knife/Chopper sharpener/method?

[mikehende]

I did a search here and over the net and came across tons of articles on the subject of "knife" sharpening and equipment but what I would like is to get just 1 tool and method that will be best for sharpening BOTH knifes and Choppers, anyone got any ideas/links/referrals please? Thanks.

[Chris Amirault]

What do you mean by "chopper"?

[mikehende]

Cleaver!

[Mallet]

You can definitely use a water stone for both knives and cleavers. For a cleaver a coarser stone should probably be used (think: axe sharpening ). The eGCI course on Knife Sharpening and Maintenance is an excellent resource (right here).

Edited January 26, 2006 by Mallet (log)

[andrewB]

I did a search here and over the net and came across tons of articles on the subject of "knife" sharpening and equipment but what I would like is to get just 1 tool and method that will be best for sharpening BOTH knifes and Choppers, anyone got any ideas/links/referrals please? Thanks.

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i will swear by a diamond steel sharpener. In the right hands its a gem.. ha ha..

There is a swiss company who makes a mini carbon steel sharpener which is great for quick sharpens, scissors, and seraded blades...

[mikehende]

You can definitely use a water stone for both knives and cleavers. For a cleaver a coarser stone should probably be used (think: axe sharpening  ). The eGCI course on Knife Sharpening and Maintenance is an excellent resource (right here).

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Thanks for the link Mallet, was very informative, one question for anyone here, a Chef once told me that you should do both sides of the blade in "opposite" directions to get the fastest results. Meaning, you do one side from Heel to tip and the other side from tip to heel, anyone think this makes sense?

[Octaveman]

If stones are used, the type of knife doesn't determine which stone to sharpen on. How dull the knife or cleaver is should be the determining factor. I approach my cleaver just like I would any other knife when it comes to which stone to start with. That article by Chad is a good one and you can learn quite a bit from it.

Basically, pick a stone to start with. If the knife/cleaver needs just a touch up, start at 3000 or 4000 grit. If it's dull, go down to 1000 grit. If it's taking too long to get an edge on the 1k (and you should get a good edge before moving up grits), go down to a 625 or so. You shouldn't need to go this low if you keep your knives healthy though.

If you go with stones, here is a good place to buy.

Norton stones

Cheers,

Bob

[mikehende]

I had to come back and re-read this stuff and noticed something I may have missed before, if I am now understanding the sharpening method correctly, I should sharpen one side until I feel the burr, only then should I sharpen the other side, is this correct?

[Reefpimp]

Mmmmm. Not really. Most people who do a lot of sharpening alternate one swipe on each side until satisfactorily sharp, followed by a light stropping, What happens is that a burr or "wire edge' forms kind of 'outside,' if you will, the actual edge you're trying to establish. The stropping removes this wire edge.

I wish it worked better on knives but I have taken to sharpening my plane irons and chisels on fine wet-or-dry sandpaper mounted on thick glass. I then strop it on the finest grade of crocus cloth, which is an abrasive made of finely sorted and graded rust particles. I sharpen my straight razor like this and I get a shave so close you wouldn't believe it.

Remember, it's a lot easier to maintain a sharp edge than it is to establish it, so steel as often as you think you need to; even so, you're probably gonna have to get the stone out once or twice a month.