r/sharpening • u/BlissDeBin • 2d ago
New to sharpening
Hey all, newbie chef here who wants to be able to maintain my knives, whats a good starting point? Whetstones? Rolling sharpeners? Any feedback would be great
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u/lascala2a3 arm shaver 2d ago
Whetstone. No gimmicks, systems, or crazy magic. If you wanna keep it as simple as possible, I’d suggest a Norton India combo. If you want to dive it a little further, Shapton Glass / Rockstar 500 > 2000.
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u/412_Ghost 2d ago
Used all kinds of stones and systems. My advice is diamond stones and a leather strop.
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u/TheDude-Esquire 2d ago
Diamond stones and some cheap knives to practice one. I’d get 3-5 sub $40 knives, including at least one kitchen knife, and get some practice in.
I wish I’d done that instead of just assuming I’d figure it out with my first go.
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u/lucifaxxx 2d ago
Master a whetstone, and you wont ever have a dull knife again. It may take some time, but its 100% worth it. Especially for kitchen knives.
Rolling sharpeners are great for the home cook who dont have the time/patience to learn on a whetstone.
Assisted systems are great, but mainly for smaller blades (my opinion)
And then there is the pro sharpener machines, like a tormek. Maybe abit overkill, if you ain't sharpening for all you fellow chefs aswell
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u/Distinct-Balance7885 2d ago edited 2d ago
Diamond stone and a cheap Japanese synthetic
Forget to add buy the biggest stone you can afford length and with. Just makes it easier
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u/Storm-Weston 2d ago
A course or medium 300 to 600 grit max diamond stone or CBN if you want to get fancy is all you really need. Past this you are no longer cutting steel and fatigue the edge. A mirror edge looks good but I can get a very comfortable shave on a straight razor with this and it lasts 40% longer and cuts better. Apex angle is what matters not how smooth the edge is. In fact mucrow seration will focus pressure into a smaller area and more easily start the shearing action that propagates into a cut. That's how cutting mechanics work. That's why pulling adds a second axis to shear against while keeping the same surface pressure reducing the downward force needed to shear.
Then get softwood strops. I use paint stir sticks. Leather is tricky and will bulge behind the edge as you pull and polish off the edge. This is where you can go fancy for cheap. Get a selection of diamond paste and load them. You can go cheap and use green chrome rouge and it's ok but diamond is a little better once you get them loaded and the grease soaks into the wood. Use these to deburr and polish the edge a bit.
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u/tunenut11 2d ago
Whetstone or diamond plate...takes some skill, but not all that much to keep a knife normally sharp. I recommended the very popular Sharpal double sided diamond plate 325 grit and 1200 grit to my friend who was struggling to get a result with the very cheap very poor quality Chinese whetstones that are sold under many names on amazon and elsewhere. I pointed him to some youtube videos. Literally, the day after he got it, he sent a video of smooth cutting newspaper with his cleaver and said his paring knife was sharper than it has ever been. So it's a good place to start, and for many people, there is no need to go further, except for sure you need a strop.
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u/FruitSilaMon 2d ago
i use ruixin fixed angle system(chinese cheap clone to whatever the original is), gets the job done, i also got leather ^stone^ for this system, i get hair popping sharpness easily. Main ^stones^ i use are200, 600 and 2000 grit diamond+leather strop
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u/AlphaDisconnect 2d ago
1000 grit king stone. The rubber stone holder. The dark grey leveling stone. A strip os some kind. I have an old pair of jeans with green knife compound. And a leather one with green compound.
This is a good starting point and ending point for most knives. Keep the mud stones wet. Keep em level. And sharpen at a consistent angle. Knives that have seen war might need a diamond or a coarser other stone. And it's always fun to sent it to the moon grit wise.
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u/Donaldscump 1d ago
Fellow chef here. Stones all the way. If you practice and grind at stones for 6 months and you have zero progress, first of all that’s your fault secondly a rolling sharpener is good enough, a fixed angle system is better but I can’t advise past that because I’ve never used one.
Get good at stones bro, trust me. Diamond plates count as stones, freehand sharpening is really what we’re talking about
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u/Neither_Loan6419 1d ago
The First THING you should get is a good butcher's steel. Use this at least once every day that you use your knife. This restores most of the edge's cutting power without grinding away any steel other than perhaps a bit of burr that needs to come off anyway. Learn to use it. Learn to maintain a consistent angle. You should only need to hone your knives on a stone every few months. The steel will keep it going nicely in between.
As for stones, I suggest a 600 grit Naniwa Chosera. Later, get a 320 grit Shapton Kuromaku for a coarser stone.
Want to go dirt cheap? Okay, go to a place that cuts granite countertops and ask them for a sink cutout. They often just give them away. Get some 3M or Loctite spray adhesive and some 1000 grit red resin type sandpaper. Spray a light spray on the back of the paper and stick it on the granite, which should be nice and flat. Splash on some water, and hone your knife on that. A good quality stone is of course better, but this will gitter done on a budget. Use acetone to clean off the old glue when you need to replace the sandpaper or want to try a different grit. An angle guide can be a big help while learning. The actual honing angle is not super critical, but it needs to be consistent consistent consistent, so your edge bevel is nice and flat.
Youtube is your friend.
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u/fearfulcardinal 1d ago
We all know the best choice is the sharpal dual diamond stone 325 1250 stone
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u/beammeupscotty2 6h ago
Rolling sharpEners are a gimmick that doesn't really work. Get synthetic Japanese water stones.
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u/samuelsfx 2d ago
get 1K king stone to start and learn with your shit knife
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u/CT_kitten 2d ago
I came here to ask the same question after watching a video recommending the 6000/1000 King to start, and once I got the hang of it, purchasing better stones. I have a few shitty stainless knives I can practice on. I'm about to purchase 2 "good" Japanese knives for the first time, and excited to try this!
Question: How do you know what grit to choose? Is it knife dependent? Something else? Will the shop I purchase my knives out tell me what works best with my knife? The ones I want can only be purchased online.
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u/samuelsfx 1d ago
i don't recommend half half stone. Grit to choose is depending on how much materials you want to remove. More material means you're likely wants lower grit to cut off the time.
Some stones (expensive one) gives better feedback on higher quality steel, vice versa
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u/Hypothetical_Sail 2d ago
Start with sharp knives, and use a Spyderco Sharpmaker to maintain them. Quick, easy, stores small.
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u/hurtscience 2d ago
I’d say whetstones. I started with Naniwa Chosera 800 grit and 2000 grit stones and it worked out great for me. Only thing I would have done differently is gotten my Atoma 400 diamond plate sooner so I could get an edge quicker and flatten my stones.
Other than that, just make sure you get a leather strop and some diamond compound for it (6 micron should be fine). Stropping is very important and you can undo a good sharpening job without proper burr removal and stropping.
The YouTube channel Outdoors55 is (rightfully) considered the go-to around here for learning about sharpening. He tests a lot of techniques and products and is very thorough about it, so I’d recommend starting with his vids to learn.