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Give it to Mike Mike. When you get it back, it will be sharp.
Once mike is done, you could always give it to me and I could make it REALLY sharp
I use one of these:
A Kuk doesn't necessarily need a shaving sharp edge, though...since its mainly a chopping tool you'd be best to put a fully convex edge on it. Let me know if you want details on how to do this, but heres a general idea:
As my farther would say " Those are for people that don't know how to sharpen a knife"
I'll try not to be offended by that. Lots of people think they know how to sharpen a knife but can rarely "put out" when it comes to actually producing a superior edge than what can be achieved with rough grit stones or mid-grade ceramics or a lansky.
Probably the wrong place for this, though, as most Kuks are made of steel that barely qualifies as blade steel and benefit more from reprofiling of the bevels and installation of a true convex edge than a simple sharpening which just increases the blade thickness behind the edge. A dull kuk with a good blade geometry will outperform a shaving sharp kuk 99% of the time.
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The problem with the Lansky is that the angle actually varies depending how far away from the Clamp you are. This can be a problem on a large knife. The length of the guide rod to the edge of the blade changes and therefore changes the angle. If I was to use one of those on a kuk I would use multiple clamp points. That said i would only use one of those for an initial sharpening and do touch ups by hand.. Ok now that I bored everyone .. sorry..
Yeah Lanskys are great for pocket knives, but I've always felt that they are overpriced pieces of junk. The Edgepro, on the other hand, does not suffer those same faults and excels on larger knives since the device is not clamped to the blade. The 3000 grit waterstone polishing tapes really put out absurd edges.
The nice thing about doing things by hand is that its impossible to do a proper V-bevel with human hands, so all edges end up being convex to a certain degree.
Right on. I am in the industry as far as distribution of cutlery etc. I enjoy sharpening knives. All my friends / customers etc. just give me there knives and when I give it back its sharp. Thats why I made that comment. Raoul Duke is a customer of mine as well and that probably why he posted that.
Now a question for you. When you are at a friends house and try to cut a tomato with there knife do you:
A - Offer to sharpen them.
B - Yell at them for having knives that are equally as sharp on the back as they are in the front.
C- reach in you pocket and use your knife when they are not looking.
99% of my friends don't have kitchen knives that are high enough in quality to even waste my time on. The belts/stones i'd use to sharpen them are worth more than the knives they are using. Most low-end kitchen knives aren't worth anything more than a low-end machine sharpener like the kinds on the back of can openers
I usually yell at them and explain how dangerous it is to have dull knives, but stop short of becoming their knife sharpening service
My brother, however, has some very nice san-mai steel kitchen knives. I will sharpen those properly anytime he needs.
I keep meaning to make myself a set of kitchen knives, but cant justify making a few thousand dollars in knives and not selling them
BTW do you get dealer discounts on Chris Reeve knives?
Sharpening knives is some what of a hobby of mine. It's fun to always try to get to that next level of sharp. As I shave with a straight razor, keeping a perfect edge is a necessity, not a luxury. I have stones that go all the way up to 16,000 grit, and put them all to use while honing a razor. I do it all by hand, I don't have one of the jigs but it's something that I think would be cool to have. What one do you think is the best bang for the buck?
I use one of those when I want to change an angle on a blade or TRUE an angle that has been inadvertently modified due to improper sharpening. Other than that I mostly sharpen by hand with diamonds and ceramic.
As my farther would say " Those are for people that don't know how to sharpen a knife"
Tiktock has given you some great advice. But I also want you to know that you don't need any expensive equipment to maintain and keep sharp your knives.
Honestly, it's not that I think I "need" a sharpening system. I do quite a good job as it is, and hell I already have hundreds and hundreds of dollars tied up in my stones. I guess I'm looking for maybe something that would be good for putting an edge back, possibly putting an edge on a blank, and take less time than soaking, lapping, then drying my existing stones. Also, with the precise edge I have to maintain on my razors, it always stays in the back of my mind when I'm using my expensive stones on anything but a razor. That being the case, I hardly ever use those stones for anything but razors, and that usually leaves me using my oil stone, and DMT, and those lack the performance and polish I'd like to get.
Anyone who wants to start learning how to make knives let me know. There is a spring Hammer-in down in New Bedford coming this April, and there will be demos on griding, blacksmithing, sheathmaking as well as the guy from www.theperfectedge.com doing sharpening, custom armor makers etc etc. I think I may do a demo on differential japanese heat treating.
We also do informal cutting competitons where you first shave hair, then ink off pages, then chop 2X4s for time, cleave tin caps and rope, and finish with hair shaving again without sharpening. Usually it must be your own knife as its a test of heat tratment, edge geometry and technique....but anyone is welcome to give some of the events a shot.
The guy who runs it limits it to around 40, but im sure I can squeeze some people in as guests. Every person who attends would have the oppurtunity to forge some damascus steel and take it home, as well.
Sounds a bit like what you have to do to become a master bladesmith.