Knife Sharpening
This week once again the subject is on Knife Sharpening. As I stated before I have been taking requests as of late and the one's that I get the most are for Knife Sharpening. So this weeks Knife Sharpening video will discuss Kitchen Knife Sharpening.
and the subject of How To Sharpen A Serrated Knife Blade. There is always a bone of contention when it comes to How To Sharpen A Serrated Knife Blade. The fact of the matter is that the best way is on a standing grinder rig outfitted with a medium bristle bronze brush wheel. The bronze is softer than the steel of the knife but hard enough to straighten a rolled edge without scratching the surface of the serrated blade. The bronze wheel will also not damage or deform the scallops or teeth of the serrated blade.
Well, fact of the matter is that not everyone has a standing grinder in their homes to do Kitchen Knife Sharpening with. The other side of the story is that many people use their serrated knives for chores other than what they are meant for and in that case the edge will not stay as sharp as long. In most cases when it comes to Knife Sharpening and especially Kitchen Knife Sharpening the most difficult knife in the kitchen to sharpen is the serrated blade. Now there are many gimmicky gadgets on the market that say they will sharpen a serrated knife but, the fact of the matter is that these gadgets will also deform the scallops and teeth of your serrated kitchen knives.
I have said it before Knife Sharpening is a matter of practice and Kitchen Knife Sharpening is easier than you think. So How To Sharpen A Serrated Knife Blade? Do you happen to have that standing grinder in your garage? If so great! Go get a medium bristle bronze wheel and I will show you How To Sharpen A Serrated Knife Blade using it. If you are like the rest of us and don't happen to have a standing grinder then read on!
Some of the gadgets out there being sold for serrated Knife Sharpening are called "rat tail" files. These are conical tapered files made of carbide or diamond coated. The trick to using them is that you are supposed to meet the gauge of the scallops of your serrated knife and then either work the file up and down or use a twisting motion to sharpen the scallop and teeth of your serrated knife. (See Video) This is not Knife Sharpening! This is not How To Sharpen A Serrated Knife Blade! As many of you have seen me do in other Knife Sharpening videos I go through a range of grits or meshes when I do Kitchen Knife Sharpening or any Knife Sharpening chore for that matter. So if you have to use these "rat tail" files and you have to go through a range of grits how long do you think it will take to sharpen just one knife? I will tell you how long.........FOREVER!
The "rat tail" file is just one way of not doing proper Knife Sharpening. There are other systems out there like guided Knife Sharpening systems or pivot driven Knife Sharpening systems that use triangular stones or ceramics that they say will allow you to do Kitchen Knife Sharpening of your serrated blades. They will and do work to some extent but will shorten the life span of your serrated knife blades.
In reality no matter what system you choose to do Knife Sharpening on serrated blades the fact remains that in time the teeth of the blade will round out and the scallops of the blade will deform. How quickly that happens is dependent on how you sharpen your serrated blades. I have come up with a way that is fairly gentle to the serrated knife and will allow the blade to remain functional much, much longer than if you used a Knife Sharpening gadget or Kitchen Knife Sharpening system. I use a MAC Knives white or black ceramic honing rod or a Spyderco ultra fine ceramic stone as well as my version of strop I call my "poor mans" strop. (See Video) If I feel like it I will also use my surgical black Arkansas stone for a final polish of the blade. (See Video) Is my system the "perfect" system? No! But it is very gentle to the knife and will allow you to have it for more years than if you used a "rat tail", pivot, or guided Knife Sharpening system.(See Video) I hope you enjoy the video!
Thanks for the vid ya vid for us ! Field sharpen
ReplyDeleteNow I must say this : I am man enough to be honest.
NO human on this earth can use a honing rod /steel correctly.
I fucked up 3 edges in a row.No human w/o a machine /guide can find and maintain that crazy little angle for the entire blade sweep OVER AND OVER.
1 your not human, but a robot
2 your MUCH older then you look and very talented.In fact you are 500-1500 years old and have been working on edges as a master from age 1 up.
No bullshit. How the hell ...
5 of us cant do this.LOOKS easy..never works.
lol WTF is the secret? Im not goofey, im athletic and steady WHY CANT I DO THIS???
We have chalked it up to " Honing rods /steel do not work..its all hype and marketing."
I hate not being the best at somthing.Hell, I am not even terrible at it. It just doesnt work at all.
argggghhhh
grrrrrrrrr
Be honest : Robot OR magician ?
No....really
Using a honing rod free hand is HARDER then a 1 mile shot as a sniper with a .50 cal barrett .....literally.
I have this one.
http://www.worksharptools.com/knife-tool-sharpener-accessories/retractable-honing-rod/flypage.pbv.tabs.acc.tpl.html
No way these things work.
I see guys sharpen on a ( dont laugh) leather belt....calling FAKE on that also =P
lol ok im calm.
Great vids you do BTW
Gunny
Hey Gunny,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you being man enough to be honest. To many people in this world don't have the balls to do so. I never said I was human and I never said I was a robot!
You didn't fuck up 3 edges, there is nothing that can't be fixed just like new. You don't need a machine or a guide. The machine will fuck up your blades to if not used right and the machines can't do what the human/robot eye and hand can do.
I am much older than I look. I try to stay in shape. I would not say that I am a master at this stuff but I have been working with blades since I was 13yrs.
How the hell? It just takes time to develop the sensitivity and the feel of the blade against any object. It takes time. Practice. How is the quality or your blades? Not all sharpening mediums will work on all knives and not all knives can be tuned or sharpened on all mediums.
I am athletic and steady as well! Stop saying you can't! The one thing I know about Marines as I have a lot of friends who are Marines is that Marines don't run from a fight! They run toward a fight!
Remember! If learning how to sharpen a knife is giving you pain just remember that pain is weakness leaving the body! You will get the knack of it. You may have to watch the videos over and over again but then take a break for a day or two and go back to it. That is how muscle memory is made!
Honing rods and steels do work......Trust me!
I know how you feel about hating not being the best at something I am the same way! Step back a bit then go back in again!
The steel that you have is great for the outdoors to tune up field knives for things like skinning but it's a ceramic rod most likely at 1200-1500 grit. If your knife edge is rounded or to dull this rod will not work. Then you would need a diamond rod work the blade on the diamond and then polish it on the ceramic. This is part of the issue I think. Your knives are to far gone so you need a coarse grit stone or diamond to cut a bevel into it and then go on to the higher grits. You may need to watch some of the vids again!
As far as sharpening on leather? No! The leather is for a final polish of the blade if you need that kind of polish. Remember there are two kinds of edges. A toothy cutting edge and a highly polished slicing edge. You need to know which one you want to have at the moment. When I did the Ka-bar I made a toothy edge for the field.
So check out the vids again and give yourself break and don't worry if you have questions or vid suggestions just let me know!
Semper Fi Gunny!
Rich
Thank you for your knife sharpening videos. VERY informative.
ReplyDeleteMy knives are Hoffritz, Top of the Line, Ice Tempered, Stainless ... 20 years old. My steel is Hoffritz and is manufactured slightly rough in the contact area ... probably 50+ years old.
My question, how do I tell what temper they are?
Thanks. I look forward to your reply.
Skip Poulsen
Boca Raton, FL
Hi Skip! Glad you like the videos and glad they could help you out. Here is the main issue. Hoffritz is great stuff but they have been out of business for years now so there is nobody to call to get any technical info. Now is there any other names on the knife and steel. Hoffritz was a company that used to put their name on other peoples items. In any case if the knives you have are German then in general terms the RC will most like be between 58 to 62. I would venture to say 58-60 as 20yrs back we and the Germans really did not temper higher than RC 60 for blades in general terms and the steel you have is most likely going to be harder at RC 62 in order to manipulate your edge back to straight! I hope this helps! Thanks again for watching my vids and if I can be of further assistance then don't hesitate to ask! Cheers!
ReplyDelete