Knife Sharpening with Water Stones
I've struggled for years with sharpening on water stones. Recently, I've learned a few tricks that have made a huge difference in my sharpening and I finally feel like I know how to sharpen. Here they are for you. I hope they help.
#knife #sharp #sharpeningaknife
Here is where I purchased my stones from: knifewear.com/collections/kni...
The container I use for sharpening is a Cambro 20CWGL.
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Thank you so much I learned way more in this video than any other sharpening video.
Right on! I'm glad it helped. Cheers👍
So a nickel is 21.21mm across and 1.95mm thick. If we want a 20 degree angle we can do some trig. The tan of an angle is the same as the ratio between the opposite length and the adjacent length (of a right triangle). If we say we want to use a nickel as the spacer, we know that the length of the adjacent side is 21.21mm, so tan(20) = x/21.21. That means x = tan(20)*21.21mm, which is 7.71mm. Since we know the width of a nickel is 1.95mm, we can see how many nickels we need. 7.71/1.95 = 3.95, so almost exactly four nickels! Basically that means that if you're careful, using this trick should get you JUST above 20*. The cool thing is if you change the angle to 15 degree, you get almost exactly 3 nickels (for a Japanese knife). So basically: Cool trick, I'm going to save up for the nickels I need.
Hahaha 😄👍
Another tip: use a pencil and draw an X or a grid pattern on your sharpening stone before trueing it or flattening it. It will give you an idea of where you flattened and how long to flatten until it is flat. Once the pencil lines disappear you’re good. Ps don’t use a sharpie!
That's a great idea! Thank you🙏
@@Simplelittlelife this works! A charcoal hb pencil works better, because charcoal is more difficult to remove, and a regular pencil will prematurely wear away before the stone is flat.
GREAT TRICK / IDEA 💡 ! I don't know your background about mechanics, but as a former Engineer who worked several years on Racing 🏁 engine, when You learn how to remove material from a flat surface with a simple file ( sometimes called the old fashion ), without a milling machine, you always use the cross method ( depending of the surface geometry, the " cross " can vary from a real cross ( if your surface is square ⛶ ) like with most gaskets, to an " X " if your surface shape is rectangular ( like most sharpening stones are ). So I am 100% OK WITH YOU, I DO LOVE YOUR COMMENT BRO !!! 👍 ( Sorry for my bad English, I just hope that readers will understand me ).
Great information, thank you!
Always eager to learn how to better my sharpening skills. Thanks so much for the great tips.
Great video! You've got some skills, that thing is sharp!👍👍
Your video is the best I have ever seen. That includes any sharpening method. I have been sharpening knives for about 20 years and have most every type of system out there. For speed I use a Kalamazoo belt grinder with belts in the low micron grit to a leather belt to strop when done. I have been using many types of water stones, man made, natural and diamond. For sharpening customers in my area I use the belt grinder unless they have a high quality knife then I do it by hand. You articulate extremely well explaining this sharpening method. I enjoyed watching it and would recommend it to any one wanting to start learning sharpening by hand and even those who have been at it for some time. Keep up you videos again as they are so well done. I have book mark your video so I can forward it to some of my friends.
One tip I had picked up when truing my stones is to draw an X corner to corner in pencil. That way when you have erased the X with your truing stone you know it is even and there are no low spots.
Informative video; I appreciate the content. One comment that I offer is that grit levels in the sub-1,000 range are best used for knife blades with chipped gaps or other severe damage. At the sub-1,000 grit level, the stones are removing a lot of material from the blade, so, for undamaged, non-chipped blades, you're really removing a lot of unnecessary material and shortening the lifespan of your knives. For sharpening undamaged kitchen knives that are merely dull, I think that home cooks are better off using a stone in the 1,000 to 2,000 grit level range, and, finishing on a "polishing" stone or stones in the 5,000 to 8,000 grit range. Just my two cents from personal experience. I personally use the Shapton Kuromaku "splash-and-go" stones (no pre-soaking required) in the 2,000, 5,000 and 8,000 grit levels, on both my German and Japanese kitchen knives (and, even a few cheap Chinese-manufactured knives), with great results.
As a professional chef I've heard it's bad to leave your stones in water for a long period of time. Something about them getting soft and more prone to cracking. Also I broke down and bought the chosera naniwa splash and go stones. You should check them out
Yes, the Chosera stones are great. Their sharpening grit is more consistent within each stone than other manufacturers.
That saran wrap trick is priceless. I will definitely be adding that to my sharpening process for wa handled knives.
Right on! 👍
Thanks for your education. Also, very nice work table...
I just took a course from Knifewear in Ottawa on water stone sharpening. It was excellent!
Sweet! Yeah I'd say 100% worth it for sure!👍
Definitely one of the best and most insightful sharpening tutorials I've seen on KZhead. Thank you very much for your high quality content. Greetings from Germany man ^^
Thank you so much! I appreciate that. 👍
The perspective that you bring to this video is the same that I bring to all my videos. 👊🏼
Hahahahaha! 👍 Right on man. Just sharing what we’re learning right👍
Simple Little Life exactly. 🔥👊🏼🔥
I have struggled with sharpening for years. I make knives and I am always worried about sending them out the door not as sharp as they should be. Thanks for the tips.
Right on. I've always thought the hardest part of making a knife is sharpening a knife 👍
Thanks for the tip bro👍👍
Another way to get the angle close, you could also just fold a piece of paper 2x. First fold gives you 45° angle, fold it again onto the fold you just made... 22.5° angle, which is about what you would want. Great tip with those nickels though. I will have to try that. Excellent tutorial! Thanks!
Thanks for the video, I have been struggling to learn to sharpen with a stone but my knives keep getting duller. Hope the nickel trick helps.
A granite surface plate with lapping film makes a great surface to flatten your stone. One advantage being it’ll be larger than the wet stone. They can get super pricey if you go for a lab grade surface plate. Wood craft sells them to a sufficient flatness in three sizes for a great price. You could even sharpen your knife with lapping film on the plate itself. It’s a nice option.
Yes thank you im goin practicing wondering is there a way to determine a wet from an oil stone if you don't know what they are
Very Professional Job for your average home owner, when of the Best knife sharpening video’s Out-There. New Subscriber …
Slurry on sharpening stones is opposite from hand sanding. The whole point of soaking type sharpening stones is to have a softer stone that produces a slurry. Slurry sharpens the edge faster. “Splash and go” stones are harder and don’t need to be soaked but they don’t produce a slurry as much as soaking stones do. Keep the slurry next time you sharpen and I think you’ll notice the difference. Good luck!
I've tried keeping the slurry and it seems to cut slower. I hear some people say the slurry will help your stones last longer but frankly, I'd rather sharpen faster than get a little extra life out of a relatively long-lasting and cheap stone. The slurry consists of worn stone and removed metal. The metal will not remove any metal from the knife and cleaning the stone will expose fresh abrasive and put more of that fresh abrasive in contact with the knife. From that standpoint, I do not understand how leaving a slurry on will sharpen faster. I see it as slowing the process. I might be wrong on this, but I have yet to see a logical explanation that the slurry on the stone is faster. I'll change my thinking if someone can present an argument that makes sense. 👍
Slurry does not sharpen the edge faster. That is a myth. Slurry will polish, but not sharpen. When the tiny particles of stone and metal in the slurry collide with they apex of the knife, it rounds off the apex on a microscopic level. Cliff Stamp talks about this at length, and how it is established in the scientific literature. If you watch any of Murray Carter's videos, you will see him wash off the slurry as it builds up. The only way slurry can be of benefit to establishing an edge is if you use only edge trailing strokes, and put no pressure on edge leading strokes.
I’d recommend a dmt diamond stone for a truing stone. Works WAY faster!! I only use a 1k and a 6k Murray Carters method is great to learn as well. Thanks for the video. 🍻
I've watched several videos of Japanese masters using the water stones, you've done a much better job explaining the nuances of this process. Thank you.
Thank you very much! I appreciate that. 👍
Jeremy, when lapping your stones, take a pencil and make a rough grid on the stone and then when using the lapping stone it will let you see your low spots better. It helps a lot, oh and also take a sharpie and mark your edge. That lets you know what part of the edge you are hitting and you can adjust technique to hit it. I learned that stuff honing my straight razors.
Right on! Thank you very much!
My pleasure! You showed me how to make a knife with basic tools, and figured I'd pass on info I have to help you.
thanks mate, good tips there
You're welcome 👍
Nice video i will try it
Do you prefer water stones now over something like the Wicked Edge system you have shown in some other videos?
What size are those lexan tubs? Full, 1/2, 1/3? Thank you.
Subscribed to support a fellow Albertan that sharpens their own knives and works with their hands. I had to teach my BC husband the finer points of knife sharpening. Pun intended.
😆 hahaha! Thank you! That cracks me up! 😆
I actually met my husband on a hunting trip actually. He managed to get a 42 inch bull moose. I tease him that I had the better hunt, since while he got the moose I got him!
@@WildKat25 hahaha, that's awesome! 👍
I am coveting that plastic tub too. Thanks for the pro-tip on the tape - I found some grafting tape and that is working a treat until my butcher's glove comes in the mail :)
Can you use a disc sander to flatten the stone ?
My sharpening is nowhere near as an exact science as that, lol. Then again, the amount of effort you put in is going to depend on the quality of the steel you're working with. No point sharpening a knife for an hour that'll lose it's edge on the first cut. Always curious to see how others do it, though.
Hey hey yeah! That is a good point. I like the perspective you brought with this comment. Thank you! 👍
DMT is my go to. Blue and green combo. Never could find the yellow in store. Dickoron blue polish steel to hone.
Thank you brother ❤️..i'm looking behind you to your beautiful tools hhhh ..like from IRAQ
I bought one of the flattening stones, and for me found it did not work very effectively. Seemed to clog up right away. Went with a diamond sharpening plate course grit and works great. Good video, with a lot of great tips.
Right on. 👍
Thanks for the great instruction and insight for beginners like me. My only comment is this: why would anyone use nickels to find your angle when you can buy a set of those 10 different plastic wedges for $8 that are made to exact angles?
Can't find that container anywhere. Great video though. Thanks.
Great video. Like the long videos
Thank you!
Where did you purchase the stone holder? Thank you.
I believe that is the naniwa 220. How it it? Debating on weather or not to buy it
I was able to buy 200g of Japanese sharpening stones from Japan I get a great sharpening stone and other rough cut stones for different types of sharpening 😊
How do I determine the type of steel my knife blade is made of?
I’m considering trying to do knife making as a part time job. Any advice for how to get started/ where to sell and find customers?
Well lit work area, multiple camera angles and a microphone to clearly hear what is being said...many other you-tubers take notes! I'm gonna break out my whet stones and give it another try!
Thank you very much! I appreciate that. 👍
FYI: Your right, the slurry fills the pores in the stone. Sharpen with the non-dominant hand first and end with the dominant hand last, and you'll get straighter edge.
what brand ceramic hone?
Ty for the lil tips. Do you know how to sharpen hair sheers? A bit grooved edge. Vs the older long sharpening tyoe. I think they used a power tool when they came to the salon. Its a short blade, the tip is slightly curved for tip cutting.. yes i use to cut myself constantly. Esp knuckles. I was always afraid to try or a class not teach that. I can see the tip sharpened this way but unsure of the rest. When you pay 350 for sheers in the mid 80s, you try n car for them. But after i left salon work, noone knew how to sharpen them, i was told to mail them to a company for $80 to sharpen vs the guys cane to us for $-20 a pair. Dont in a vehicle like a cartering truck/vsn.
master sharpener
Great video very well demonstrated. I used to sharpen knives ' Saws ' Band Saws ' Circular Saws for a living. My dad had his own business actually sharpening all kinds of things. PMH MACH
PMH Machinery
My brother, I do think that if your hands were tied, you couldn't say a word, lol. Enjoyed your video so thumbs up !
I just use a diamond dust stainless steel stone with water, quite fine but works well even on the hardest steel!
I just use polishing compound on a MDF wheel. Sharpens to a razer edge in seconds, from the first time I tried it. Yes you can use water stones, you can take a shower with an eye dropper to.
I have those wheels myself and use them all the time. Have sharpened probably 100 knives on them over the past 3 years. I would never use it on a Japanese knife though. My goal is to get good at as many different ways of sharpening so I can understand how each is different and better/worse for certain applications. 👍
@@Simplelittlelife I have some Shun Premier knives which are VGMax steel. Why would you not recommend using the MDF wheels to sharpen these knives? Thanks in advance?
Now that you developed good freehand sharpening skills, do you now prefer this method over everything else you have done in the past? Does this beat the belt grinder, the wicked edge, the paper wheel, the lansky, and the other systems you have? Do you like like this because of the simplicity? Or is the actual edge better? I'm sorry, I don't mean to grill you so hard. I just really really struggle with sharpening. Being inexperienced and not knowing what to get years ago, I picked up a cheap Chinese edge pro clone. Then after struggling some more I ordered the "official" edge pro diamond stones to use on my knockoff edge pro. Still struggling I tried a kme clone.... Realized cheap clones aren't the way to go, but not having $300+ to spend on a real system I got the HF 1X30 belt sander. And that's what I use now but I still feel unsatisfied somewhat. I also ruined a couple knives trying to learn how to sharpen on a belt sander... And kind of been scared to use it on anything of value. I kinda just buy cheap Kershaw's now and when stropping won't bring them back I throw them in a bucket and get a new one. :-(
Lots of popular Western made knives have 15° bevels, e.g., Wusthof, Victorinox.
When you drill your holes in your handles, what is the name and size of the little egg shaped bit you deburr the holes? Thank you
countersink bit?
use soap on the water and a cork to do cut test on and clean the edge im a toolgrinder and i sharp a lot of knives
Great video, you answered all my questions 👍 Where did you get your stones?
Thank you. I bought them from knifewear 👍
Thank You
Where did you get your sharpening stone Holder ?
A great shop called knifewear 👍 knifewear.com/products/stone-holder?variant=5341329604
Criss cross pencil marks on your stone before you true it, that way you see where on the stone needs correcting.
Brilliant! Thank you so much!
@@Simplelittlelife You're welcome, Jeremy! Carry on the great work!
is there any particular advantage to water stones over your wicked edge
These stones can be faster. 👍
Simple Little Life cheers
Hey Jeremy, i heard about a technique from a brazilian knife maker, insted of let stones in water he melts solid or paste vaseline and drop the stone in that, and wait to the vaseline come back to normal, this way the vaseline you be in all little holes from the stone and wont let steel in, you coud try this technique with a cheaper stone
Are those stones the starter kit from knifewear?
I’m not sure, I’ve never heard of knife works.
Sorry auto correct knifewear
Coin method ❤️❤️❤️
Colin? Never heard of it.
Sharpening is definitely my weakest part of knife making... I have people all the time asking me to do sharpening tutorials, but i have to tell them how bad I actually am at it... I traded someone for a wicked edge, but still prefer whetstones... thanks for all the tips... hope all is well, take it easy...
I hear you buddy! It has always been a struggle for me too. There is something relaxing about sharpening on a whetstone isn't there? Cheers buddy! 👍
Do you store your stones in water or wet them before you start?
Usually wet them for 1/2 hour before I start.
Thank you 🙏
Are those American or Canadian nickels?
Canadian
They are so close in thickness that I don’t think it matters which you use. Cheers👍
Simple Little Life ok good. I didn’t want to have to raid my foreign corn jar
😁👍
NightTurtleKnives hey man. Your knives are awesome. I follow you on Instagram.
Do we use Canadian or US nickels, Eh?
Hey i live in India. I am learning knife sharpening and you really clear my doubts. Only your video clear my dobut about angle. I have a question for you. I was looking for Japanese whetstone it is very expensive. Instead of buying stones we can buy bench grinder so we can do sharpening on high rpm and very quickly. Japanese stone is more expensive than a bench grinder why its so expensive sir.
No. You can’t. Heat. Research.
As far as I can tell with your method, you never removed the burr. Unless you are depending on the strop to fully remove it (which I don't believe it can), you will have a sharp but weak burr at the cutting edge. After not many cuts/uses, the burr will crumble, leaving a very poor edge.
The ceramic rod is to remove the burr
"Be careful, it's a rabbit hole". *Throws me down the rabbit hole*
hahahaha! Sorry about that 😆🐰👍
I say smoke some good budd and you will learn
the 4 unlikes are from people who cut themselves :P
hahahaha! 😆👍
Be careful with puting stones in permasoak. Since you already do this with these stones for quite some time no reason to change but some stones may crack with that. Some stones may crack even with 5 min bath and manufacturer doesn't always tell you the stone is a splash and go. King KDS for example 6K side is splash and go, 1K needs soak. Some stones need a single bath then become splash and go for months after use. Naniwa 1K/3K works that way.
I thought you were supposed to soak until the bubbles stop . Am I doing it wrong ? My kit is brand new, so I want to keep them nice.
@@davidgibbs1083 It depends on what stone you are using. Naniwa professional, Chosera, Shapton Glass, Kuromaku, king Kds 6000, King 300 and King KW65 6000 are all Splash and Go stones. None of them should be soaked at all, just splash water on the surface and start sharpening. Most other stones require soak but there will be exceptions. To work well stones don't really need soak, what we really need is water retention on the surface to act as lubricant. This avoids heat build up and unnecessary stone wear. Since some big manufacturers mislabel their stones I no longer trust box information. Instead I splash water on the surface to see how the stone will react. If it retains water I'll treat it like a Splash and Go. If it doesn't I soak until bubbles stop. There are also low cost stones that do not retain water even if you soak them for 30 min. If you have to deal with one of them soaking more than 10 seconds is useless. Working with damp surface is better than a fully dry stone but is not ideal. I wrap these stones with a plastic bag and tape, covering sides and bottom, so they behave as they should.
CAMBRO containers have BPA.
So the internet tells me an american nickel has a diameter of 21.21 mm and a thickness of 1.95. 4 nickels stacked would then be a height of 7.8 mm and would give us a right triangle with sides of 7.8 and 21.21. The tangent of the angle would be opposite/adjacent of the triangle i.e. 7.8/21.21 and if we run that through arctan we get an angle of approx. 20.2 degrees. Checks out
Someone paid attention in math class. 🤓🤙🏼
you need the slurry for better sharpning and much finer bur
That’s a hotly debated topic.
5:56 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣
... Why do I feel guilty that I got it down within a week without hands on instruction? Well, Richard Blaine, a chef on YT gave some good hints. I got it down in a week.
I'm at the point where I think I'll just send you my knives to be sharpened.
Diamond stones don’t need the soak or the truing. Might actually use something that doesn’t require so much prep (30 min soak is not realistic when someone needs a sharp knife). There might be some downside to diamond stones but I don’t see one. Same process minus the soak and truing. The hone is an unnecessary step. You already apexed and made the burr with the 1000 grit stone - the strop removes the burr and perfects/smooths that apex to straight up. The hone seems like it’d do more harm than good to your consistent angle.
I’ve heard hundreds of differing opinions on sharpening in the comments of my videos. I’ve also heard there’s more than one way to skin a cat...
@@Simplelittlelife Indeed. Opinions are like buttholes. Everyone’s got one and they always stink.
Hahaha!
Geeze, the way he waves that knife around almost gave me a ❤️ attack!!
I can recommande DMT sharpening stones those are very good and don’t wash your stone while sharpening you remove all that abrasive
I hear that quite a bit that you're not supposed to wash stones so much. But the stone itself is the abrasive and the steel in the slurry doesn't remove other steel from the blade. I still haven't been explained how leaving the slurry on is better than keeping the stone clean. My logic says a clean stone will cut faster. Until someone can explain to me otherwise, I'm going with that. Cheers👍
@@Simplelittlelife I have always wondered as well why slurry is good. I know the guy from Burrfection doesn't even consider the stone to be sharpening well until there is a good slurry worked up. I think it might have something to do with the slurry being made up of, not only the steel, but also the abrasive itself that is being removed from the stone. Almost like an abrasive lubricant on the stone.
Your work is beyond stellar. Very good friend of mine, Namen makes knives also. Blows me away the amount of focus it takes from start to finish. If you have an opptunity, look him up @ borras kustom designs.
Additionally - he does custom leather work. If your looking for a one of a kind sheath, he can definitely help you out. If you reach to him, tell him Steven referred you.
Five nickels to set up the angle? I'm not made out of money here.
Whet
Nice info.. but, it's a big babble on..
Should never leave your stones in water.
I like Arkansas stone more but good video as always
Actually you are not supposed to store the stones in water from what I know
not very productive method at 14:43 to measure the angle, this kind of sharpening is far away from quality of really nice guided sharpeners from Russia like Profile (Профиль in Russian)
What happened to your finger edit: I have now heard you say I'm stupid
Anxious Nelly he says in the video
Thanks man I figured it out later
Is your beard uneven? I'm sorry, but it is bugging me... lmao
If you tilt your head a bit everything will be okay.
Learning a lot but almost turned it off because of the extended explanations.
I don’t care.
Mate talk to much
Mate comment too much (except I use the correct version of the word too)
21 minutes in and 4 adverts and still not sharpening the knife yet. Talk about waffle🙄
Sorry little pumpkin, you can blame KZhead for that, not me.
@@Simplelittlelife are KZhead responsible for you waffling shoe for 21 minutes too? Dick. 🙄. Then you actually sped up the actual sharpening footage.
15:18 how maintain an angle part starts here.
thank you
Thanks!
Dude is loooooooonnnnnnngggggg winded. Sheesh. Thank you.