The Grey Areas

For the sharpeners out there I am sure you will agree that everything about sharpening is not exactly black and white, not for me.

I think it is important to talk about what I consider topics that for some folks may be confusing or just need some clarification. Now.....who the hell am I to clarify foggy subjects you ask. Well, that is a good question but think of it this way, I am probably older than most of you, so I have been confused a lot long than you and started asking questions many years ago. :)

The purpose of this post is to identify some grey areas. I am considering making videos on each one and I have decided not to go purchase a video camera just yet, I will make due with my LG G2 for now.

Here we go:

Again, these are topics that I found a little confusing, feel free to ignore them if you like.


THE BURR
- Do we need to form a burr with each stone and in fact do we actually need to form a burr. What is a burr?


STROPPING
- What is the purpose, do we need nifty leather strops and what about all these compounds out there and sprays and such?


ANGLES:
- Is it important to place a target on a specific angle for a knife, or is 15-20 degrees for example okay?


Japanese hand made knives
- Do we really need one to experience sharpness and hardness in all it's glory, don't they get just as dull just as fast give or take a week, they rust, they chip, what is the fuss.

Is this knife not just as good?
This is a hard knife, 66 and it is spectacular in terms of edge retention and the edge itself is absolutely fantastic when sharpened.  Plus it has a nice handle, much nicer than most of the handles I see on Japanese knives.

The Henckels Twin Cermax

JAPANESE WATER STONES which ones:
When I finally gave in to my obsession and need to accumulate stones, I was overwhelmed by the amount of brands and that has grown. I have tried a lot so I will give you my opinion on what works.
I have yet to have a lot of experience with Natural Stones and I am in no rush but when I do get one or two, I will certainly talk about them. (Out of every 100 knives I sharpen, 5 are Japanese and I just don't think the natural stones would make much of a difference on the knives I do sharpen every day)


TECHNIQUES
I have changed the way I sharpen about three times and I am now extremely comfortable and confident with my method which is very common, nothing weird, in fact it is quite traditional.

EDGE PRO or FREEHAND
This is an area I am very comfortable talking about, I don't have the Wicked Edge Precision Sharpener, I am very confident that it is excellent but I am not qualified to discuss it's merits. However, I'm pretty sure it is an awesome system, like the Edge Pro so I will talk about the differences between a guided system and my little old hands doing all the work freely.

There are probably more topics I can add here and again, I think I will make a video on them all.

I'm busy with sharpening right now but I will get to that, I love talking about sharpening and as long as folks remember that everything I discuss is just my opinion not the only way to sharpen.

I have not forgotten to do a video on Serrated knife sharpening, that will be soon.


As you know I like to finish with something unrelated. Here are some folders I just did.

Thank you
Peter