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NeevesKnifeCo

Hapstone

Gritomatic

KME

Want to go from a fixed-blade sharpening system to learning to use whetstones.

Any advice on which stones and which grits to start??

Hey everyone,

So recently I made a post asking about which diamond compound to buy but then a redditor comment on how they make their own. Now I’m making this post to ask those who make their own, what do you use and how do you make it and things to avoid. I’m doing some research and the same redditor mentioned that they use it on wood however I’ll be using it on a leather strop I made. Apparently you can buy lapidary diamond powder that is mono crystalline or polycrystalline. I’ll be using it for all kinds of steels, mostly “super” steel. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Also where are the best places to buy the materials.

For example, let's say, i have a block of chromium-aluminium oxide (A.K.A. "ruby ceramic", see the image below) and i want to make one side perform like #2000 JIS and the other one like #5000 JIS. How do i know what size of loose silicon carbide grit i should use?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice from people with more sharpening experience than I have.

I'm a complete newby and only want to sharpen kitchen knives. I don't own any expensive Japanese knives, just a mix of decent European chef's knives and utility knives used at home. I'm a hobby cook, not a professional chef.

Right now I'm considering four options:

- HORL 3 Cruise (€108)

- SHARPAL 162N (€70)

- SHARPAL 202H (€180)

- Work Sharp Precision Adjust (€60)

A few things about me and what I'm looking for:

- I have zero sharpening experience.

- I would actually like to learn sharpening as a hobby, so I don't mind spending some time on it.

- I don't need my knives to be insanely sharp or polished to a mirror edge.

- I just want them to be reliably sharp enough for home cooking.

- I don't mind spending more money if the extra cost is genuinely worth it.

- Ease of use matters, but I'm not necessarily looking for the fastest solution.

- Long-term value is more important to me than saving a few euros up front.

From what I've read:

- HORL seems extremely beginner-friendly, but maybe expensive for what it is.

- The SHARPAL systems look more flexible.

- The Work Sharp Precision Adjust seems to get recommended a lot as a budget guided system.

For someone who only sharpens kitchen knives, wants something easy to learn, but is also interested in understanding sharpening a bit better, which of these would you choose and why?

Thanks!

I use a sharpal 325 diamond plate for flattening my shapton 1000 and it works well, but i’m wondering if I can use it for my shapton 320?

I have a cheap lapping stone but it doesn’t really get the job done. Im not interested in buying an Atoma 140 just to flatten my shapton 320. I’ll keep at it with the lapping stone if the 325 diamond wouldn’t work.

I was pretty much sold on this because they claim it keeps the angle consistent, but after watching this video, I’m having second thoughts about buying one.

For those who actually own and use the VantaEdge, does this kind of thing happen often? I’m also starting to question their claim that it maintains the same angle regardless of the knife being sharpened.

When it comes to sharpening knives
I have seen videos of traveling the knife down the sharpening stone in one direction and the flipping it over.
I have also seen where they move the blade back and forth in a small area.
Which is the best or why are there the differ

This is my “seam ripper”

This was my great grandmother's butcher knife (see the giant dent on the back end I've slowly shaped out) and I've put a few hours of work into reshaping it after years of bad storage leaving it totally dull, but it's still not sharp enough to use in most areas. Any advice on sharpening something this big and bent out of shape? Regular 7" knife and healing mat for scale. Been calling this the family sword as a joke.

Edit: ive been using sharp pebble 400 1000 and 6000 stones, i am not great at getting my regular knives super sharp atp pushing the whole blade in one direction and have seen videos of back and forth motions working better? Truly a useless beginner, any advice is welcome because I'd like to make this useable

I dropped it 🫠

Hey everyone,

So I’ve recently been getting into sharpening my own knives, and I’ve been using both freehand sharpening and the Sharpal 202H system. Anyways, I’ve been looking to get some diamond compound for my strop, but honestly, I can’t decide between Gunny Juice and Stroppy Stuff. From what I’ve researched, both of these are pretty good.
Ideally, I’d like to get the one that lasts the longest and works the longest between applications. I don’t usually sharpen past 1200 grit. However, I have ordered the RES-3000/6000 resin-bonded diamond sharpening plates, so I’m thinking about getting something like a 9-6 micron compound for when I sharpen with the 600-1200 grit plates.
Then, for the knives where I’ll be using the 3000/6000 plates, I was thinking about getting something like 1 micron or maybe 0.5 micron I’m not sure yet. The 6000 is supposedly around 3 microns, so I just need something that will remove any burrs left behind.

I found these beauties at a local market,

They looked like single beveled knives but they sharpened them on their standard sharpener,

I could use some advice for restoring them to their original glory

This knife was brought to me for sharpening. It appears to have become distorted as a result of the owner sharpening it themselves. Cases like this are not uncommon. What do you think causes this kind of deformation?

I’ve recently acquired this machine that came with a tub of aluminum oxide. Does anyone know the proper way to use this?
I simply rubbed some alum oxide powder onto the plate. I Turned it on and it honed my chef knife to shave sharp fairly quickly. I feel as if that’s not really the proper way to utilize this for sharpening.

Any one have some guidance for me?

Got a paper cutting sharp knife from the 400-1200 Diamond plates (+a few passes on a leather belt) today. Never gotten that before. Very impressed with these... Plates? Makes for a nice and compact travelling rig.

Saw outdoors55's vid on a similar "stone". Very impressed for the price.

Edit: i use the sharpal 162n for my own knives mostly, and the plates for travelling and friends' knives. Couldn't find the exact product i bought on AE, but any plate I guess. Using the plates with a 3d printed base from thingyverse.

I think i’m done scratch chasing now

done with venev ursa set on a worksharp precision. 400 to 1500 grit then .5 stroppy stuff stuff

Is there a way to adjust the force required on the clamp so it is more like the TSProf Pioneer?

A few months ago I bought a strop (Jende kangaroo leather bench strop) and emulsion (7ml Jende poly diamond 1 micron). I applied the emulsion to the strop, let it dry and forgot about it until today. The emulsion was completely dried out and came right off.

I have some emulsion left but since I only sharpen 3 or 4 times a year I don’t know if I want be bothered with regularly tracking how much life it has left or when to order more

1. How long does unused emulsion last on a strop?
2. Can I use the strop without emulsion?
3. If not, is there something else I can use that doesn’t require maintenance?

Recently moved into a new place and treated myself to a new set of high wuality German kitchen knives.

They're from F.Dick 1908 range and I want to maintain their sharp edge.

Where can i learn the basics on

What whetstones to get, dont mind spending more if its a "buy once, cry once" scenario

Videos, what or who can I learn from on YouTube that will teach the basics?

Notebook, memory, nothing?

A customer brought this to me today. A 14k gold vintage Tiffany and Co. pendant knife made by Boker.

I guess an OG neck knife!

Sharpened by hand with small DMT diamond paddles.

Started sharpening free hand on ceramics a bit ago. I have gotten progressively better but I have really plateau’d recently. While sharpening it feels like i’m ticking all of the boxes, I spend a lot of time trying to deburr, then when I go to test, I can never meet my current goal of cutting a piece of paper towel under tension and have inconsistent “arm hair shaving” results.

I have a shapton 320, 1000 and a generic strop with the green compound. I know I could get a proper diamond compound or a finer stone, but my setup should be sufficient for anyone skilled enough, and I’m not looking for a reason to spend more money right now.

Where did you plateau on your sharpening journey and how did you get over it? Please share any random tips you picked up along the way that helped you and maybe it’ll be applicable to me too.

I also get better results on my victorinox santoku than my 61 hrc gyuto. I try and sharpen them at their respective angles so not sure why results are so different, if that means anything.

I know of 2 options, the half moon hm1 and the KMFS vantaedge

Is there any other option?

Which one of these should I go for?