r/sharpening

It's everything I need* in a two metre spot. Inspired by the Sakai Takuki shop in Mexico city; he sharpens, his wife sells the knives whilst studying metallurgy. Lovely place.

*Aside from lots more stones, a bench grinder and other stuff I don't know about yet 😬

No power tools used in the process

I've been using a Xarilk Gen3 System and recently got a nice deal on the WS. I have Venev Centaur 1x6 Donnie sided stones F100/240, F400/800 & F1200/1500 as well as a 1x6 leather strop. A universal stone holder from Etsy and some Hapstone 6mm bumpers/stops. The Work Sharp will take some getting used to and I'm not sure which system I prefer. I'm very new to sharpening but I'm finding it to be a calming activity. The knife I chose to sharpen is a cheap Kizer Mini Harpoon with 3V steel. Turned out fairly decent I think. I'd love to hear the best tips on recognizing a burr along the entire edge. I feel like I might be over sharpening. (Removing too much material)

I'm not going for a mirror edge but the F1500 stone gets a pretty shiny semi mirror. Strop at the end to remove the burr.

I'm feeling a little let down by the work on these knives. I've struggled with learning to sharpen for a few years, tried stones, diamond plates and had the most success with a lansky system, but even that felt like I didn't really improve the blades I was sharpening.

So I paid for a local guy to come round in a van and do it. Paid him his rate for kitchen knives and a bit more for whittling and leathercraft knives. I don't mind him taking a large chunk out of the cheap carving knife, and he seems to have not done too badly with the forged knives that I made. But the Wusthof chef's knife and the George Barnsley straight (no longer) leather knife feel like a large amount of material has been removed. Problem is I don't know enough to work out if the job is poor or not. It does feel like the bevelling is weird on a few of them now.

Did I get taken for a ride, or am I too sensitive?

Tanaka Blue 2 Damascus Kurouchi Nashiji San Mai Soft Iron Clad, HRC 63

Sharpened on a 325 grit Sharpal diamond stone and stropped with 6 micron diamond paste on suede side

Blue 2 steel is definitely my fave steel, sharpness and edge retention is ridiculous!

I recently decided to invest more of my time to sharpening and maintaining my kitchen knives. I have been absorbing as much information as possible to hit the ground running and just bought a couple Naniwa Chocera Pro (400 and 1000) stones and Sharpal strop. I was also going through my late father’s kitchen knife collection and found a nakiri that my wife really likes but I want to make sure it’s both sharp and safe to use. I knocked off most of the surface rust using baking soda paste that sat on the surface for a couple hours then scoured off followed by another scouring with bartender’s friend.

My question is what is still on the surface of the knife? And can this be removed with conventional household methods or does it require more specialized tools?

Thank you all!

Just got this in from a TSA auction, two questions.

What to do with the heel? Eliminate? Add a choil?

What to expect from this steel?

Hello folks! I need some help.

A friend of mine picked up these knives from a flea market in Japan awhile back and forgot about them. He passed them to me to see if I could restore and sharpen them.

I'm currently working on the right most knife as it is possibly the easier right now.

My questions are:

1. How do I remove the heavy rust? I've been able to BKF and remove most of the rust via the rough side of a sponge, but there's still a few rough patches (See pic 3)

2. How do I remove the (I think) stains? Not entirely sure if it's considered rust since it feels smooth after scrubbing, so I assume it's stains due to said rust.

3. The Nakiri's handle is kinda leaving black residue when I hold it. Almost like charcoal. Does it require a handle change? Or can it be saved?

- Additional notes: I have sandpaper, but no access to any heavy machinery or a belt

I'll work on these knives over the next few weeks, so all advice is appreciated!