As a red seal chef. I’m embarrassed to say that I’m still struggling with sharpening my Japanese knives and always paid some ppl to do the sharpening for me. I feel with confidence that I can do it more accurately now cause of this video. Very well done.
Don't be embarrassed, hand skills are just that, hand skills, they are passed on by other HANDS and not by YT videos. You can't learn engraving of violin making by remote learning, it requires apprenticeship, and hand tool sharpening is just as much of a hand skill that requires hands on learning. The difference is that when you are taught properly by somebody that already knows how to do it right, is in all of the time, energy and nerves wasted on trial and error when you try to do it by yourself.
Just buy some cheap knives and start practicing. Thats what I did. I sharpen all kinds of knives now and some friends even brought their expensive knives to be sharpened after they worked with my knives. Got two nice wetstones out of that service.
when I worked in the industry I paid a local to sharpen mine as well, he just did a far superior job ....I'll have to get keep practicing on my kitchen ones..
No need to be emberrased, chef knives are expensive, it is terrifying to sharpen them and sharpening is a skill based almost entirely on experience and muscle memory, if you would like to get into sharpening your knives start with some cheap knives and work your way up
@@SuWoopSparrow It probably wouldn't, but there's no reason to risk it. You get super small particles into the grains of the wood and they could get trapped there. Later when using a knife on it it could release the metal. And all you have to do is do it on the counter or over the sink.
@@illegitimate0 Yea I wont disagree with you. Id avoid it or have a dedicated board for that like Andrew said. I just think there are far more toxic things to worry about in the kitchen on a daily basis that people dont think about.
I just like the mental image of this guy outside his house violently sawing at the sidewalk. Like what the heck would you think if you saw that while walking down the road? lol
When i was 7, I sat on the porch with my grandpa, who taught me how to sharpen a pocket knife. He told me to feel the edge and move the blade fully from the heal to the point. To never ever sharpen a knife on one side and then the other. Flip the blade every time. Never work the blade fast. And to feel the grit. Every blade has an angle. That angle determines if its a slicer or a chopper. Slicers have a steeper angle and chopers have a tough wedge to bust bone. Showed me why people use the wrong tool for the job. Grandpa made knives from bandsaw blades. To this day I hone my knives immediately after every use. Everyone of my blade shaves hair. All on a simple Arkansas whet rock. 8 inches long medium grit. I've never had to block level my 44 year old whet rock. Because I use honing oil instead of water. Imagine that. ❤
I grew up in New England on a farm. My grandfather taught me how to sharpen as well, sitting on the back porch. He also used a double bit ax to split wood for that is what we burned. When he was not around we would sharpen his ax so sharp it would cut down through the chopping block...not good.
i agree but Japanese knives which i mostly own tend to have a very thin profile or secondary edge so the sharpening angle is very shallow 9-12 degrees not like German knives 15-20, my point being that it pays to research the knife you're sharpening you could do the sharpie thing that ethan is demonstrating but on a 10 degree bevel its really hard to see i have timber wedges that i use as a reference in the beginning to give me the rough angle. in saying that it eventually just becomes feel
i normally go until i feel a burr and this will happen even on a 1000 starting however if the primary edge profile is really bad and needs reprofiling ill go with a 400, but i cant say enough about stropping and using the 5 or 6k throughout for maintenance, ive had a very decent edge with most of my knives for 8+ months while removing very little material but im not a chef so id assume they might need more frequent attention
Very informative. As a woodworker, I've mastered sharpening gouges, chisels, and plane irons, but I've never been good at sharpening knives for the kitchen. I'm working on that now and this video will be a great help.
Probably won't if you don't already have the feel for it. This video avoided the actual number one mistake which is not sharpening the blade evenly. The hardest part of sharpening a knife is knowing how to pull the blade through so that it sharpens evenly. I'm pretty good at it, but my brother is terrible at it.
My dad knows how to sharp industrial equipment, but he sharpening the knives from the kitchen it's pretty much the same techniques: angle, pressure and movement and the comment above from David it's on point! My dad only sharps in one direction, to keep it consistent.
@@turtleviking1236 or take the weight of the stone and add the desired pressure to that if you happen to be a neanderthal that has no tare function on their scale.
I love the analogy used in this vid. As with most progress being made, consistency is key! I got into cooking from a young age but it's only been a few years since I really got into knifes, specially japanese ones. Sharpening/maintaining knifes can be a huge roadblock/struggle as a hobby chef or knife enthousiast if you wanna keep it traditional. The learning curve into manual sharpening is one that can be compared to learning a technical/mechanical job imo. Being able to perform the movements and actions or actually sort of mastering them is worlds apart. I started off with western sharpening/honing sticks and once I got into whetstones and got used to them, it became therapeutic. Taking your time to take care of your precious tools is something that calms me and became a passion. So glad I got to a point where touching up my knife sets is a pleasure to do even if it takes up a couple of hours! Don't be afraid to buy cheaper whetstones and a few cheaper knifes to hone your skills. The practice without the fear of damaging a high end piece, the investement and time spend are absolutely worth it!
Snobby chef here. I gained a lot of respect for you when you said “behind salting your food, having a sharp knife is one of the most important things......” This is fact.
@@cr3atur321 I suppose it is aesthetics in some part but mainly because all knife work can be done faster and with less effort, at a higher standard with a sharp knife. In fact Some jobs simply cannot be accomplished with a insufficiently sharp knife. A lot fruits and vegetables not only look better but will stay fresh marginally longer if they are cut cleanly instead of crushed and bruised by a dull blade. Cutting fish thinly for sashimi for example.
Getting into really seriously sharpening knives and this video did teach me something I wasn't aware of which is the blade is really sharpened from the mid range (1000) stone and not the fine polishing stones. To check the sharpness first before moving to the final stones. Lots of good tips, thank you.
As someone who made sushi for five years, my biggest suggestion is that it's not the angle that matters so much as consistency. I was the left-handed, cross-eyed dominate chef trained by a left-handed Filipino who grinded down every last knife to be left-handed. As long as you sharpen a knife the same way, over and over and over again, it will, naturally, conform to your grip because it will sharpen to you. The minute differences will be worn away until the blade sharpens to fit your hand. Everyone holds a knife different in ways that are beyond our own ability to see except by subjective judgements of sharpness.
Thank you. I just got a whetstone kit in today and I was in fear of messing up my new knives. I'm 48 and my father was the certified chef, not me and he lives a tad bit too far for me to come running to him to sharpen blades. Funny but true story. I feel as though your video is spot on to us beginners and really calmed my anxiety on this task. Thank you so much!
I started off watching knife and scissors sharpening videos in the wee hours because I thought they would bore me back to sleep. Now I own two sharpening machines, several whetstones, dozens of grades of wet and dry sandpaper, other static sharpening gadgets and a folding pocket diamond sharpening thing just in case I need to sharpen something when I'm away from home. I'm a 64 year old woman, how did this happen?
I've never absorbed so much information in a knife sharpening video. This is ONLY the sharpening video that has taught me in the way that i need to learn! You're amazing.
Tried out the sharpie trick, and it turns out I'm pretty good on keeping my angle. I worked a little on my technique and put a little more pressure on my edge trailing strokes, and now i have a sharp knife. Not sharp enough to pass that standing paper test, but plenty sharp enough to cut anything in my kitchen :)
my first time experience was so horrible i was contemplating life and how much of a loser i was lmao stuck with it, trial and error....now i'm a samurai
Something I did that helped me a bunch was when beginning I paid a professional and asked for his opinion on knives I had practiced on. Not the most financially sound but of advice but an experienced eye spots mistakes before you make them,
I watched quite a few sharpening instructions so far (including all this high tec Tormac stuff): this will be in the top of my list. It supports my point of view: keep it simple an practical. Thanks a lot.
I actually have watched 15 sharpening videos and this is by far the clearest and friendliest one I've seen. I feel like I _finally_ understand the process.
I gotta say, man your videos are genuinely helpful and packed with quality information. When it can seem like a lot of the same ol’ same ol’ with cooking videos, you manage to put out something that’s different and worth watching. 🍻
I feel personally attacked by the intro. 100% the best introduction/basics video for newbies, mate. Very well done. Simple yet informative. No time wasting. No BS. Just solid advice. Cheers from South Africa.
Having been raised by a mechanical engineer, familiar with machining techniques. I've been using the marker trick for about 40 years. I figure if "layout fluid" has been used in machining practically forever, it might be a good idea.
@Usa mabaho Yup. That all sounds perfect. Even when flattening stones, I mark the surface with pencil. I use a straight edge to check but when the pencil is gone, the stone is flat. I don't use marker on stones because porous stones will absorb it and force you to remove too much material.
I was sharpening irons freehand and couldnt tell for sure where I was hitting to thought of the sharpie trick. Then later saw that trick in a book. Dammit I thought I invented it.
Excellent video, nice editing, and very sound advice from a clear expert. It took me a while to understand the easiest way (for me) to determine the angle of your grind. Here are my own notes on how to determine grind angle (it's all based off the "width", or distance from the knife spine to the cutting edge): Shaving: 15°=0.26 x blade width Slicing/pocket knife: 20°=0.34 x blade width Slicing/general use : 25°=0.42 x blade width General use: 30°=0.50 x blade width Chopping: 35°=0.57 x blade width Chopping: 40°=0.64 x blade width Chopping: 45°=0.71 x blade width So if you want a 20-degree angle, the spine of the knife (i measure at the widest part near the handle) should be about 1/3 the width of the knife above the stone surface. Not sure if this makes sense without pictures, but I hope it will help some.
Thank you so much for this video. I was having trouble using my stone as it is my first, I usually use the hand held sharpener with the carbide. I am using your technique with the marker and it works great.
think pull through sharpeners sometimes causes knife edges to get slightly concave or excessively worn at some parts or it may not keep the original shape well. or sharpening a scandi grind or anything that tapers could make it a lot more thick behind the edges than it's expected to be. fixing that with a 1k grit stone would likely be a major pain, wouldn't necessary be all that bothersome to improve the condition of a fairly new knife or a knife that hasn't been sharpened. would probably feel a lot nicer or more rewarding to start with easier knives if possible, might be hard to tell whats easy or why things aren't working out when starting out.
Handy tip, you can get rid of sharpie marks by going over a small part of the mark with the same sharpie and wiping it immediately. There is solvent in the marker allowing the ink to flow but it dries quickly. Small sections, wipe quickly.
Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, or even ethyl alcohol (liquor), will also remove it. I've used that for years to, for instance, allow me to make a correction when labeling a CD-R.
That were some great tips! I just put my whetstone at the scale while sharpening my knife to have full control while learning 👌 easy to say the sharpest knife I produced so far!
(I pass on something I learned, for those who are interested). (Sorry for my English). A long time ago, those who taught me told me that after the # 1000 stone, if the knife does not shave, it is not worth going further. 2 possibility: 1- The knife has a poor quality of steel. 2- We haven't practiced sharpening enough. With training, a # 300 stone and a leather (+ paste) stuck on a piece of wood, we can manage to shave. (Starting with a dull knife). In 5 minutes. Good video and good stones ^^
@@MrRourk Hello, you are absolutely right. And very often I get a razor sharp with $1 or $2 knives. Just because they're $ 1 doesn't mean they're bad. Poor quality can also affects blades at + $ 80, I've seen it, I've tested it, but I can't remember the model I had in my hands. The real problem is to achieve a precise heat treatment, on a specific steel. For example the first versions of the Benchmade pukko with a cpm3v had an hrc of 56 ... While the cpm3v has specifications, in which there is written that it must be from 59 to 61 hrc. Apart from this hardness, this steel is much less efficient. (Usually. For a knife that must cut). The "poor quality of a steel" is explained by a set of processes not carried out well in the heat treatment, for a specific steel. (A 1095 can be used for the butter. Or the reverse, it will be too hard and it will break at the slightest impact). As a result, the steel has too large grains in its structure. With a very poor grain boundary structure as well. Results: The blade will never become like a razor. When sharpening, the grains jump. They do not break or polish (unlike well treated steel). I have a knife like that at home. It was offered in a pack of cold cuts ... that it never managed to cut lol ! Heat treatment is very important to bring the steel to its maximum capacity. ^^
Thanks. I have just invested in a trio of these stones and have about 12 knives to sharpen for the family. So your video is timely and looks very helpful
This is much better explanation than the ones I’ve received both in culinary school and working in the industry, I generally get someone else to sharpen mine but it would be nice to learn that vital skill I missed out on
I hope everyone makes videos the way you do it. This is from start to end very precise, you know what you're talking about and we understand it. Very good bro. 👍😁
You pretty much covered everything a person needs to know to sharpen a knife! I do something similar! I also have a sharpening machine like knife factories use. With all this the one thing rarely mentioned that works extremely well for me is stropping my blades on a leather strop! A knife that just starts getting dull can be revived with a few strokes across a leather strop! This save me a tremendous amount of time! Your video was very informing!
Im getting decent at sharpening, I found that simply going by the feel of the knife on the stone i hold my angle better than constantly trying to look and see if the edge is about were I want it
You've clearly put the effort into cultivating the necessary skills that make you a good video presenter. Your channel will grow, for sure. It always takes time, but if you're patient it will pay off.
this really helped. my first time like months ago I was successful beginner's luck. but then after that, I failed and failed. this video helped me tremendously now my knives are near barbershop razor-sharp, not quite yet but near that point which is great for food.
tip that helped me the most... don't push with the arms but with your shoulders. Lock the wrists and elbows into position and use the shoulders for the actual strokes.
Thank you sir that was a fantastic video concise straight to the point. No bollocks no BS. Most of the time I get discouraged from even watching RUclips videos because a lot of guys like to take their time go slow and just really put a lot of unnecessary crap in their videos you did exactly the opposite subscribed thanks bro
If only I'd seen this fifteen years ago it would have saved me countless frustrating hours of making nice steel blunter. Good stuff Ethen, anyone following your advice here will be a competent sharpener in hours rather than months.
Thank you very much! I was just wondering what I was doing wrong. And this is the first video that contains so much useful information and lasts all 8 minutes. How much you helped me, explained it simply and clearly. Before, I didn't understand what I was doing at all. But after watching this, I immediately understood everything, even considering that English is not my native language and I'm not very good at it)😊😊😊😊😊
Holy crap!! Thanks man, this was this most helpful video I’ve seen on sharpening!! I realized i was not using the correct angles consistently and switching stones too soon. Waaaay too soon!! Great video, you rock!🤘
Another tip: Don’t buy traditional-style water stones without also buying a stone flattener. After restoring a handful of neglected knives you will need it.
@@cameron2982 It's just another stone with a coarse grit, sometimes with large troughs to carry away the slurry. Rubbing the two stones together will tend to flatten them out
I just use a piece of glass (good and thick, the piece I have is half an inch thick) wrapped in the coarsest grit wet-and-dry paper you can get hold of. Just get it good and wet and grind away with your dished whetstone until it's flat (also a good tip for flatting meat-grinder plates and sharpening the blade, I make a lot of sausage). That mesh abrasive roll used on sheet-rock or plasterboard is also great for flatting Japanese water stones and can be used dry if the stone is unsoaked.
I bought that exact same knife for 20 bucks in Singapore when i needed a cheap kitchen knife, I love it and 6 years later regularly use it instead of my expensive Japanese knives.
Thank you so much for creating this explanation of whet stone techniques. My Dad passed away last year and I brought his trusty whet stones home with me but I don't know how to use them like he did. I put his Buck knife, from his truck's glovebox, into my car's glovebox but I hardly ever use it. It's so freaking sharp that I'm afraid of cutting myself! Well, needless to say, I'd like to use Dad's whet stones to get my pocket knives as sharp as his Buck knife and, not to mention, keeping his Buck that sharp to keep his memory alive. Thank you!
I've been sharpening knives with waterstones for 30 years. The first you should do is examine the edge with your eyes. If the edge is damaged, i.e., the edge looks like there's small chips, then you should use 1000 grit. If the edge is simply distorted, i.e., edge looks wavy, then you should use a high grit stone. If the edge is heavily chipped, then you need a low grit stone. There are times where, the owner has severely damaged the blade by improper sharpening, taking out too much steel at one area. Then you need to grind the knife down til you get a balanced edge with an electric grinder. After which, you use the low grit, medium grit and fine grit waterstones. Number one rule of sharpening, NEVER take off too much metal. Use the highest grit you can to accomplish your task. My personal knives are honed once a year with the highest grit waterstone. And it never takes more than a few passes cos I never abuse my knives and they are Rockwell hard about 58-60. I can even use a strop to hone the knives but I like the feel of sharpening my knives. Never take your knives to a pro knife sharpener, they will certainly use an electric sharpener cos they want to spend the minimum amount of time on your knives. They will kill your knives over time.
I guess I'm one of the few pro sharpeners who sharpens by hand using whetstones and diamond stones nowadays. It seems to be the case that most people use machines since many of my customers said they couldn't find a service that uses whetstones until they had me sharpen their knives.
THAT was a great beginners guide. I was doing 3 of the 4 things incorrect. The only thing that I think I was doing correct was not moving to a higher grit too early. Anyway, thanks for the video!
Small addition to the video that wasn't covered: Be sure to remove the "burr" with a strip of leather after the sharpening. After sharpening a hair-thin layer of metal forms on the very end of the cutting edge, this is called a burr. A very brittle layer of metal that can end up in your food if you don't remove it after. Cutting without the burr removed will force you to resharpen the knife a lot sooner than you otherwise would(metal against a sharp edge tends to not go well) and overall your knife won't be quite as sharp as it should. You should also get a "diamond plate"(it's called a lot of things). This is for maintenance/keeping your whetstones flat. Just like the stones slowly remove material from the edge, the knife itself is removing material from the stones. Don't neglect the edges/corners of the stone when using a diamond plate, either. Those things can get rediculously sharp after a lot of use and if you don't file them down at like...a 45 degree angle, bad things can happen to you or your knife if you slip. Speaking of slip! There's a cardinal rule to sharpening with a whetstone: The fingers you have pressing down on the knife should never "leave" the stone. What do I mean? Your fingers should always be above the stone and never have empty space beneath them at any point in the sharpening process. Human error is an omnipresent factor in everything we do no matter how finely honed(get it?) our muscle memory is. Imagine you're sharpening a knife relatively quickly and your fingers relax and end up hanging off the edge of the stone on a return stroke. Well, on the brightside if you're anal about your fingernails, everything from filing to polishing became 1/10th faster than before you goofed.
Deburring is a whole thing - best way I know of to do it (Jon Broida from JKI's Method) is to finish with edge trailing strokes, easing off pressure until it's feather light. Then strop lightly at a higher than usual angle on the scrubby side of a sponge. Finish with 1-3 extremely light passes.
@@KevlarBurke I personally recommend a leather strip for people just getting into knife sharpening. You don't need to change anything or adjust, you just need to use the same technique on the leather you did on the whetstone. The Jon Broida technique is a bit more advanced and like most new activities, might discourage people from properly doing it if there's too many steps.
Leather strops are excellent! I use fine honing compound (had decent luck with jewelers rouge in a pinch one time) on mine and I keep knives incredibly sharp that way.
Great video! Actually, probably ‘the’ most useful knife sharpening video I have watched. You pack a lot of solid, great information into this video. Thank you for posting. Best regards from Northern Ireland. ☘️
This is by far the best tutorial on knife sharpening. When i first started out i watched tons of videos, just like you stated, and none of them taught how to get a burr on your edges first. Sharpening knives is truly an art and not everyone can do it. But if they watch this video they'll be fine with a little practice. Great job my friend on making the most informative knife sharpening video out there.
Excellent advice.👍👏👏👏 [The medium stone is the one that shapes and sharpens the edge that you need, and the fine stone then polishes it.] [medium stone... Keep going until you get the burr, then flip]...[if you don’t create a burr then you haven’t got the correct profile yet]
How about a video on mistakes made in buying kitchen knives? Prices and styles are all over the place. What are the best ones to get started with? And how to use them?
I really appreciate you using a cheap knife because I have been trying to sharpen my knives only for them to be more blunt with the Whetstone. I wondered if I needed an electric sharpener instead. First, I had no idea I needed to use so much pressure and have been extremely lightweight. I thought you were going to suggest using the pen cap attached to the knife to know the right angle at first 😅 I knew you had to submerge the stone in water for five minutes only recently and had been using oil instead. I didn’t know you needed to keep it wet throughout. I am going to attempt to sharpen my knives now and hopefully I will get it right this time. Thanks so much ☺
Good video Ethan. You might add that you don't have to switch hands for stock removal on the reverse edge of the knife. You can just use a "push stroke" forward with your right or left hand, and a "pull stroke" back with the the same hand. Also it's important to "true" each stone after sharpening. i use the Shapton diamond coated truing stone especially when sharpening straight razors. Thanks again and continued good luck and success. JP
Well done tutorial for someone new to sharpening. Greatly appreciate it! Used the 1000/6000 stone combo $~20 on Amazon, to sharpen my SOG auto-clip black painted blade with drab-green polymer handle (blade) (Chinese) & cleaned up the blade edge & bevel really nice & made it a lot sharper ^^ on my first slow careful go, mostly on the wet soaked 1000 grid stone on a wet kitchen towel &, only a little on the 6000 side to polish it / worked great!
This is one of four correct videos I've seen on YT that has GOOD knife sharpening information. I've seen hundreds and they're all embarrassingly bad and have countless mistakes. Fantastic video.
Also for getting a good angle you can use two or three quarters stacked on top of each other on the whetstone and set the back of the knife on them to get a good angle
Ethan, I have 400, 1000, 3000, and 8000 grit stones. I've only used the 400 in the past to basically repair knives, and haven't used it in years. My question is, once I have a knife pretty sharp using the 1000, do you recommend using both the 3000 and 8000 or would you recommend using only one of those, and which one? Thanks. My usual pattern is 60 strokes on EACH side of EACH knife for EACH stone (1000, 3000, and 8000 in succession). Would love to cut that down if possible.
some people says that a clean edge from a 8000 might have a harder time cutting through tomatoes than an up to 3000 grit edge, you get microscopic scratches that gets less noticeable the higher you go and they might work a little like a serrated blade. might take longer for apples to turn brown with finer edges and serving raw fish might stay fresh longer with higher grits. i don't really know though, i can cut paper at 1k grit and can almost see my face at 6k. some seem to be able to get pretty crazy results with just up to 1k and stropping. think people tend to recommend not going much higher than 4k on European steel knives, or around 1000 might be more than enough for normal kitchen use.
Just bought my first set of whetstones so I can sharpen my collection of knives myself. Also bought some cheap knives to practice sharpening before I move onto my collector's items. These tips will come in handy for sure. Will have to "steal" her kitchen scale for a bit. Which brings me to an idea I had while watching. It might be possible to put the whetstone on the scale so you can see the amount of pressure you're applying during sharpening.
The scale trick to correct your applied pressure is one I've seen nowhere else, thanks! I've been learning to freehand sharpen plane irons and chisels to paper slicing sharpness on diamond plates. Seeing how well I did this, my lady wanted her chef knives sharpened too! Vastly different technique for a curved and so much wider blade. Fun learning though, and she says watching me sharpen knives is sexy. I guess I'll be making knife sharpening part of our romantic dinners, lol ;)
You do not apply pressure, you only use the weight of your hand and the weight of the knife Everything else is wrong… The stone is supposed to work, not you pushing down…
@@bc-mr1si good question If you want a good guide check out the Burrfection channel. Firstly, don't use some angle like 15, 20 or 25 degrees. Use the angle that's already on the knife. Now, the sharpie does work, but I don't like to use, since it will not improve your skill. My recommendation, "feel the stone". To train this, take a piece of soft or light wood. Put the knife on the wood as if its a sharpening stone, push "forward", as if you wanted to cut away a bit of the wood. Now increase your angle, after reaching a point your knife will get stuck in the wood because its cutting into it, now back off a little bit, and voila, you have your angle. You should also feel this change of resistance on the stone, but it requires some training. Cheaper/softer stones are better for this, since they give more feedback. But very good expensive stones do the same, and are harder, look at Naniwa stones. You can also use the "backing off" technique, where you decrease the sharpening angle until the knife starts to "slip". Meaning you feel the resistance, then you back off. The edge will soon not touch the stone anymore, and only the corner between edge and knife profile will touch the stone. This results in less resistance since the surface area gets decreased. To understand this better watch Burrfections video on how to sharpen a knife (If I remember correctly it's a few years old, but really good). Hope this helps, if you didn't understand a part of it, just ask. Have a good one.
I grew up in a house with an Arkansas Tri-stone, and got one myself as soon as I got my own serious kitchen knives. Still learned something from this. Thanks
As an amateur chef and beginner when it comes to knife sharpening, do you think I could just leave it after 1000 grit? Is polishing with finer stones really necessary?
If you don't mind me answering my friend, yes. Absolutely you can. In fact, if you're using a softer knife (German/western, around 56 to 58 HRC), you should stop at 1k to 2k. It's the much harder japanese knives that benefit from going higher as they'll hold the finer edge whereas softer steel would just bend. And strop! Never skip stropping. Then you can maintain your edge with a ceramic honing rod and stropping once in a while. Should be all the average household needs.
@@Freddd95 You're very welcome. Stropping is where the very fine burrs on your edge are removed. Usually by sliding the knife edge trailing across leather (Having a double sided strop, starting on one with a suede side with compound/diamond paste and then finishing with the side with just leather is best. But just plain leather works too.). Basically you want the edge to be clean and sharp as possible. Never skip this. Even just do it on newspaper if you have to.
I would love to see a video just about angles and strokes. Different edge leading and trailing angles on the stone, different stropping techniques, why a 45 degree vs say a 90, how to sharpen the belly and strokes to use on recurve edges. That sort of content would be so valuable. And there is no need to repeat anything that this video had. It’s very good and there’s already lots of similar stuff, tho not s good.
There's enough for a series of videos... Some of it even relates back to "How to shop for a proper knife" (or blade in general) for the job you intend it to do... I'm no master, but I DO know that you've got to match your bevels (angles) to the blade both in thickness and height/width from cutting edge to back-spine... AND whether it's beveled on one or both sides AND if there's a hollow, straight, or chisel type of grind involved... An axe (for instance)... or a Cleaver in a kitchen... is made for chopping. It's going to need a thick and heavy blade to deliver inertia with mass, and a "two-step" bevel at the cutting edge, starting with a shallow grind and then tightening to a steeper edge. This allows all that force to compress into the center of the blade instead of slip off center and chip out or bend it. It also allows a solid mass of metal to absorb the impacts of chopping, while still coming to a sharp edge so you can finish a cut with a little "sawing" action as appropriate. A Butcher or Skinning knife gets dinged against bones regularly, and needs a more curved belly for helping separate connective tissues as well as for slicing meat from the bones as cleanly and easily as possible. Frequently, in the field, one knife has to do everything, so while it needs enough "heft" to stand up to tasks from jabbing right into hide, it can't be remarkably wide or long, or you'll lose track of the point and accidentally cut a bowel... and that simply won't do. These are more typically a straight bevel at around 30-ish degrees, but it doesn't have to be perfect. It may still be used to "disarticulate", which is separating the bones at joints, wedging apart as much as slicing tendon and sinew. A chef knife can be fairly thin, but is most remarkably WIDE from edge to back-spine. There's a triangular knife frequently "the work horse" of Japanese kitchens that exemplifies this style, and these often have bevels into the 20's making use of that width to let the material slide up and very slowly separating what's been cut. The Japanese "workhorse" (since I can't remember the technical name) was originally a chicken and fish boning knife, but grew in popularity to be a sort of "jack of all tasks" in kitchens, easily working through all vegetables and I absolutely LOVE mine... though I have no idea what company made it... I'd probably order a few more if I ever found out... haha... BUT this is all BASIC stuff. If you examine a blade for the kind of job it does, you'll understand fairly quickly how it should be sharpened... Then it's a matter of "teaching your hands" to execute that intent upon the metal... I've been free-hand sharpening since my first pocket knife at 10 years old... AND I still occasionally find myself "stuck"... It's always good to "get back to basics" and re-examine one's journey... ;o)
I’m learning how to sharpen at home via RUclips, so this is helpful! Thanks! Oh, BTW ‘gyuto’ is only two syllables. You say it kinda like three English words squished together: ‘guy-you-toe.’ And it’s actually pronounced ‘gyoo-toe’ like saying GOO and TOE together but you throw a Y sound in after the hard G. Cheers!
Beginner here, I have a few straight razors I want to maintain. I learned how to sharpen my axes and I know that's a different game all and of itself. It helps when you can see the angle. the idea was start on something bigger, maybe more simpler to get a feel for it then work my way down to knifes and razors. The Motivation that started it all is my wife's dad (who has now passed) Had a knife set for as long as she remembers, so the idea that I can maintain and take care of them like he did will make her happy im sure. Anyway thankyou for this video Im sure im making all the beginner mistakes one could make and probably invented a few of my own along the way
I need sharp knives for cutting meat (leave the bait for the deer, I’ll eat the deer) I do all my own butchering. Everyone brags about cutting tomatoes, but how does it do boning or thin cut steaks? Is there something I can do better? I have Parkinson’s and was a machinist. I started having trouble with holding the proper blade angle. I found that keeping my wrists and elbows locked while rocking my body back and forth. You kinda have to arch your back and sit higher in relation to the stone. Just one of those things I have to do different now and might help someone else
As someone going into Machining, I'm immensely glad the safety standards have gotten better and am sorry about your Parkinson's. I think the reason they bring up tomatoes is that tomatoes are notorious for squishing instead of cutting on a dull-bladed knife, unlike meat which you can still tear up terribly with a knife if a person isn't butchering like you are. They also make products like the 'spyder' which my local knife store was obsessed with, and the head there who'd been sharpening knives for over 20 years absolutely recommended for home sharpening.
@@randomassortmentofthings it’s so much safer, but it only protects idiots.😉 if you hear a Big Bang somewhere in the shop, you should still duck. Once you see what a big pump casing thrown thru the door of a CNC lathe is like, you’ll understand. Im impressed at cutting a tomato with a sharp knife, but Im looking for durability. You don’t take a sports car off-road. Im using good knives and I’ll be fine how im doing it. I’m pretty confident that I’m doing it about right, and it’s not a big deal to give a knife a couple passes across the stone, but maybe there’s a better way
the quality of the blade makes a difference, as well, which I am sure that you are completely aware of, I like thin carbon shear steel blades, which have been forged, I use knives which are about 200 years old, hand made in sheffield, there like razors, but need to be looked after. after a while, you sharpen knives in auto pilot, you get so use to it, practice makes perfection. thanks for educating us, the more you learn the better. a bit like doing a jig-saw puzzle you see the whole picture, once you have done it all. I have needed to sharpen knives since 1968
Great video! The graphic for whetstone grits, especially useful and worth the price of admission. 👍 I just tried sharpening a knife like yesterday, got really disheartened. So having that break down was really helpful. I need some seriously coarse grit.
Never a dull moment with this guy.
You're so punny
I see what you did there
He's so edgy
This deserves way more likes.
Please leave
1:29 Mark edge with sharpie marker
3:00 Apply correct pressure (use sacle)
3:51 Use the correct side of the stone
5:25 Using 1000 grit is sufficient
As a red seal chef. I’m embarrassed to say that I’m still struggling with sharpening my Japanese knives and always paid some ppl to do the sharpening for me. I feel with confidence that I can do it more accurately now cause of this video. Very well done.
Don't be embarrassed, hand skills are just that, hand skills, they are passed on by other HANDS and not by YT videos.
You can't learn engraving of violin making by remote learning, it requires apprenticeship, and hand tool sharpening is just as much of a hand skill that requires hands on learning.
The difference is that when you are taught properly by somebody that already knows how to do it right, is in all of the time, energy and nerves wasted on trial and error when you try to do it by yourself.
Just buy some cheap knives and start practicing. Thats what I did. I sharpen all kinds of knives now and some friends even brought their expensive knives to be sharpened after they worked with my knives. Got two nice wetstones out of that service.
when I worked in the industry I paid a local to sharpen mine as well, he just did a far superior job ....I'll have to get keep practicing on my kitchen ones..
No need to be emberrased, chef knives are expensive, it is terrifying to sharpen them and sharpening is a skill based almost entirely on experience and muscle memory, if you would like to get into sharpening your knives start with some cheap knives and work your way up
Get a file
Tip 5: Don't sharpen on a cutting board and get tiny metal fragments over a surface that will touch food.
metal make you strong comrade
unless said cutting board is not used for food prep.
If scrub washing a cutting board doesnt get the tiny metal fragments off, then what makes you think that food sitting on it will?
@@SuWoopSparrow It probably wouldn't, but there's no reason to risk it. You get super small particles into the grains of the wood and they could get trapped there. Later when using a knife on it it could release the metal. And all you have to do is do it on the counter or over the sink.
@@illegitimate0 Yea I wont disagree with you. Id avoid it or have a dedicated board for that like Andrew said. I just think there are far more toxic things to worry about in the kitchen on a daily basis that people dont think about.
The sentence "dulled on my sidewalk" sent shivers up my spine and caused me physical pain.
pain from someone else's $15 demo knife? get a grip. I use these cheapies to cut Roxul insulation.
like nails on a chalkboard 🥶
I just like the mental image of this guy outside his house violently sawing at the sidewalk. Like what the heck would you think if you saw that while walking down the road? lol
@@summonsays2610 Yes! I'd rather use a brick or piece of ceramic to go beserk on, in a shed or backyard.
lol screeeeeeeeccchhh...screeeeeeeeecchhhhh.....
When i was 7, I sat on the porch with my grandpa, who taught me how to sharpen a pocket knife. He told me to feel the edge and move the blade fully from the heal to the point. To never ever sharpen a knife on one side and then the other. Flip the blade every time. Never work the blade fast. And to feel the grit. Every blade has an angle. That angle determines if its a slicer or a chopper. Slicers have a steeper angle and chopers have a tough wedge to bust bone. Showed me why people use the wrong tool for the job. Grandpa made knives from bandsaw blades. To this day I hone my knives immediately after every use. Everyone of my blade shaves hair. All on a simple Arkansas whet rock. 8 inches long medium grit. I've never had to block level my 44 year old whet rock. Because I use honing oil instead of water. Imagine that. ❤
Oh so many things I had forgotten
I grew up in New England on a farm. My grandfather taught me how to sharpen as well, sitting on the back porch. He also used a double bit ax to split wood for that is what we burned. When he was not around we would sharpen his ax so sharp it would cut down through the chopping block...not good.
I remember my Dad sharing his razor with a leather strap and God help anyone who touched it. He used a stone for Mums kitchen knives .
i agree but Japanese knives which i mostly own tend to have a very thin profile or secondary edge so the sharpening angle is very shallow 9-12 degrees not like German knives 15-20, my point being that it pays to research the knife you're sharpening you could do the sharpie thing that ethan is demonstrating but on a 10 degree bevel its really hard to see i have timber wedges that i use as a reference in the beginning to give me the rough angle. in saying that it eventually just becomes feel
i normally go until i feel a burr and this will happen even on a 1000 starting however if the primary edge profile is really bad and needs reprofiling ill go with a 400, but i cant say enough about stropping and using the 5 or 6k throughout for maintenance, ive had a very decent edge with most of my knives for 8+ months while removing very little material but im not a chef so id assume they might need more frequent attention
Very informative. As a woodworker, I've mastered sharpening gouges, chisels, and plane irons, but I've never been good at sharpening knives for the kitchen. I'm working on that now and this video will be a great help.
Probably won't if you don't already have the feel for it. This video avoided the actual number one mistake which is not sharpening the blade evenly. The hardest part of sharpening a knife is knowing how to pull the blade through so that it sharpens evenly. I'm pretty good at it, but my brother is terrible at it.
My dad knows how to sharp industrial equipment, but he sharpening the knives from the kitchen it's pretty much the same techniques: angle, pressure and movement and the comment above from David it's on point! My dad only sharps in one direction, to keep it consistent.
practice EVERYDAY
That's funny... I'm a carpenter, and I can sharpen and almost shave with my kitchen knives, but destroy my chisels in no time...
If you're not sure of the pressure, just put the stone on the scale and as you sharpen you can see it as you go.
Make sure to zero out the scale with the weight of the whetstone on it but good tip!
@@turtleviking1236 or take the weight of the stone and add the desired pressure to that if you happen to be a neanderthal that has no tare function on their scale.
Need to tare the stone and knife.
@@MrMarkchu you tare the stone not the knife!!
sounds like a good way to get cut
I love the analogy used in this vid. As with most progress being made, consistency is key! I got into cooking from a young age but it's only been a few years since I really got into knifes, specially japanese ones. Sharpening/maintaining knifes can be a huge roadblock/struggle as a hobby chef or knife enthousiast if you wanna keep it traditional. The learning curve into manual sharpening is one that can be compared to learning a technical/mechanical job imo. Being able to perform the movements and actions or actually sort of mastering them is worlds apart. I started off with western sharpening/honing sticks and once I got into whetstones and got used to them, it became therapeutic. Taking your time to take care of your precious tools is something that calms me and became a passion. So glad I got to a point where touching up my knife sets is a pleasure to do even if it takes up a couple of hours!
Don't be afraid to buy cheaper whetstones and a few cheaper knifes to hone your skills. The practice without the fear of damaging a high end piece, the investement and time spend are absolutely worth it!
Some people never get it. But luckily there are people who do it professionally. It's a very tricky skill.
Writing a book?
Buying whetstones will sharpen your skills and buying a steel rod will hone your skills 🥁😉
Knives
Snobby chef here. I gained a lot of respect for you when you said “behind salting your food, having a sharp knife is one of the most important things......”
This is fact.
Is it because of aesthetics? Like, how a slice of a tomato or fish will look awful on a dull knife, but very beautiful on a sharp knife?
@@cr3atur321 I suppose it is aesthetics in some part but mainly because all knife work can be done faster and with less effort, at a higher standard with a sharp knife. In fact Some jobs simply cannot be accomplished with a insufficiently sharp knife. A lot fruits and vegetables not only look better but will stay fresh marginally longer if they are cut cleanly instead of crushed and bruised by a dull blade. Cutting fish thinly for sashimi for example.
@@myluresstuckinatree2111 ohh yeah, makes sense haha Thx for explaining
A sharp edge is safer than a dull blade
The first 20 seconds were disturbingly accurate
yep yep, first whetstone, check, watched a pile of videos, check, dreams of superknife, check. He's got us dialled in
After the first 20 seconds, I’ll listen to anything this man says.
@@jayzeejm LOL! Me too!
Just tried to sharpen my first few knives. Can confirm: very accurate.
I feel your pain man
I have watched countless knife sharpening videos and never come across these tips. THANK YOU!
So that's why it's called a sharpie.
That's amazing lmao
You're a dork omg
I’m honestly impressed
Took the words right out of my mouth. X)
I thought it was a brand.
I'm picturing his neighbors faces, watching him as he dulls his knife on the sidewalk outside.
Bottom of coffe cup works great
Neighbor: "Something just ain't right with that boy."
What'd that sidewalk ever do to you man!?
(while not seeing the camera) thinking the dudf is making all those faces whule talking to himself :D
@@MrRourk Not if the blade is really dull.
after 3 years of not trying the stone i will try again!
its really hard, but you gave me hope.
I’ve been sharpening my knives for a while and have gotten decent at getting them to a razor sharp edge and I still found this extremely helpful.
How many strokes does it take you on the 1000 on average?
Getting into really seriously sharpening knives and this video did teach me something I wasn't aware of which is the blade is really sharpened from the mid range (1000) stone and not the fine polishing stones. To check the sharpness first before moving to the final stones. Lots of good tips, thank you.
Repent to Jesus Christ
““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:3 NIV
G
@@repentandbelieveinJesusChrist3 gross
@@repentandbelieveinJesusChrist3 repent to the cock of satan
Yea the most time is spent on the lower grit stones, after you get a good burr it’s easy from there
Agreed
As someone who made sushi for five years, my biggest suggestion is that it's not the angle that matters so much as consistency. I was the left-handed, cross-eyed dominate chef trained by a left-handed Filipino who grinded down every last knife to be left-handed. As long as you sharpen a knife the same way, over and over and over again, it will, naturally, conform to your grip because it will sharpen to you. The minute differences will be worn away until the blade sharpens to fit your hand. Everyone holds a knife different in ways that are beyond our own ability to see except by subjective judgements of sharpness.
Thank you. I just got a whetstone kit in today and I was in fear of messing up my new knives. I'm 48 and my father was the certified chef, not me and he lives a tad bit too far for me to come running to him to sharpen blades. Funny but true story.
I feel as though your video is spot on to us beginners and really calmed my anxiety on this task. Thank you so much!
I started off watching knife and scissors sharpening videos in the wee hours because I thought they would bore me back to sleep.
Now I own two sharpening machines, several whetstones, dozens of grades of wet and dry sandpaper, other static sharpening gadgets and a folding pocket diamond sharpening thing just in case I need to sharpen something when I'm away from home.
I'm a 64 year old woman, how did this happen?
😂😂😂😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂😂
I feel this comment in my core
Do u have knives also? ;)
Better *DON'T* start watching videos of fountain pens, watches, jewelry...
Great tips- great delivery. No hype, just straightforward talk. I appreciate it.
I've never absorbed so much information in a knife sharpening video. This is ONLY the sharpening video that has taught me in the way that i need to learn! You're amazing.
. r
migel gallaldo
the most helpful part was when he said "I REPEAT YOU CAN GET A SHARP WORKEABLE EDGE WITH JUST A 1000 GRIT STONE"
You can get a shaving edge off of a 220 grit stone with the correct technique
The high grit stone is still nice, especially if you get yourself a straight razor
@@SuWoopSparrowp
The leather strap is how you get a final edge that's razor sharp.
Yeee lol i always thought its possible only with 6k
This is THE BEST VIDEO on knife sharpening! Forget all of the other ones!
Tried out the sharpie trick, and it turns out I'm pretty good on keeping my angle. I worked a little on my technique and put a little more pressure on my edge trailing strokes, and now i have a sharp knife. Not sharp enough to pass that standing paper test, but plenty sharp enough to cut anything in my kitchen :)
I learned more from this video than I did in probably the other dozen or so knife sharpening videos I saw before this one. Thank you!
The most useful video about knife sharpening I ever see! No water, no bla-bla, just tips and facts.
Thank You!
my first time experience was so horrible i was contemplating life and how much of a loser i was lmao
stuck with it, trial and error....now i'm a samurai
Me too
I feel the same at the moment! Wish I could get it 😪😆🤣
Literally I’m bout to quit all I did was fuck up the stock edge on the knife
What does a samurai have to do with sharpening a knive?
@@guilhermecaiado5384 samurai’s kept their katanas razor sharp
Something I did that helped me a bunch was when beginning I paid a professional and asked for his opinion on knives I had practiced on. Not the most financially sound but of advice but an experienced eye spots mistakes before you make them,
I watched quite a few sharpening instructions so far (including all this high tec Tormac stuff): this will be in the top of my list. It supports my point of view: keep it simple an practical. Thanks a lot.
Keep it simple stupid kiss is what they say! 😂
I know a lot of people who sharpen knives and all do it by hand with a stone. Even the guy I know with a fancy sharpening jig
I actually have watched 15 sharpening videos and this is by far the clearest and friendliest one I've seen. I feel like I _finally_ understand the process.
see Burrfection sharpening vids. They are longer and more detailed.
Thanks this is right where I'm at in my sharpening journey, hard not to get discouraged when you work on an edge and it only gets marginally sharper.
I gotta say, man your videos are genuinely helpful and packed with quality information. When it can seem like a lot of the same ol’ same ol’ with cooking videos, you manage to put out something that’s different and worth watching. 🍻
I feel personally attacked by the intro. 100% the best introduction/basics video for newbies, mate. Very well done. Simple yet informative. No time wasting. No BS. Just solid advice. Cheers from South Africa.
Having been raised by a mechanical engineer, familiar with machining techniques. I've been using the marker trick for about 40 years. I figure if "layout fluid" has been used in machining practically forever, it might be a good idea.
@Usa mabaho Yup. That all sounds perfect. Even when flattening stones, I mark the surface with pencil. I use a straight edge to check but when the pencil is gone, the stone is flat. I don't use marker on stones because porous stones will absorb it and force you to remove too much material.
Blueprint.. 🤣
I was sharpening irons freehand and couldnt tell for sure where I was hitting to thought of the sharpie trick. Then later saw that trick in a book. Dammit I thought I invented it.
@@glennrishton5679 you did invent it just werent the first
Very well presented and great hints for beginners. I'm trying to learn freehand sharpening like I was able to do 40 years ago thank you
Excellent video, nice editing, and very sound advice from a clear expert.
It took me a while to understand the easiest way (for me) to determine the angle of your grind. Here are my own notes on how to determine grind angle (it's all based off the "width", or distance from the knife spine to the cutting edge):
Shaving: 15°=0.26 x blade width
Slicing/pocket knife: 20°=0.34 x blade width
Slicing/general use : 25°=0.42 x blade width
General use: 30°=0.50 x blade width
Chopping: 35°=0.57 x blade width
Chopping: 40°=0.64 x blade width
Chopping: 45°=0.71 x blade width
So if you want a 20-degree angle, the spine of the knife (i measure at the widest part near the handle) should be about 1/3 the width of the knife above the stone surface.
Not sure if this makes sense without pictures, but I hope it will help some.
"have dreams of finally showing that smug paper who's boss" 😂
running a bit low on papers to show who's boss
I just have dreams.
Thanks
Thank you so much for this video. I was having trouble using my stone as it is my first, I usually use the hand held sharpener with the carbide. I am using your technique with the marker and it works great.
.Miguel gallaldo
think pull through sharpeners sometimes causes knife edges to get slightly concave or excessively worn at some parts or it may not keep the original shape well.
or sharpening a scandi grind or anything that tapers could make it a lot more thick behind the edges than it's expected to be.
fixing that with a 1k grit stone would likely be a major pain, wouldn't necessary be all that bothersome to improve the condition of a fairly new knife or a knife that hasn't been sharpened.
would probably feel a lot nicer or more rewarding to start with easier knives if possible, might be hard to tell whats easy or why things aren't working out when starting out.
Handy tip, you can get rid of sharpie marks by going over a small part of the mark with the same sharpie and wiping it immediately. There is solvent in the marker allowing the ink to flow but it dries quickly. Small sections, wipe quickly.
This is also the trick for getting permanent marker off a dry wipe board.
Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, or even ethyl alcohol (liquor), will also remove it. I've used that for years to, for instance, allow me to make a correction when labeling a CD-R.
I learned to use that technique with spray paint
That were some great tips! I just put my whetstone at the scale while sharpening my knife to have full control while learning 👌 easy to say the sharpest knife I produced so far!
(I pass on something I learned, for those who are interested).
(Sorry for my English).
A long time ago, those who taught me told me that after the # 1000 stone, if the knife does not shave, it is not worth going further.
2 possibility:
1- The knife has a poor quality of steel.
2- We haven't practiced sharpening enough.
With training, a # 300 stone and a leather (+ paste) stuck on a piece of wood, we can manage to shave.
(Starting with a dull knife). In 5 minutes.
Good video and good stones ^^
Sometimes even cheap steel can be made razor sharp. I tried the Green Brick of Joy on some Dollar Tree Knives. The results where amazing!
@@MrRourk
Hello, you are absolutely right. And very often I get a razor sharp with $1 or $2 knives.
Just because they're $ 1 doesn't mean they're bad.
Poor quality can also affects blades at + $ 80, I've seen it, I've tested it, but I can't remember the model I had in my hands.
The real problem is to achieve a precise heat treatment, on a specific steel.
For example the first versions of the Benchmade pukko with a cpm3v had an hrc of 56 ... While the cpm3v has specifications, in which there is written that it must be from 59 to 61 hrc.
Apart from this hardness, this steel is much less efficient.
(Usually. For a knife that must cut). The "poor quality of a steel" is explained by a set of processes not carried out well in the heat treatment, for a specific steel. (A 1095 can be used for the butter. Or the reverse, it will be too hard and it will break at the slightest impact).
As a result, the steel has too large grains in its structure. With a very poor grain boundary structure as well.
Results: The blade will never become like a razor. When sharpening, the grains jump. They do not break or polish (unlike well treated steel). I have a knife like that at home. It was offered in a pack of cold cuts ... that it never managed to cut lol !
Heat treatment is very important to bring the steel to its maximum capacity.
^^
20 years old Captain Stottlemeyer is teaching me how to sharpen a knife, great!
Thanks. I have just invested in a trio of these stones and have about 12 knives to sharpen for the family. So your video is timely and looks very helpful
This is much better explanation than the ones I’ve received both in culinary school and working in the industry, I generally get someone else to sharpen mine but it would be nice to learn that vital skill I missed out on
The production quality of these videos is really quite good. Good pacing, good advice, good visuals. Quality video.
I hope everyone makes videos the way you do it. This is from start to end very precise, you know what you're talking about and we understand it. Very good bro. 👍😁
You pretty much covered everything a person needs to know to sharpen a knife! I do something similar! I also have a sharpening machine like knife factories use. With all this the one thing rarely mentioned that works extremely well for me is stropping my blades on a leather strop! A knife that just starts getting dull can be revived with a few strokes across a leather strop! This save me a tremendous amount of time! Your video was very informing!
Im getting decent at sharpening, I found that simply going by the feel of the knife on the stone i hold my angle better than constantly trying to look and see if the edge is about were I want it
This is the cream of the crop with it comes to knife sharpening tutorial. A must watch. Great learning tool!!!
You've clearly put the effort into cultivating the necessary skills that make you a good video presenter. Your channel will grow, for sure. It always takes time, but if you're patient it will pay off.
600k and counting 🤙
I have actually watched waaay over 14 videos on sharpening and ths one was by far the most helpful. Thank you!
this really helped. my first time like months ago I was successful beginner's luck. but then after that, I failed and failed. this video helped me tremendously now my knives are near barbershop razor-sharp, not quite yet but near that point which is great for food.
tip that helped me the most... don't push with the arms but with your shoulders. Lock the wrists and elbows into position and use the shoulders for the actual strokes.
I have to try this, make sense, thanks
Thank you sir that was a fantastic video concise straight to the point. No bollocks no BS. Most of the time I get discouraged from even watching RUclips videos because a lot of guys like to take their time go slow and just really put a lot of unnecessary crap in their videos you did exactly the opposite subscribed thanks bro
If only I'd seen this fifteen years ago it would have saved me countless frustrating hours of making nice steel blunter. Good stuff Ethen, anyone following your advice here will be a competent sharpener in hours rather than months.
Simple, we just meed sharpness V enchanted book and an anvil
meed: A merited reward
If only my zero-tick green dye farm still worked
I see you are a man of culture
@@asdasdasdasd8970 Just hunt some chicken, there should be an abundance amount of them everywhere.
Thanks for the video dude. Next do a video on shaving...and start witstack. cheezy stach.
Thank you very much! I was just wondering what I was doing wrong. And this is the first video that contains so much useful information and lasts all 8 minutes. How much you helped me, explained it simply and clearly. Before, I didn't understand what I was doing at all. But after watching this, I immediately understood everything, even considering that English is not my native language and I'm not very good at it)😊😊😊😊😊
Holy crap!! Thanks man, this was this most helpful video I’ve seen on sharpening!! I realized i was not using the correct angles consistently and switching stones too soon. Waaaay too soon!! Great video, you rock!🤘
Another tip: Don’t buy traditional-style water stones without also buying a stone flattener. After restoring a handful of neglected knives you will need it.
What is a stone flattener and where can I get one?
@@cameron2982 It's just another stone with a coarse grit, sometimes with large troughs to carry away the slurry. Rubbing the two stones together will tend to flatten them out
@@cameron2982 you can use Atoma 140 or Atoma 400 to flatten your stone and repair bad nicks in your knife.
You can just use some 160 grit sandpaper on a mirror and sand it and then will be just as flat for less
I just use a piece of glass (good and thick, the piece I have is half an inch thick) wrapped in the coarsest grit wet-and-dry paper you can get hold of. Just get it good and wet and grind away with your dished whetstone until it's flat (also a good tip for flatting meat-grinder plates and sharpening the blade, I make a lot of sausage). That mesh abrasive roll used on sheet-rock or plasterboard is also great for flatting Japanese water stones and can be used dry if the stone is unsoaked.
I bought that exact same knife for 20 bucks in Singapore when i needed a cheap kitchen knife, I love it and 6 years later regularly use it instead of my expensive Japanese knives.
"It's pretty hard to do irreparable harm to the blade ..."
Me: "Challenge accepted!"
Btw, this video was super helpful. Thank you.
🤣🤣 I think we can be friends, maybe twins...
I have no clue what I'm doing here, but I'll stick around to learn about whetstones.
Thank you so much for creating this explanation of whet stone techniques. My Dad passed away last year and I brought his trusty whet stones home with me but I don't know how to use them like he did. I put his Buck knife, from his truck's glovebox, into my car's glovebox but I hardly ever use it. It's so freaking sharp that I'm afraid of cutting myself!
Well, needless to say, I'd like to use Dad's whet stones to get my pocket knives as sharp as his Buck knife and, not to mention, keeping his Buck that sharp to keep his memory alive.
Thank you!
I've been sharpening knives with waterstones for 30 years. The first you should do is examine the edge with your eyes. If the edge is damaged, i.e., the edge looks like there's small chips, then you should use 1000 grit. If the edge is simply distorted, i.e., edge looks wavy, then you should use a high grit stone. If the edge is heavily chipped, then you need a low grit stone. There are times where, the owner has severely damaged the blade by improper sharpening, taking out too much steel at one area. Then you need to grind the knife down til you get a balanced edge with an electric grinder. After which, you use the low grit, medium grit and fine grit waterstones. Number one rule of sharpening, NEVER take off too much metal. Use the highest grit you can to accomplish your task. My personal knives are honed once a year with the highest grit waterstone. And it never takes more than a few passes cos I never abuse my knives and they are Rockwell hard about 58-60. I can even use a strop to hone the knives but I like the feel of sharpening my knives. Never take your knives to a pro knife sharpener, they will certainly use an electric sharpener cos they want to spend the minimum amount of time on your knives. They will kill your knives over time.
I guess I'm one of the few pro sharpeners who sharpens by hand using whetstones and diamond stones nowadays. It seems to be the case that most people use machines since many of my customers said they couldn't find a service that uses whetstones until they had me sharpen their knives.
No such thing as abusing knives, they are made to be tools. my opinion
THAT was a great beginners guide. I was doing 3 of the 4 things incorrect. The only thing that I think I was doing correct was not moving to a higher grit too early. Anyway, thanks for the video!
This is by far the best sharpening video out there, thanks a lot Ethan! My knives are just like new again!
Small addition to the video that wasn't covered: Be sure to remove the "burr" with a strip of leather after the sharpening. After sharpening a hair-thin layer of metal forms on the very end of the cutting edge, this is called a burr. A very brittle layer of metal that can end up in your food if you don't remove it after. Cutting without the burr removed will force you to resharpen the knife a lot sooner than you otherwise would(metal against a sharp edge tends to not go well) and overall your knife won't be quite as sharp as it should.
You should also get a "diamond plate"(it's called a lot of things). This is for maintenance/keeping your whetstones flat. Just like the stones slowly remove material from the edge, the knife itself is removing material from the stones. Don't neglect the edges/corners of the stone when using a diamond plate, either. Those things can get rediculously sharp after a lot of use and if you don't file them down at like...a 45 degree angle, bad things can happen to you or your knife if you slip.
Speaking of slip! There's a cardinal rule to sharpening with a whetstone: The fingers you have pressing down on the knife should never "leave" the stone. What do I mean? Your fingers should always be above the stone and never have empty space beneath them at any point in the sharpening process. Human error is an omnipresent factor in everything we do no matter how finely honed(get it?) our muscle memory is. Imagine you're sharpening a knife relatively quickly and your fingers relax and end up hanging off the edge of the stone on a return stroke. Well, on the brightside if you're anal about your fingernails, everything from filing to polishing became 1/10th faster than before you goofed.
Deburring is a whole thing - best way I know of to do it (Jon Broida from JKI's Method) is to finish with edge trailing strokes, easing off pressure until it's feather light. Then strop lightly at a higher than usual angle on the scrubby side of a sponge. Finish with 1-3 extremely light passes.
@@KevlarBurke I personally recommend a leather strip for people just getting into knife sharpening. You don't need to change anything or adjust, you just need to use the same technique on the leather you did on the whetstone.
The Jon Broida technique is a bit more advanced and like most new activities, might discourage people from properly doing it if there's too many steps.
Leather strops are excellent! I use fine honing compound (had decent luck with jewelers rouge in a pinch one time) on mine and I keep knives incredibly sharp that way.
Cant you simply wash your knife after sharpening it ?
@@Shiirya i wonder about this as well
Great video! Actually, probably ‘the’ most useful knife sharpening video I have watched. You pack a lot of solid, great information into this video. Thank you for posting. Best regards from Northern Ireland. ☘️
I echo your sentiment. Awesome video with very helpful info.
This is by far the best tutorial on knife sharpening. When i first started out i watched tons of videos, just like you stated, and none of them taught how to get a burr on your edges first. Sharpening knives is truly an art and not everyone can do it. But if they watch this video they'll be fine with a little practice. Great job my friend on making the most informative knife sharpening video out there.
Excellent advice.👍👏👏👏
[The medium stone is the one that shapes and sharpens the edge that you need, and the fine stone then polishes it.]
[medium stone... Keep going until you get the burr, then flip]...[if you don’t create a burr then you haven’t got the correct profile yet]
The last point about the mistake of thinking the high grit stone makes it any sharper was an aha moment for me. Thanks.
Brilliant, thank you. Loved it. Asked for knife sharpener for Christmas, had never even heard of a whetstone. Now I am ready to start sharpening
Never a dull moment...
How about a video on mistakes made in buying kitchen knives? Prices and styles are all over the place. What are the best ones to get started with? And how to use them?
He needs to learn how to pronounce the names of the knife styles first.
I really appreciate you using a cheap knife because I have been trying to sharpen my knives only for them to be more blunt with the Whetstone. I wondered if I needed an electric sharpener instead. First, I had no idea I needed to use so much pressure and have been extremely lightweight. I thought you were going to suggest using the pen cap attached to the knife to know the right angle at first 😅 I knew you had to submerge the stone in water for five minutes only recently and had been using oil instead. I didn’t know you needed to keep it wet throughout. I am going to attempt to sharpen my knives now and hopefully I will get it right this time. Thanks so much ☺
Good video Ethan. You might add that you don't have to switch hands for stock removal on the reverse edge of the knife. You can just use a "push stroke" forward with your right or left hand, and a "pull stroke" back with the the same hand. Also it's important to "true" each stone after sharpening. i use the Shapton diamond coated truing stone especially when sharpening straight razors. Thanks again and continued good luck and success. JP
You can also use something like a Naniwa Nagura to just clean the stones up without taking alot of material off them.
Well done tutorial for someone new to sharpening. Greatly appreciate it! Used the 1000/6000 stone combo $~20 on Amazon, to sharpen my SOG auto-clip black painted blade with drab-green polymer handle (blade) (Chinese) & cleaned up the blade edge & bevel really nice & made it a lot sharper ^^ on my first slow careful go, mostly on the wet soaked 1000 grid stone on a wet kitchen towel &, only a little on the 6000 side to polish it / worked great!
In depth fully detailed sharpening videos are great but your video should be the first video anyone watches! Just great, thank you!
This guy gives me "Super Trooper"/"Reno 911" Vibes.
Oliver I’m getting a ginger Freddie Mercury vibe
@@SentinalSlice Yes! That was my second thought 😂
meow
70s porn star 'stache.
Cuts sharpie in half.
Yeah, that one doesn't need sharpening.
😂😂
This is one of four correct videos I've seen on YT that has GOOD knife sharpening information. I've seen hundreds and they're all embarrassingly bad and have countless mistakes. Fantastic video.
Also for getting a good angle you can use two or three quarters stacked on top of each other on the whetstone and set the back of the knife on them to get a good angle
Ethan, I have 400, 1000, 3000, and 8000 grit stones. I've only used the 400 in the past to basically repair knives, and haven't used it in years. My question is, once I have a knife pretty sharp using the 1000, do you recommend using both the 3000 and 8000 or would you recommend using only one of those, and which one? Thanks. My usual pattern is 60 strokes on EACH side of EACH knife for EACH stone (1000, 3000, and 8000 in succession). Would love to cut that down if possible.
I think I would use both tho I am no professional and still leaning my self
some people says that a clean edge from a 8000 might have a harder time cutting through tomatoes than an up to 3000 grit edge, you get microscopic scratches that gets less noticeable the higher you go and they might work a little like a serrated blade. might take longer for apples to turn brown with finer edges and serving raw fish might stay fresh longer with higher grits.
i don't really know though, i can cut paper at 1k grit and can almost see my face at 6k. some seem to be able to get pretty crazy results with just up to 1k and stropping.
think people tend to recommend not going much higher than 4k on European steel knives, or around 1000 might be more than enough for normal kitchen use.
Just bought my first set of whetstones so I can sharpen my collection of knives myself. Also bought some cheap knives to practice sharpening before I move onto my collector's items.
These tips will come in handy for sure. Will have to "steal" her kitchen scale for a bit.
Which brings me to an idea I had while watching. It might be possible to put the whetstone on the scale so you can see the amount of pressure you're applying during sharpening.
The scale trick to correct your applied pressure is one I've seen nowhere else, thanks!
I've been learning to freehand sharpen plane irons and chisels to paper slicing sharpness on diamond plates. Seeing how well I did this, my lady wanted her chef knives sharpened too! Vastly different technique for a curved and so much wider blade.
Fun learning though, and she says watching me sharpen knives is sexy. I guess I'll be making knife sharpening part of our romantic dinners, lol ;)
You do not apply pressure, you only use the weight of your hand and the weight of the knife
Everything else is wrong…
The stone is supposed to work, not you pushing down…
@@010falcon what angle should the knife be at 🤔
@@bc-mr1si good question
If you want a good guide check out the Burrfection channel.
Firstly, don't use some angle like 15, 20 or 25 degrees. Use the angle that's already on the knife.
Now, the sharpie does work, but I don't like to use, since it will not improve your skill. My recommendation, "feel the stone". To train this, take a piece of soft or light wood. Put the knife on the wood as if its a sharpening stone, push "forward", as if you wanted to cut away a bit of the wood. Now increase your angle, after reaching a point your knife will get stuck in the wood because its cutting into it, now back off a little bit, and voila, you have your angle.
You should also feel this change of resistance on the stone, but it requires some training. Cheaper/softer stones are better for this, since they give more feedback. But very good expensive stones do the same, and are harder, look at Naniwa stones.
You can also use the "backing off" technique, where you decrease the sharpening angle until the knife starts to "slip". Meaning you feel the resistance, then you back off. The edge will soon not touch the stone anymore, and only the corner between edge and knife profile will touch the stone. This results in less resistance since the surface area gets decreased. To understand this better watch Burrfections video on how to sharpen a knife (If I remember correctly it's a few years old, but really good).
Hope this helps, if you didn't understand a part of it, just ask.
Have a good one.
you are a lady tho
@@010falcon thanks
I'm a fish filleter and still struggle to keep it how i want .i have picked up some good tips thanks
I grew up in a house with an Arkansas Tri-stone, and got one myself as soon as I got my own serious kitchen knives. Still learned something from this. Thanks
As an amateur chef and beginner when it comes to knife sharpening, do you think I could just leave it after 1000 grit? Is polishing with finer stones really necessary?
If you don't mind me answering my friend, yes. Absolutely you can. In fact, if you're using a softer knife (German/western, around 56 to 58 HRC), you should stop at 1k to 2k. It's the much harder japanese knives that benefit from going higher as they'll hold the finer edge whereas softer steel would just bend. And strop! Never skip stropping. Then you can maintain your edge with a ceramic honing rod and stropping once in a while. Should be all the average household needs.
@@UseVisine Thank you, that's very helpful! What is "stropping" though?
@@Freddd95 You're very welcome. Stropping is where the very fine burrs on your edge are removed. Usually by sliding the knife edge trailing across leather (Having a double sided strop, starting on one with a suede side with compound/diamond paste and then finishing with the side with just leather is best. But just plain leather works too.). Basically you want the edge to be clean and sharp as possible. Never skip this. Even just do it on newspaper if you have to.
This is an excellent vid and excellent channel. Varied camera shots and compact editing. Well done man I hope you blow up soon, subbed and shared.
I appreciate it!
You probably wont read this but I just discovered your channel and all the work you put in shows - its thoughtful content clearly communicated.
I would love to see a video just about angles and strokes. Different edge leading and trailing angles on the stone, different stropping techniques, why a 45 degree vs say a 90, how to sharpen the belly and strokes to use on recurve edges. That sort of content would be so valuable. And there is no need to repeat anything that this video had. It’s very good and there’s already lots of similar stuff, tho not s good.
There's enough for a series of videos... Some of it even relates back to "How to shop for a proper knife" (or blade in general) for the job you intend it to do...
I'm no master, but I DO know that you've got to match your bevels (angles) to the blade both in thickness and height/width from cutting edge to back-spine... AND whether it's beveled on one or both sides AND if there's a hollow, straight, or chisel type of grind involved...
An axe (for instance)... or a Cleaver in a kitchen... is made for chopping. It's going to need a thick and heavy blade to deliver inertia with mass, and a "two-step" bevel at the cutting edge, starting with a shallow grind and then tightening to a steeper edge. This allows all that force to compress into the center of the blade instead of slip off center and chip out or bend it. It also allows a solid mass of metal to absorb the impacts of chopping, while still coming to a sharp edge so you can finish a cut with a little "sawing" action as appropriate.
A Butcher or Skinning knife gets dinged against bones regularly, and needs a more curved belly for helping separate connective tissues as well as for slicing meat from the bones as cleanly and easily as possible. Frequently, in the field, one knife has to do everything, so while it needs enough "heft" to stand up to tasks from jabbing right into hide, it can't be remarkably wide or long, or you'll lose track of the point and accidentally cut a bowel... and that simply won't do. These are more typically a straight bevel at around 30-ish degrees, but it doesn't have to be perfect. It may still be used to "disarticulate", which is separating the bones at joints, wedging apart as much as slicing tendon and sinew.
A chef knife can be fairly thin, but is most remarkably WIDE from edge to back-spine. There's a triangular knife frequently "the work horse" of Japanese kitchens that exemplifies this style, and these often have bevels into the 20's making use of that width to let the material slide up and very slowly separating what's been cut. The Japanese "workhorse" (since I can't remember the technical name) was originally a chicken and fish boning knife, but grew in popularity to be a sort of "jack of all tasks" in kitchens, easily working through all vegetables and I absolutely LOVE mine... though I have no idea what company made it... I'd probably order a few more if I ever found out... haha...
BUT this is all BASIC stuff. If you examine a blade for the kind of job it does, you'll understand fairly quickly how it should be sharpened... Then it's a matter of "teaching your hands" to execute that intent upon the metal... I've been free-hand sharpening since my first pocket knife at 10 years old... AND I still occasionally find myself "stuck"... It's always good to "get back to basics" and re-examine one's journey... ;o)
I’m learning how to sharpen at home via RUclips, so this is helpful! Thanks!
Oh, BTW ‘gyuto’ is only two syllables. You say it kinda like three English words squished together: ‘guy-you-toe.’ And it’s actually pronounced ‘gyoo-toe’ like saying GOO and TOE together but you throw a Y sound in after the hard G. Cheers!
One of my favorites to say is gyuunyuu.
Beginner here, I have a few straight razors I want to maintain. I learned how to sharpen my axes and I know that's a different game all and of itself. It helps when you can see the angle. the idea was start on something bigger, maybe more simpler to get a feel for it then work my way down to knifes and razors. The Motivation that started it all is my wife's dad (who has now passed) Had a knife set for as long as she remembers, so the idea that I can maintain and take care of them like he did will make her happy im sure. Anyway thankyou for this video Im sure im making all the beginner mistakes one could make and probably invented a few of my own along the way
I need sharp knives for cutting meat (leave the bait for the deer, I’ll eat the deer) I do all my own butchering. Everyone brags about cutting tomatoes, but how does it do boning or thin cut steaks? Is there something I can do better?
I have Parkinson’s and was a machinist. I started having trouble with holding the proper blade angle. I found that keeping my wrists and elbows locked while rocking my body back and forth. You kinda have to arch your back and sit higher in relation to the stone. Just one of those things I have to do different now and might help someone else
As someone going into Machining, I'm immensely glad the safety standards have gotten better and am sorry about your Parkinson's. I think the reason they bring up tomatoes is that tomatoes are notorious for squishing instead of cutting on a dull-bladed knife, unlike meat which you can still tear up terribly with a knife if a person isn't butchering like you are. They also make products like the 'spyder' which my local knife store was obsessed with, and the head there who'd been sharpening knives for over 20 years absolutely recommended for home sharpening.
@@randomassortmentofthings it’s so much safer, but it only protects idiots.😉 if you hear a Big Bang somewhere in the shop, you should still duck. Once you see what a big pump casing thrown thru the door of a CNC lathe is like, you’ll understand.
Im impressed at cutting a tomato with a sharp knife, but Im looking for durability. You don’t take a sports car off-road. Im using good knives and I’ll be fine how im doing it. I’m pretty confident that I’m doing it about right, and it’s not a big deal to give a knife a couple passes across the stone, but maybe there’s a better way
the quality of the blade makes a difference, as well, which I am sure that you are completely aware of, I like thin carbon shear steel blades, which have been forged, I use knives which are about 200 years old, hand made in sheffield, there like razors, but need to be looked after.
after a while, you sharpen knives in auto pilot, you get so use to it, practice makes perfection. thanks for educating us, the more you learn the better. a bit like doing a jig-saw puzzle you see the whole picture, once you have done it all.
I have needed to sharpen knives since 1968
As soon as I saw the ‘stache I knew I had the right video.
All the knives in my house are now kickin ass
Great video! The graphic for whetstone grits, especially useful and worth the price of admission. 👍 I just tried sharpening a knife like yesterday, got really disheartened. So having that break down was really helpful. I need some seriously coarse grit.
Thank you for this video! The mistake I made was: not applying enough pressure while sharpening. The scale really helps. Made a huge difference.