I eased up on the Moderate pressure the burr was forming just as quickly or even more quickly. It made everything a little easier and it is easier on the stone too.

So after about 10,000 knives I have finally figured out that LESS IS MORE, I'm a freaking genius :)

It goes to show me that tiny little things can make a big difference so I recommend you always trying to adjust something, it could be the amount of water used, for example, I dip my blade in water now a lot as I am sharpening and I find it helps. 

I went from Edge Leading to Edge Trailing strokes a year or so ago and I love that technique. Don't be afraid to try something, nothing is permanent. 

Even though I was blessed with having an article in paper about me, I do not consider myself as a man who knows all there is to know about knife sharpening. I don't think that is possible and I pity the people who do feel that way. Explore and learn and by doing so you build layers of confidence. This is applicable to any method of knife sharpening except by a machine of course, an electric grinder I mean, there is no learning curve associated with one of those.

This is an excellent book on all sorts of knife related topics and it has a great section on sharpening and angle choices. I love the way it is written, Mr. Ward hit it out of the ball park with this one.

I always like to finish off by adding completely unrelated to the topic pictures. Just some repair and fix up work I did.

For the picture below, I started with Bar Keepers Friend and finished with Wet/Dry sand paper in 320/600/1,000 grit and then some Mothers Billet Metal polish. (Always do this stuff before you sharpen it :)  )

Thank you for being here and reading.

sharpenerpeter@gmail.com if you want me to talk about certain things.

I'm going to do a little video on how I sharpen a serrated knife too, that is another technique I have been massaging over the years and I'm finally happy with the process I use now.



Respectfully
Peter Nowlan