Buying knives

MissFlitworth wrote:

... we're going to have a go at regrinding the tip soon too, just maybe not with hand held steels and my poor soft, not exactly used to hard work, hands. Thank you so much for offering though.

Not a bother, for reshaping the tip consider using second cut files to get the tip shaped as you want it.
I use a 1" x 42" belt grinder but this can be done with hand tools.
Fair play on saving the edge, I've seen some terrible things done with powered grinders and "grinders".

https://youtu.be/jRZW6-OCwws

This is a knife where I removed serrations at the back of the blade, and sharpened the whole edge.

Dial Hard wrote:

Any tips on how best to use an oilstone, Deise?

How I started off as a young lad!
Edging knives for Rabbit and Deer hunting, plus the auld lads chisels and drills (builder family who like hunting).

First off you will need two, if not three stones, medium and fine for general use, a coarse for repairing damage (like Miss Flitworth), if damage or extreme neglect has taken a toll?

Next up you can use traditional "Oil" stones, usually some form of Carborundum stone (abrasive).

You can use natural "Quarried" stones, like those used for straight razors (Belgian Coticule, a type of ruby).

Water stones, typically Japanese in origin, can be Quarried natural stones (pricey) or man made (can get 1000/6000 grit combos which is handy).

Diamond "Plates", man made, super flat, never needs flattening and is a defined grit.
Cons = a deeper scratch pattern that needs polishing because diamond is a different shape to ruby etc. (Dodadecahedron vs. ???)

I like diamond plates, they are getting cheaper, coarse ones can be had in Aldi/Lidl.
Never need flattening and I can finish on naturals, coticules, water stones, paper/film etc.

"Temporary" stones, as I show in my Hillbilly Sharpening video, use Automotive Wet and Dry finishing paper in numerous grits as disposable "stones".

https://youtu.be/xlKZ2OqXUd8

Right, if you have a set of oil stones that have had oil on them, continue to use a light cutting oil on them. This is basically like drilling or cutting (turning?) metal by hand, we need a lubricant to float away metal particles and to provide "slip" on the stone.

Three in One oil or any light machine oil will do, diesel will do in a pinch, or chainsaw chain oil (I've used these), but a nice light cutting oil is better.

If oil hasn't been used on your stone, don't use it.
Soak in water (up to 15 minutes to soak a fine stone) and use a tiny sup of wash up liquid to provide slip and float off ground particles.

Never use oil on water stones or coticules, pure water only!
Watch some Youtube videos on how to create a slurry, and thin it for polishing.

Grand so, now we are ready to sharpen/hone on the stone.

First decide on an angle to sharpen at, 20 Deg. for general use, 15 Deg. for slicers or fine knives, 25 Deg. plus for cleavers/choppers/Axes.

Fold a sheet of paper at the corner twice, 90 Deg. /2 = 45 / 2 = 22.50 Deg.
Use this as a guide to set your angle (plus or minus).

The Japanese also often use a couple of coins under the spine of the knife to set the angle, they are high hardness knives so can take thinner angles without chipping or folding.

On a smaller knife it is possible to hit the whole edge using one "sweep" movement, like trying to take a fine slice from the stone's surface.

On a larger blade, I would "scrub" inch by inch and blend those sections later.

I usually use a 1" x 72" belt sander these days or an Edge Pro "Pro" model, the edge pro lets me set the stone angle and repeat as needed, taking out the mechanical inefficiency of human joints.

For hand sharpening the best way is to orient the stone away from yourself, this allows you to sharpen "away and back again" which minimises the play on shoulder and elbow.

I originally learnt to sharpen "Side to Side" but could not get even bevels, this is why.

I feel this is getting a bit long (not like me at all) so here's the good stuff!

Get a stone wetted up, pointed away from you, on a damp cloth to prevent slippage.
Use some lubricant.
Set the steel to stone edge bevel (10-40 Degrees)
Stroke away from self applying the angle with the hand on the knife handle, pressure to stone with other hand on knife blade.

Take pressure off while drawing knife back.

Create a "burr" on one side, then repeat that number of strokes on the other side, to "flip" the bevel to the other side.

Repeat every ten strokes, left and right, to keep the bevel centered.

To refine the edge, move to a finer stone, use less pressure, flip the knife every stroke.

Final polish on finest stone, or newspaper (stropping strokes) or leather with compound (I like razor compound on leather on very flat lathe, or float glass)

Watch Murray Carter Sharpening videos, he can shave with a spoon ffs!

I have a few recordings of me sharpening stuff, I'm still learning, but the abrasive papers and a convex edge, would be plenty "down the rabbit hole" for most kitchen needs.

Globals, and lots of good knives, come with a convex edge as standard, and it is very good for supporting the carbides in softer steels.

https://youtu.be/rTKV5-ZSWcE

This chap shows the difference between Typical Western and Asian Sharpening styles, I would put pressure on the blade when grinding into the edge and finish each grit level with lower pressure stropping strokes, like Murray Carter does!

This is the Master...Murray is a Canadian, trained in Japan to be a Master Smith, World renowned kitchen knives, and he uses two stones and clay coated newsprint to sharpen.

In this video he use a knife to flatten a stone, while sharpening the knife.
I would never try this, I flatten my stones or use diamond plates (super flat).

Murray probably spent a couple years as an apprentice just sharpening finished blades, he's one of the best in the world at this (a competition on another forum with a double blind test proved this), but his method can be used by anyone.

Medium stone, fine stone, strop. Pay attention to edge angle, pressure and stropping.

https://youtu.be/ozZF2EgnYm0

Hi, I'm looking to get a decent set of knives for the kitchen. I was tempted by a multi-coloured set from Tesco a while ago but they have proven to be pretty rubbish. I want to get a good set now and get rid of the other ones.

I'm unsure of prices for knives to be honest but I can say for certain that about €30 is my limit per knife. Ideally, I would like a knife that will last a good while before needing to be sharpened.

I will be mainly using them for cutting meat (nothing frozen), veg and so on. A steak knife as well, maybe? And a bread knife.

I'm living in North Dublin, if there are any shops in that region.

Thanks.

Just bought a Wusthof Classic Chefs Knife as a present for the little brother... Now I'm considering ordering one for myself... Amazon wouldn't deliver to Ireland... Ended up using knivesandtools.co.uk in case anyone is interested or has experience with them in the past.

Nisbets.ie do Wusthoff as well as other brands.
McConnells.ie do F. Dick knives which I like (also like Swibo and Victorinox)

Many online retailers will send you kitchen cutlery

I did a sharpening course with Patrick Brennan a couple of weeks ago, and got some new Water Stones from him

I haven't been sharpening with bench stones in ages, so looking forward to practicing on these again.

I got a huge brick of a 1,000 grit, and a 6,000 grit, you would know Pat has trained with Murray Carter!

Patrick does source water stones from Japan, ping him a message on Facebook, and he'll sort you out.

Pat does do things a bit different from the way I learned, and his way makes more sense, so I'm switching.
Stropping only strokes, so we don't run the nice clean edge into any metal fragments, or larger/harder bits of stone, in the surface of our water stones.

Stropping strokes should allow the edge to flow over any fragments, allowing a clean progression up the grits.

Stropping on leather can round the crisp edge achieved off the stone, mileage can vary.

There are a lot of decent waterstones available, King, Naniwa, Chosera, Shapton ... all with their fans and detractors.
Technique is more important, that is mainly practice and muscle memory, a decent stone and decent steel will give better results.

My Birthday is coming up, so I am looking at Gyuto style knives.

I'm looking at Miyabi clad carbon steel, maybe another Watanabe - Korouchi finished, then there's Hitachi's HAP40 Steel which seems to take a great fine edge at 65/66 rockwell, there are powdered steel formulations, "virgin" carbon steels in White and Blue Paper varieties...some gorgeous handle materials and a huge range of prices.

So many options, some serious googling to do this weekend!

Jimmy Iovine wrote:

"I'm looking to get a decent set of knives for the kitchen. I was tempted by a multi-coloured set from Tesco a while ago but they have proven to be pretty rubbish. I want to get a good set now and get rid of the other ones.

I'm unsure of prices for knives to be honest but I can say for certain that about €30 is my limit per knife. Ideally, I would like a knife that will last a good while before needing to be sharpened.

I will be mainly using them for cutting meat (nothing frozen), veg and so on. A steak knife as well, maybe? And a bread knife. "

I always recommend a good bread knife / carver, a Chef's knife, and a couple good paring knives. There are others that are useful, but that's the core set.
Fish filleting knives, cleavers, spreaders...all optional.

1) Bread knife carver - I like the F. Dick Utility
https://www.mcdonnells.ie/products/prodynamic-utility-knife-1



2) Chef's 8"

https://www.mcdonnells.ie/products/prodynmanic-chefs-knife



Chef's 10"

https://www.mcdonnells.ie/products/prodynamic-chefs-knife-1



3) Paring knife - straight

https://www.mcdonnells.ie/products/prodynamic-kitchen-knife



Paring Knife - Tourne (very useful)

https://www.mcdonnells.ie/products/prodynamic-tourne-peeling-knife-2



I don't work for McDonnels, but I do buy from them, so my Wife's workmate is getting this set as a housewarming present soon!

beertons wrote:

Ordered a Wusthoff Santoku knife, 17cm, today. Lots of chopping going to be happening soon. Hope it's ginormous!

6.5" Santoku, not huge, but maybe more depth than a French or German profile?

Zascar wrote:

"I want to buy a proper whetstone knife sharpening kit - quite a few on amazon - anyone got any advice on what to buy?"

Japanese Watersones, combo stones are handy but I like single grits.
1,000 and 6,000 is a good mix, maybe a 240 for damaged blade?

tomaso11 wrote:

I'm using the one below, along with a wusthof steel and it works great

Mine has the wooden base https://www.amazon.de/Schleifstein-R...=whetstone+kit"

The Germans like a good edge, I often buy from Dictum as well.

https://www.dictum.com/en/bench-stones-eaa

RasTa wrote:

I need someone in Dublin to sharpen my Kamata knife, where is a good place to go?"

I've met Butchers who know very little about sharpening victorinox boning knives, if you have a sushi place nearby I would ask them...

What do you have?
Gyuto, Santoku, Sujehiki, Deba....stainless cladding or carbon, look for Patrick Brennan knifesmith of the Facebook, he could sort it out for you!

Jay Odinson on Kilkenny Knives and Tool also offers sharpening services

RasTa wrote: »

Dunno the name, just the chef knife for home use. It's not cutting through butternut squash like butter anymore.

No places in Dublin?

https://www.mcdonnells.ie/services/knife-sharpening

No experience of their service, but might be worth a call to them.

I know Jay and Patrick sharpen by hand on waterstones, which is the way Japanese knives are done when manufactured.
Actually, top Japanese knives leave it up to the buyer to finish the sharpening, to allow for the Chef's preferences.

I feel like my knives are in need of a good sharpen so I'm looking for a decent and reasonably prices, if that's possible, wet stone. I currently have one of these but I feel like it isn't really cutting the mustard anymore, my chefs knife in particular is no where near as sharp as it used to be

b.gud wrote: »

I feel like my knives are in need of a good sharpen so I'm looking for a decent and reasonably prices, if that's possible, wet stone. I currently have one of these but I feel like it isn't really cutting the mustard anymore, my chefs knife in particular is no where near as sharp as it used to be

Fire that knife ruining carbide powered pull through yoke into the bin!
Those are the worst thing ever for a knife, eats them alive.

These look decent, or get a good diamond stone, bit coarser ( at the same grits) but never needs flattening.

https://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/ct/whetstones-sharpening-stones.htm

As a follow up I bought a set of these

Zwilling 4 Star II
https://uk.zwilling-shop.com/Kitchen-World/Kitchen-Knives/Knife-Sets-Blocks/Knife-block-sets/Knife-block-natural-wood-7-pcs-Zwilling-33414-000-0.html

In the Zwilling store in Kildare Village. The price was €199 (down from €400 apparently). It was a special offer but they seem to rotate the knife block special offers so it could be a good option for anyone looking.
https://www.kildarevillage.com/en/shopping/offers/zwilling/