Need recommendation for knife sharpener - I love my new Forschner Fibrox chef's knife!
Hi - I received my two Forschner Victorinox 8" chef's knives on Friday and am totally impressed with them. In fact, I like chopping with them far better than my Wusthof Grand Prix or Henckels Four Star chef knives that I've used for years! They are super sharp! So sharp, in fact, that my husband is afraid I will cut myself. I did lots of prep work this weekend and was amazed at how much easier it was to slice/chop carrots, onions, bell peppers, etc.
Anyway, I am faithful to keep my Henckels and Wusthof knives sharpened but am wondering now, after using these Forschner knives, if I have been sharpening my other knives incorrectly or not using the correct sharpening tool as there's such a vast difference in the sharpness of the blades. Can anyone recommend a good sharpener to work with all these knives and/or point me toward some general instruction on knife-sharpening?
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You're already familiar with whetstones, so I'd probably upgrade your stones and buy The Art of Knife Sharpening by Dave Martell!
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bgazindad
Jan 11, 2010 12:14 PM
Chemicalkinetics has offered some good advice. I would recommend that if you do not already own one, you should purchase "sharpening steel" Regardless of what method you choose to sharpen your knives, you always need a sharpening steel. Also, One advantage of an electric sharpener is that it sharpens at a more consistent angle. I have a chef choice model 120 which sharpens at 20 degrees (The 20 degree angle is recommend for western knives.) and a chef choice asian model that sharpens at 15 degrees. The chef choice model 130 is recommended by Cooks illustrated and the model 120 was their second choice. Initially, I used the electrics to reset the angles of most of my knives. I used Japanese whet stones to polish the blades afterwards, I used a 1000 grid stone then a 3000 grid stone. IMO it is important to sharpen my knives at the correct recommended angles. To do this accurately and consistently is the major challenge in using whet stones which is why I use electrics to set the angles. I use whet stones to sharpen and to minimize metal loss.
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re: bgazindad
steve h.
Jan 11, 2010 01:24 PM
We have a 120. I bought it as a last resort before buying a new knife set as a Christmas gift for my wife. I'm very glad I did. Follow directions and this device should pay for itself several times over. Works very well with cleavers and serrated knives, too.
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re: CorneliusSneedley
bgazindad
Jan 12, 2010 10:49 AM
No except that one sharpner on the 130 has no moving parts. its like a steel. Also, the instructions say to pull the knife through at a rate of 4 seconds for an 8 in blade. I have touched the blades after sharpening and it was not hot. The sharpners have three levels of sharpners. the instructions say that unless you have a serious problem with your knife like a nick or extremely dull, using only the finest grid will be necessary to maintain your knife with one or two pulls.
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Chemicalkinetics
Jan 11, 2010 11:01 AM
Congratulation.
Well, it depends on how much time and effort you want to put into sharpening your knives. I sharpen my knives free hand on water stones. Some people do not like it because it has a learning curve to it -- a small learning curve in my opinion. The advantages of flat stone sharpening is that you can put whatever angle you like on your knives and you can finish them at whatever grit size you wish.
If you have 10+ knives to sharpen, you can consider sending them out to a professional knife sharpener, but this can be costly. We are talking about $6 per knife to possibly $20 per knife -- not including shipping fee. So, you will be spending about ~$100 for a set of knives.
As for electric sharpeners, they are fast, easy to use, and they are cheaper than send out the knives to professional in the long run. The downsides are that most electric sharpener do not put on a very good edge for reasons I don't understand. They also tend to grind off more metal than necessary.
Let us know if you have any preference, and I think some people here can then guide you better toward you choice.
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re: Chemicalkinetics
For my knives at our vacation spot, I bought a whetstone (I think that's what you call it) in the camping department at the local WalMart (nowhere else to shop). It's a rectangle stone in a little leather pouch. I have some relatively cheap knives there - one Calphalon chef's knife and other cheapo castoffs from our early-married days (Chicago Cutlery, etc.) plus I'll take one of the new Forschner's down there. At home, I have something similar that looks like a whetstone with a red handle. I just run the knive blades over the stone, moving across the blade in only one direction on each side as I was shown by a friend of my dad's many years ago. I am wondering from some of what I've read on this forum if perhaps I'm honing, not sharpening, with the whetstone? I I had been told years ago when the Henckel knife was new to never use an electric sharpener as it would eat away the metal on a good knife over time. Anyway, my question is: is there a relatively simple, straightforward process for me to properly sharpen my knives at home? I don't mind spending some money on a good sharpener to use at home if it's feasible but don't want to ruin my knives trying to do it myself if it's too complicated.
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re: koigirl
Chemicalkinetics
Jan 11, 2010 12:58 PM
Koigirl,
Any knife sharpening method will eat away some metals. However, electric sharpeners are more aggressive, so don't stick your knives too often into those things.
There are different qualities of whetsones. Some can be as cheap as $1-4 a piece and those are not very good. Others can cost as much as $100-200. I cannot be sure which one you have. For a decent whetstone, you are probably looking for around $30-50
If you are interested in a sharpening tool which is simple and straightforward with a very small learning curve and also not as aggressive as an electric knife sharpener, then maybe a "Spyderco 204 Sharpener"?
http://www.consumersearch.com/knife-s...
It is a simple tool for touch-up, but it is not very good for re-profiling a damage knife. In other words, it is very slow to put on a new edge on a chipped or cracked knife.
It seems you may already know how to do free-hand knife sharpening -- taught by your friend's dad. If that is the case, then maybe all you need is to upgrade your stone. Not sure. At this point, are you leaning more toward a tool or free hand sharpening?
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re: koigirl
Honing is sharpening. They're both the abrasive removal of material from the knife. If you're happy with your current sharpening setups, then stick with them.
Despite what some people on forums like this one would have you believe, knife sharpening is not a rocket science. It doesn't require a thousand dollars worth of gizmos. Perfectly good results can be had with minimal equipment. I sharpen most knives on a dual surface silicon carbide stone, and get just as good results with it as with fancier gear. If you're not happy with the results you're getting, then there are some options. One of the fancier chef choice models would serve well, or a spyderco sharpmaker, or a Lansky jig, or a number of other things. (including a bit of instruction from someone who can show you how to do it, and what a burr feels like, etc.)
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re: dscheidt
Chemicalkinetics
Jan 11, 2010 01:04 PM
I thought Honing is not the same as Sharpening, no? Isn't "honing" about realigning a rolled edge?
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re: Chemicalkinetics
Paulustrious
Jan 11, 2010 01:34 PM
Yes it is, CK - as I'm sure you know.
Here is a Alton Brown videoette.
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re: Paulustrious
Chemicalkinetics
Jan 11, 2010 01:54 PM
Hi Paul,
I cannot watch the video here because I am at work, but I think I know which video it is. The Shun one, right? I think he did a good job explaining the difference. I think his other Shun video is also pretty good -- about the purpose of different knives.
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re: Paulustrious
Chemicalkinetics
Jan 11, 2010 09:28 PM
Paul,
Now, I watched it at home. Yours is not the Shun ad video, but they are similar about their explanation on honing (starting at 4:47 time mark):
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re: Chemicalkinetics
Well, I used to make that distinction as well, then I asked Murray Carter about it. He politely explained that both honing and sharpening are the same, and invited me to look the words up. So I did, and he's right. And anyway, he oughta know. :)
I always used to wonder why the major knife manufacturers "stupidly" call their steels "sharpening steels." Well, that is why. They are.
And while I am a big AB fan, on this point I have to disagree with him. He says no one should bother to learn to sharpen their own knives, aside from using a steel, so, in this case, I will take Murray's word over his. Murray has some excellent sharpening instructional DVD's for sale over on his site, btw. You can see a demo at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuOlGG...
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re: CorneliusSneedley
scubadoo97
Jan 12, 2010 07:12 AM
I agree that honing is sharpening. By dictionary definition. Using a smooth steel like a glass rod will not take off any perceptible metal. As I know you know, a grooved steel and ceramic will remove metal. Even a loaded leather strop is removing metal, no doubt about that.
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re: Chemicalkinetics
No, honing is the removal of material with an abrasive. Burnishing is the plastic deformation of an edge, and has little actual use with the materials used to make knives. There are hard chromed rods available for the purpose, but the vast majority of people who "hone" their knives are doing it with a rather coarse file.
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