Guy MovingOn

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm quite sure I did have the edge of the blade sticking too far over the blade table, I was spending 1-2 hours on the 120 grit stone just to reach a burr. I can also see I have changed the profile of the knives somewhat. I have found it hard to maintain the "belly" or curve of the knife when using the EdgePro. Perhaps I need more practice and to adjust the position of the knife more frequently, or perhaps I have been applying too much pressure. I think eventually with the EdgePro it will be hard to maintain a curved profile to the blade edge, and instead you will end up with a series of small straight lines forming an arc... if you can understand what I mean? Has that happened to you?

Good advice. I will just sharpen everything to 15 degrees per side. So far I have been sharpening everything up to the 6000 grit tape, which is the equivalent of a 18000 grit Japanese waterstone. I'm thinking of sharpening the boning knife and carving knife up to 1000 grit EdgePro stone (8000 grit Japanese waterstone equivalent) only, so that it would have more "bite" for cutting. What do you think? I also think I need to have less of the blade edge sticking out over the blade table, I feel like I have been filing away too much metal and working too hard to reach a burr.

Someone around these parts gave me the good idea to have my neighborhood lawn mower blade sharpener grind down the bolsters on my chef's knives. It worked like a charm -- though he seemed a bit confused as to why I wouldn't want him to sharpen the knives. Not sure if we have people offering that kind of service over here in the UK... although I've thought about taking them to the local mechanic/garage to see if they could grind down the bolsters... Btw, does anyone have a good recommendation for the angle at which to sharpen a European style boning knife? Also any advice on how to sharpen the curved point using the EdgePro?

Possibly, but want to see what the edge retention is like at 15 degrees per side...

I just reprofiled two of my knives. They were French style, V Sabatier knives, a 20cm and 15cm chef knives. I started on the 120 grit stone, and it seemed to take a VERY VERY VERY long time to reprofile to 15 degrees. I also seemed to be spending a long time on each subsequent stone (220, 320, 600, 1000, and 6000 tape) to come to a burr on each side. After these two sessions I can really see the advantage in having Japanese style blades due to the annoying bolster.

It must be quite hard to hold the benriner blade, did you tape it down to the deck?

Yes I have. It worked very well. Cool. What angle did you use?

Which knives do you have, what edge do you sharpen them to, and what equipment do you have?

I will be in New York this weekend to pick up my EdgePro. After reading the amazing zknives.com I also decided to order the 6000 grit abrasive film, some glass blanks, and a piece of Hand American honing leather which I will stick onto the glass blanks to make a leather strop. I also ordered some 0.5 micron and 0.25 micron Hand American diamond spray to use with the leather strops. That may be a bit excessive, but it's not too expensive, and I would like to see just how far I can take the edge, beyond SCARY sharp! I also ordered some borosilicate (pyrex) rods off of eBay, since the Hand American borosilicate honing rod is sold out every, but also extremely expensive. I got these rods for a fraction of the price, and with a slightly thicker diameter so that they will hopefully be a bit more impact resistant. I'm also going to order a stainless steel tube with an internal diameter just a little bit wide than that of the rod, as a carrying case for them. All that will still be cheaper than the Hand American rod. I've also thought about a hand grip, a hand guard, and some end caps for the rods, but since I will be holding the rod at the top firmly down against the chopping board, I dont think those will actually be necessary. Will let you know how I get on!

Anyone know the best or most recommended angle at which to sharpen a chinese cleaver? I ordered the EdgePro and will be travelling to New York in a couple of weeks so I can pick it up then. If I get the chance I will try to visit the Korin store in NY too. I also ordered the Gekko GE-5 240mm Gyuto with personal engraving. Can't wait for it to arrive! I'm seriously tempted to get the Sanetsu ZDP-189 270mm Gyuto, but it is about 6x the price and I can't justify it since I am a university student and haven't even gone to culinary school or worked in a professional kitchen yet!

I looked at that website... How can they have blue steel knives at such a high RC and be soooo cheap??

So I have a few other questions regarding knife maintenance and sharpening: 1. Have you ever tried using the EdgePro to sharpen a (Benriner) mandolin blade? 2. Do you finish with a different courseness depending on which knife you are sharpening? I.e. slightly coarser on a knife which does more slicing, and finer on a knife that does more pushing/chopping. 3. Have you ever tried making your own scalloped/granton edges to reduce friction when cutting and allow food to "release" more easily?

In Modernist Cuisine it is recommended not to use a pressure cooker for some canning due to the way it vents, as you cannot be certain that when the pressure cooker seals itself that all air has been evacuated and there is only water and steam remaining. The intructions in Modernist Cuisine state to use a pressure canner, allow the canner to vent for at least 10 minutes for all air to have been evacuated, and then close the gauge with the provided weight. I have a spring valve pressure cooker. Couldn't I simply keep the pressure cooker on a high heat so that it would go beyond the maximum 15psi and automatically vent to relieve the pressure for at least 10 minutes, and then turn the heat down so that it seals and cooks at the correct pressure? Surely that would work the same way as the canner? Or I could put a weight on the spring valve so it never gets a chance to seal, vent it for 10 minutes, then remove the weight and allow the spring to rise to seal the cooker and build up the pressure...

I'd like to think that it does, indeed, offer better release, but... no. That's very disappointing to hear. So purely for aesthetics then?

I really love the look of the damascus steel blades with the hammered texture like your Gekko knife. Do you find that the hammered effect allows food to release much easier? Shun Premier knives feature a similar design. How would you think Shun compares to Gekko, or other handmade knives featuring the damascus and hammered texture? Furthermore, have you heard about Tojiro Senkou knives? I am not sure if they are that well known in USA. They seem to be quite good quality, 63 layers of damascus steel, and linen micarta handles. All I know is that they are Heston Blumenthal's knives of choice, and I've seen him use them in every show he has been in.