Best advice ever from 11:05. You bought cheap equipment? Use it up! Train your skills - you can't have it any cheaper. Skilled sharpeners can sharpen a cheap knife on a cheap stone! Once you got your skills you can proceed to more expensive stuff and won't worry damaging your equipment. My personal beginners advice: use a strop when you don't get satisfying results on a (whet-)stone. It's an eye-opener about where you can get :o) Many thanks to Burrfection - like your videos a lot
So glad you made this video, I bought a leather strop from you and asked the same question! Good to hear your thoughts. I have a 6000 whetstone so I guess l will just keep it using it without the compound.
Question did the matrix have a glitch and I see part of this video twice in the same video? Lol anyways great videos as always. What do you think of the TEMO half micron compound? I loaded it on my signed RyKy stop and use it after my shapton 12000 grit stone. I find it helps clean the edge a lot. It goes from being able to shave hair to really being able to shave your hair. I use it in kitchen knives not a strait razor. PS we need a BD1N steel sharpening video!!! I just got in the 25 piece set of nexus knives. High quality knives!!
I love your videos it tought me a lot i'm a french beginner knife maker (only 6 for now 7th is on the go) i don't think i could learn you on sharpening or food but i study metalurgy so i could explain about steels and heat treat Meanwhile i like that type of video idea! 😉
Im a souchef at a amusement park in stockholm sweden calld Gröna Lund. Would be awsome to see you in Sweden. We got allot of different restaurants. I totaly like this concept. Keep it up!
just bought your equine strop and have a 15 degree edge and I would like to know how I know I'm stropping the edge correctly. love all your videos, cheers
Hi there. Thanks for all the videos and info you share. I got the Miyabi Artisan Chef Knifes few weeks ago. This knife is an SG2 steel 63 HRC which is considered to be really hard as far as I understand. My question is whether should I use special whet stone, like diamond, or maybe a very high grit stone for this kind of steel? Thank you!
Awesome video as always. I would name the green strop Ernie. Thank u for answering my question. I also just purchased 1 of your rolled buffalo strops and this sure helps me as well. Thanks for all the info!
To add a bit to Ryky's answer to your question, one consideration when buying stones outside of merely "cheap vs expensive" is the choice of soaking vs splash & go. I can't see myself ever going with soaking stones ever again because I never think to myself "I want to sharpen a knife in 30-60 mins". When I have the thought to do it I want to do it like now and having to wait all the time (in both preparation and post-sharpening storing) would definitely take away from the whole process for me. I'm far from anal when it comes to my knives but I will often use the sharpening process to zone out and take my mind off of things, and that's not really something I want to wait for… especially if I'm doing it at 3am because I can't sleep.
Infinite Vortex thank you for your input. I find that myself. Alot of times i feel like sharpening but then think of soaking the stone and the moment is gone. What spash and goes do u like?
I gather you're asking as a single stone purchase only. At the top I'd say the Naniwa Professional (Chosera) 3000 plus the buffalo strop you bought. You'll get a really nice result with just this pairing and is the best all-round single splash&go stone option you could probably buy. At a grit rating down the Shapton Pro 2000. I use this stone on my German cutlery (HRC58) all the time and its a lovely, cheap and cheerful stone. Its probably the best all-round value stone for me. My harder Japanese cutlery (HRC61-63) goes fine too but it's a bit slower is all. Its a solid stone to pair with the Naniwa Professional 5000. When I'm through with this I'll replace it with the Shapton Glass 2000 as it'll be a better match for my harder cutlery but I'm hardly in a rush. Finally, at the always suggested 1000 grit the Suehiro Debado. 1000 grit is a touch on the aggressive side for the way my routines go although its really left pocket/right pocket. I have to say that I have never used this stone (too much hassle to buy where I live) however the simple fact that Ryky chose this stone over all others to do his recent ultimate paper cut test speaks volumes. Of the ones I have used though it will be either a Naniwa Professional (Chosera) 1000 or Shapton Glass 1000… I'd be really happy with either but the Shapton is a little less forgiving IMHO. The Shapton Pro 1000 is the cheap and cheerful option in this space but there's better… the 2000 is a way better stone. The trick is finding that nice balance point of value as you not only need to consider your starting/sharpening stone but also your finishing/polishing stone, or strop as that may be. 8000-10000 grit stones and up aren't cheap so the higher the grit of your sharpening stone(s) the less work your polishing, and more expensive, stone and/or strop needs to do. As Ryky said though, use what you have and when you're happy with your technique that should give you a solid guide as to where and what you want your sharpening stone to be and that will set the tone of everything else to follow.
ColePlayZ… first off, Ernie is an excellent suggestion (or maybe Kermit)!! As for your next stone choice(s), when it's time, I would lean toward quality over quantity. Many years ago, my first purchase was the Shapton Glass 1000 and 4000, and a DMT coarse. The 1000 and the DMT worked great, but over time I've found that the 4000 "glazes" almost immediately, making it essentially useless. I don't think it's a bad stone, I think I got a lemon, but it's been years, so I can't do anything about it now. Because of the glazing, I decided to get the Naniwa Professional 800 and 3000 (Ryky's high praise for them helped), and am VERY happy with both. Those, along with a few loaded and bare strops, and I'm good! It would be hard to go wrong with the Naniwa/Choseras, but now that Suehiro has the Debado line, it will be interesting to see how they compare.
ColePlay Z theSuehiro Cerax makes a combo 1000/6000 that’s a splash and go that’s affordable and works very well for me. One stone and a leather strop.
?Question Love your videos and the time you take to answer the questions. You said you do not need To use a compound. Would that mean I can use it dry Or would I have to use water or some sort of oil.?
And what about unloaded strop maintenance? If the compound should be oiled and renewed because of the metal left by blades, do you need to do something similar with an unloaded leather strop? Thank you!
You should look up a book called knife talk by an old dude by the named Ed Fowler. It goes into knife science I have both his books and found them to be very informative.
Hey Ricky. I have a question. I am not the biggest blade head but I have Shun and Global knives in my collection. I am also satisfied with my Minosharp 3 water ceramic sharpener. I am not a perfectionist. Would you suggest polishing with a strop with compound or is a strop without compound just fine? Thanks for your videos!
Thanks for what you do! Im new to your channel. Wanted to ask you... what commercial paste should you recommend for tunning up my SR'S? Diamond? Dovo? Thanking you, Greg Great job
is mineral oil the only oil you recommend? How about neatsfoot oil? This is what is used on leather so it would seem to be a good fit for reconditioning the leather strop. Just wondering. Love your videos.
#Question. Thanks for the vids. What do you do full time? Also, it would be fun to watch the knives in action and how different knives are used with different foods! Thanks Ryky!
Question: Just starting to learn sharpening on a Cerax 1000. Starting with a dull Wusthof 8" I can now slice a 1mm slice of tomato with little pressure. But I don't feel that the edge is really sharp. With the 1000 grit, am I just making micro serrations? The edge feels more grippy than before. Thanks!
ALL knife edges have microserrations, even surgeon's scalpels… those on scalpels are just extremely small. A 1000 grit edge is what a lot of people use for pocket knives, because it is "toothy" enough to get through tougher materials than one that is mirror polished. Edges that are polished at high grits can actually be less useful, depending on the desired use… I've heard that a scalpel will have difficulty slicing the skin of a tomato because its teeth are too fine.
when making a strop do I put the stropping compound on the smooth side or the rough side of the leather. Which side of the leather goes up, smooth or rough. Thank you
As far as I can tell, Ryky always puts the smooth side up. I do that as well on the strops I'm putting compound on. As for bare leather stropping, I find the rough side works better, but that might depend on what type of leather you're using.
Nice! Great video. BTW l, is that a MAC knife inside the box behind you? Have you ever review the MAC M-80? I think it’s a very fine knife. Love your channel. Question.
Hi, i hope you are well? Thanks for your excellent focused content , I have always had a passion for knives and blades ergo sharpening. You my friend are a MASTER! oh where do I go to buy your strop? keep up the good work brother
Riky said on his online shop that higher grit compounds (9k and higher) should be used on the shiny side of Rolled Buffalo, Equine Ultra or Shell Cordovan Ultimate leather strops. These 3 kind of strops are all suited for high grit compounds. The less smooth / glossy leather surfaces are less indicated for high grit compounds.
Just picked up a yaxell super gou kiritsuke and I guarantee you, even if I had a solid year of sharpening under my belt, I would still be nervous to sharpen that beauty. Practice only makes you better not perfect lol
What a gorgeous knife that is! Did you get it from cutlery and more? I seen it was on sale for 250 plus 20% off. So like 200.00. Looks incredible on the site.
ColePlayZ: Indeed I did. It looks so nice I’m scared to use it though lol. It’s very agile for an 8” knife and has a beautiful damascus pattern and what looks like hand engraved characters on the spine. At 63 rockwell I’m curious how tough it’ll be to sharpen. Never used a SG-2 steel knife before (vg10 dalstrong and BDN1 nexus would be my closest comparisons)
Silver Scale I also own the nexus. I bought the 7 piece set (5 knives) and I would think that at 63 it would be comparable to sharpening them. Some of my nexus were razor sharp out the box and some not all that impressive. I also bought a bunch of the yaxell ran from cutlery and more. I keep looking at the super gou. Just a matter of time probably and I'll have to have it. Lol. And yes it is hand engraved. They are awesome.
I’m also making a couple kiritsukes out of S30v, 3 nakiris out of 154cm and 2 yanagibas out of A2 steel. Hopefully I can make those look close to as nice as that knife does, no damascus though 😢
ColePlayZ: yeah my nexus chef knife needed a good sharpening and polishing before I was satisfied with the edge. I bet you will end up with it lol. Pretty sure knife collecting is a contagious disease but I’ll live with my terminal case of it😅 Regarding the sharpenability comparison, the funny thing is the more and more I read about metallurgy of knife steels the more confused I get. Apparently the sharpenability of the steel doesn’t necessarily correlate with edge retention or hardness for that matter when comparing different steel types. The heat/cryo treatments matter a lot as well. Sure the yaxell super gou has a superb mix at that price and detail in construction
He mentioned the Naniwa Pro 400 feels like you're going against the grain, but the Kramer 400 made by Naniwa does not have that issue and is a much better feel. I would choose between the Cerax 320, Suehiro Debado 320 for a splash n' go version of the Cerax, or Atoma 400. The Atoma is an interesting choice because you can flatten stones with it as well.
I'm not an expert but i would use linseed oil to prevent water to damage the wood but normaly it's yet done so contact the maker you had your knife from and aske them about the wood
I've never heard anyone say what grit stone does it then make sense to go to a strop. For example, I would assume stropping would do no good if I've only used a 325 grit stone. The highest grit I have is 1000 grit . Will stropping improve my edge at all after a 1000 grit stone?
@@Burrfection Thank you for the reply. I'm really enjoying my new knife hobby and your channel has been super valuable. Thanks for the great videos. I really like your approach and also the quality of your videos.
marklloyd03 I asked Ryky the same question recently... Like within the last week. He said he likes herold red and green also Norton diamond. The herold can be had for about 10 dollars a tube on Amazon or ebay. (Ebay is about a dollar cheaper) the Norton is about 25.
Appreciate your videos and the time you take to answer the questions. If I choose not to use compound, Do I Have to use water, mineral oil, Or can I use it dry.
xzz: I would assume so. I’ve used my jeans to strop knives with a decent amount of success. I’m assuming anything that has enough give to catch/contact the burrs (essentially ripping or abrading them off) should work
Quick Question to anyone here: Just got in my first stone (CERAX 1000!!! It's soaking right now:-) Never sharpened before. Would it be best to start with my Shun Paring knife, or I have a low end Wusthof chef knife I never liked. I'll wait until I have some practice before attempting my Ken onion Shun Chef's knife. All knives are fine just dull. No chips etc. Thanks!!!
FilmFactry 🤔omg I’m in the same boat but my knives are the Birchwood Miyabi Series- Nooooooo way am I gonna attempt sharpening those beauties until I get it right with the crap I have in the cutlery drawer 😱. I suggest you do the same 😂😜😜😂
Well I gave it a shot with the Wusthof. I'm finding the process very slow. I'm noticing a problem keeping the angle level through the full pass. I'm not a fan of the paper cut test. I hope to eventually get the edge sharp enough to shave hair from my arm. I see a lot of black coming off, so I am removing metal.
There are blade angle guides available- going to pick one up myself- I intend to use one until I have the angle using the guide memorized then it’s freehand !
FilmFactry… have you watched any of Ryky's sharpening tutorial videos? You might find some good pointers there. You definitely need to work on holding a consistent angle, applying appropriate pressure, and reducing/removing the burr. As for speed, a 1000 won't remove as much metal as quickly as a coarser grit, but it is the coarsest grit many people use. Just be patient. Ryky did a video not too long ago about angle guides. I agree with him that it's best to sharpen at the existing/factory angle until you have enough experience with the knife to experiment taking it to a different angle.
Well.. this is a knife/sharpening channel. I'm unsure how traveling the world would work out with your dad-job, but maybe you'll take your kids along, which would be really great. Apart from that, your main focus of your audience being knife/sharpening, traveling the world WILL obviously hurt the frequent content along this route, or you plan ahead and take that equipment with you along your travels. So always cater to your main audience if you have established that and refrain from fancy content, that's all I'm saying.
