Sharpening Knives ???

Mattman3969 · July 2020

Using the Ken Onion machine - any issues with grind a serated knive down to smooth? I wouldn’t think so but wanted to check with the herd

Ozzie_Isaac · July 2020

No, just do not overheat it. You will have a fair amount of material to remove.

Is there a reason you do not wish to sharpen the serrations?

Mattman3969 · July 2020

Didn’t know I could.

I guess I should’ve looked at YouTube first. Duh.

Ozzie_Isaac · July 2020

Mattman3969 said:

Didn’t know I could.

I guess I should’ve looked at YouTube first. Duh.

It is easier than you would think.

HeavyG · July 2020

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Mattman3969 said:

Didn’t know I could.

I guess I should’ve looked at YouTube first. Duh.

It is easier than you would think.

Easy to do on the WorkSharp.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 2020

YouTube is your friend with the work sharp (and everything else). There are videos on how to sharpen serrated/scalloped blades with a work sharp

Mattman3969 · July 2020

Luckily these are moms knives and don’t need to be scalpel sharp.

SGH · July 2020

Mattman3969 said:

any issues with grind a serated knive down to smooth?

I have got to ask simply due to morbid curiosity. Why do you want to grind down the serrations?

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 2020

Mattman3969 said:

Luckily these are moms knives and don’t need to be scalpel sharp.

can you post a pic of the serrated knife you are talking about?

fishlessman · July 2020

none of my serrated cooking and or steak knives would take a good edge or even hold a descent edge. they do make some high end bread knives with good steel but i dont think they work better than my as seen on tv showtime knife. we need pics, and what are they

Mattman3969 · July 2020

SGH said:

Mattman3969 said:

any issues with grind a serated knive down to smooth?

I have got to ask simply due to morbid curiosity. Why do you want to grind down the serrations?

@sgh - these are my moms knives that do not get taken care of and were in rough shape. First thought was I didn’t have the skill to sharpen them and didn’t realize how easy it was on the KO Work Sharp. She now has sharp serrated knives.

My thought before knowing what I could do with my sharpener was to turn them into something I knew I could keep sharp.

Mattman3969 · July 2020

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Mattman3969 said:

Luckily these are moms knives and don’t need to be scalpel sharp.

can you post a pic of the serrated knife you are talking about?

@The Cen-Tex Smoker - they are a lower end set of Henckels. Very shallow serrations. I was able to get rid of all the nasty burs on the smooth side and actually get a decent edge.

The knives seemed super soft and would heat up very fast. They will cut paper now but don’t know how long that will last.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 2020

Mattman3969 said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Mattman3969 said:

Luckily these are moms knives and don’t need to be scalpel sharp.

can you post a pic of the serrated knife you are talking about?

@The Cen-Tex Smoker - they are a lower end set of Henckels. Very shallow serrations. I was able to get rid of all the nasty burs on the smooth side and actually get a decent edge.
The knives seemed super soft and would heat up very fast. They will cut paper now but don’t know how long that will last.

sounds like you got it done. I have never tried a knife like a steak knife but I have sharpened a few scalloped slicers (more like bread and brisket knives) and they sharpened up real nice.

SGH · July 2020

Please forgive the hijack. But speaking of sharpening knives. Look what arrived today. Yeah I know it’s old school with all the new gadgets out there. But it is how I did it my whole life. Some habits die hard.

sumoconnell · July 2020

I just got the Ken Onion, and I might like my sharpening wet stones better, like @SGH. I get a really nice edge on the work sharp, and it can do serrations, but for a flat blade, my wet stones are better. I can get a crazy edge on my stones, freehand.

saluki2007 · July 2020

My work sharp wet stones just showed up earlier this week. There is just something therapeutic about manually sharpening knifes.

SGH · July 2020

saluki2007 said:

There is just something therapeutic about manually sharpening knifes.

Unfortunately in this modern world it is becoming more and more less common. It’s really a travesty. It’s a basic skill that everyone should become proficient at. I will be the first to say that all of the modern gizmos have their place and make the task at hand so simple that a blind fool can now sharpen and get better than average results.

But you are correct, there is something very rewarding about hand honing. I’m sitting here sharpening two very old, odd ball knives with two of my obsolete (so they say) oil stones. I can do it for hours on in.

Lit · July 2020

SGH said:

saluki2007 said:

There is just something therapeutic about manually sharpening knifes.

Unfortunately in this modern world it is becoming more and more less common. It’s really a travesty. It’s a basic skill that everyone should become proficient at. I will be the first to say that all of the modern gizmos have their place and make the task at hand so simple that a blind fool can now sharpen and get better than average results.
But you are correct, there is something very rewarding about hand honing. I’m sitting here sharpening two very old, odd ball knives with two of my obsolete (so they say) oil stones. I can do it for hours on in.

I just sharpened all my knives a couple days ago. Its a good amount of work especially if you have any chips to get out but its nice something so simple that produces such a good result.

FarmingPhD · July 2020

Nothing like taking hair off your arm after the final hone on a knife.

SGH · July 2020

Lit said:
I just sharpened all my knives a couple days ago. Its a good amount of work especially if you have any chips to get out but its nice something so simple that produces such a good result.

I agree. It definitely can be a fair amount of work. But it’s one of the few types of work that I actually enjoy. I recently added a couple of glass stones to my collection and the full set of Gritomatic SC stones. Now that I have more free time on my hands I am getting away from the Baldor and the Tormek and going back to hand sharpening.

SGH · July 2020

@Lit
What stones and/equipment do you use?

Lit · July 2020

SGH said:

@Lit
What stones and/equipment do you use?

I just have a King 1000\6000 and then the HandAmerican strop system. Basically its like a metal stone holder but it has magnetic pads you can change. I have 3 different pads with 1 micron paste, .5 micron paste, and then one that is a polish its tanned horse butt leather with no paste. I was looking at getting a 10k glass stone to keep in the kitchen for random touchups but they arent cheap.

Lit · July 2020

@SGH I also use this rod. Its a 2k grit ceramic rod so much finer than most.

SGH · July 2020

Lit said:
I just have a King 1000\6000

I have actually had my eye on a King 1000. Never tried one myself. But from the reviews I have read it’s an exceptional stone for the money.

To be honest, I am more impressed with good results than I am with how much something costs. That is why with all stones and machines I have I still go to the old Norton oil stones for “general” sharpening. They ain’t fancy. They are very cheap. But they have always worked fantastic for all my Victorinox breaking knives and cleavers. I even use them for fillet knives. Will they produce a mirror finish? No, they will not. Will they polish? No, they will not. But they produce an exceptional general use edge and they do it for about 20 bucks. Hard to beat in my book.

My point on the rambling above is simply this. It doesn’t take thousands of dollars to produce a good working edge. Use what works for you 👍

SGH · July 2020

Lit said:

@SGH I also use this rod. Its a 2k grit ceramic rod so much finer than most.

I like ceramics in general. I recently bought a Spyderco Ultra Fine ceramic stone to finish up with after coming off the fine India.

At first I struggled with it because it gives absolutely zero “feedback” compared to a water or oil stone. Also it gives zero suction due to it is used dry. No oil no water.

Now that I have learned the stone, I absolutely love it. They do not come with a true grit rating. They are simply labeled medium, fine and ultra fine. With that said, I would say it is equal to a 5000 grit Naniwa or a 8000 grit Norton. For as cheap as it is, you will be hard pressed to do any better without spending some serious money.

My ultra fine is 8x3. The medium and fine only come in 8x2. If they ever start producing them in 8x3 I will buy the medium and fine as well.

I can honestly highly recommend the Spyderco ultra fine ceramic stone as a finisher that is much cheaper than an equivalent Waterstone. The biggest plus of the ceramic is it will never dish or wear. It is truly a lifetime (and then some) investment.

I’m enclosing a picture of a beater (junk) knife. I can honestly go from the India to the ceramic stone and produce very clean push/pull cuts on paper. Not bad for the minimal investment.

SGH · July 2020

@Mattman3969
My apologies brother 3969. I have took your post way off topic. That honestly was not my intent. It just sort of veered that way.

Lit · July 2020

SGH said:

Lit said:
I just have a King 1000\6000

I have actually had my eye on a King 1000. Never tried one myself. But from the reviews I have read it’s an exceptional stone for the money.
To be honest, I am more impressed with good results than I am with how much something costs. That is why with all stones and machines I have I still go to the old Norton oil stones for “general” sharpening. They ain’t fancy. They are very cheap. But they have always worked fantastic for all my Victorinox breaking knives and cleavers. I even use them for fillet knives. Will they produce a mirror finish? No, they will not. Will they polish? No, they will not. But they produce an exceptional general use edge and they do it for about 20 bucks. Hard to beat in my book.
My point on the rambling above is simply this. It doesn’t take thousands of dollars to produce a good working edge. Use what works for you 👍

The king stone is great especially for the price. Never had any issue getting it shave sharp but the strop helps to get to that level. Didnt you buy some water free stones recently?

SGH · July 2020

Lit said:
Didnt you buy some water free stones recently?

The only oil/water free stone I have is the ceramic I posted above. However i did just but a set of stones that really caught my attention and raised my curiosity. I bought a full set of Gritomatic stones.

Here is was raised my interest. Most, if not all silicon carbide stones are in the grit range of 120 to 320. And they are more often than not oil stones.

The Gritomatic stones are Russian made silicon carbide and they say do not use oil. They say oil will not work good with them. They are supposedly Waterstones. That is new to me. Never heard of such before.

Also the fact that they are definitely silicon carbide and the grit range starts at 120 and runs all the way up to 2500. That is definitely unheard of in my experience. Just to my old eyes the 2500 grit stone definitely looks and feels in that range. Later today I am going to try them out on a very large breaking knife. I will offer my thoughts and honest opinion after I try them.

Just for clarification. The Gritomatics are 8x3x1 in size.

I don’t know how well it will show up in the picture, but this is a close up of the 2500. It’s ultra smooth. Especially for silicon carbide.

fishlessman · July 2020

@SGH

you need one of these coticule stones with the matching slurry stone for your razors. you can adjust the grit with the slurry you make rubbing the two stones together with water. one of my favorite stone purchases. its a natural belgian stone

the blue side with water makes the edge smoother for shaving, no need to strop

heavy, almost paste-like slurry: 1000 - 2000 grit.
regular, milk-like slurry: 4000-6000 grit
thin, misty slurry: 8000-12000 grit
water: 16000 grit - or even slower.

SGH · July 2020

@fishlessman
I have honestly been eyeing a Belgium Blue and a coticule for a while.

Canugghead · July 2020

Glad I found this thread. Picked what seems to be the laziest n easiest method from utube. Huge improvement even with an under 5 min rush job 😀

Sharpening Knives ???

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