Hey I just want to say thanks. I have sharpened knives before on 1000 and 3000 grit stones before, but i just bought my first knife from Korin ($200 gyuto with a 70/30 bevel) and i spent a couple hours watching your vids before sharpening, and through patience she came out so much more beautiful than that factory edge. I hope you continue to help everyone with your experience.
Thank you for making all your videos. I have severe arthritis so i don't have energy to waste or dexterity to use dull knives. I now have super sharp knives and cooking is much easier for me again. It is a small thing, but those count when you have a serious illness. Thanks again for helping.
Lucid, very inspiring, and it helped me again to salvage some long neglected knives that I bought at a street fair once, and that are surprisingly good if given some loving care, which for too long I did not do. After some good sharpening of one of them I went and surgically took apart a whole jackfruit, and froze a large part of it, and I assure you a sharp knife made all the difference.
Finally did my first sharpening session yesterday! Bought a whetstone over a year ago but never dared to use it. It went quite well and this video also helped a lot. Thx!
As always, the explanation is great. This video, along with your How to Sharpen a Chef Knife video are probably best watched in tandem to understand the method and theory behind this style of sharpening.
Watch the videos with guy trying to explain to his GF, how a pizza is just as big, no matter how many slices it`s in.. She seemed convinced half a pizza in 4 slices has less calories than half a pizza in 8 slices. (or something like that) There`s a bunch of different ones, check it out ;)
I always described the burr as the steel rolling over from one side to the other, once I'm done sharpening, the burr become very thin and barely sticks to the edge of the blade, then I strop to remove the tiny burrs left like if they were tiny slivers of steel sticking to the edge of the blade
If you are new to sharpening watch how calm and steady Ryky's hands are. This takes a lot of practice but is worth taking the time to develop. My hands are not this steady but I continue to strive to achieve this level.
Burrfection Hello Ricky. I'm a subscriber to your channel. I was wondering if you still have any of your jeans still available. if you do I'm interested in getting a pair of each color if available. size 36 waist × 27 inseam or. closest to it. email is berniemac777@gmail. thanks.
Can you do a video to help factory workers who wear gloves and use a diamond rod, steel rod and steel mousetrap? We can't feel it with our hands and we have very limited time to sharpen.
Great explanation. The burr is the reason I like to sharpen everything by hand. I believe grinders and belt sanders change the heat treat and temper of the metal on the very fine edge (burr) that does all of the cutting. I think the edge will always last better when sharpened by hand.
Doug Swaby "I believe" It's the truth not your belief :P I wouldn't have spent money on waterstones if it wasn't necessary. I've ruined a knife on a belt sander. Once you ruined your heat treat the knife become useless.
I know that it is a fact that you can ruin the heat treat of the blade itself. You can however sharpen on grinders and belt sanders without ruining the heat treat of the blade itself. But, no matter how cool you keep the blade, if the grinder or belt sander is throwing sparks then you are ruining the heat treat on the very fine edge (burr) of the blade that does all the cutting for you.
so i'm supposed to make equal burr on both sides of the edge with a ~1000 grit stone and then start to refine or remove the burr once on each side while eventually swapping to finer stones when i stop noticing any difference?
Ryky there is another approach and I recommend you just give it a shot, off camera to see what you think, it is close to what your current method is. Let's face, the Burr, it's formation and subsequent removal are pivotal elements of successful knife sharpening. This is the way I do it, again, similar to your approach. After the burr is formed on both sides, repeat the sharpening process but reduce your pressure by 50%, you're not stropping just yet, so go from heel to tip and then from tip to heel on both sides. Now, repeat that process with another reduction in pressure, so very light pressure, naturally you don't want to form additional burrs so it takes a very light touch, heel to tip, tip to heel on both sides. NOW, you do the stropping motion to finalize the burr removal process on the coarse stone. I call it coarse stone refinement. It's just a little more time spent "cleaning" that edge. The sharpest knives I've produced are done using this method. I use four levels of pressure when I sharpen on the coarse stone. (Just a suggestion, not suggesting your method is not good, just throwing something out there for to catch if you wish).
Just saw your Yanagiba video. Don't you find it so relaxing and quite therapeutic when you sharpen one of those? Where I live, I have yet to see on that was sharpened properly, they all just have micro bevels on them, so no contact of the Blade Road on that stones, just the primary edge and a a couple of mm up from that. When it comes to Edge Trailing and Edge Leading, you and I are on the same page :) All the best.
panedrop that's what I like about his sharpening videos. He makes them as long as they need to be. He doesn't cut out stuff just to cater to people who can't pay attention to a video longer than 7 minutes. In my opinion if you can't watch a thirty minute video your probably not gonna be able to sharpen with the patience it takes to do it well.
I'm confused. Is refining the burr to make it stand straight about making the knife sharper, or breaking off the burr to prevent contaminating your food? The idea of sliding the edge down a piece of wood makes it seem like you're undoing all your hard work. Is it needed to keep metal out of your veggies?
Thank you so much for sharing your insights Ryky, I really appreciate it! I wonder have you done a video specifically on sharpening the tip? Sometimes it can be a little tricky getting the bevel even and smooth towards that area.
Thank you very much for the videos, i just started sharpening as a hobby and your videos help a lot. I have a question tho, do i get the same result if i sharpen a knife on a let's say 400 grid stone and strop on a 1000 opposed to sharpen it on a 1000 and strop it on the same stone?
Burrfection, the frame/zoom on the bottom right of the video. The compression in the image shows. I'm assuming it's because it's the left image, but zoomed in. If you're not already, could you try recording in a lossless format before editing? i'm thinking it'll hide that artifacting that's more apparent when zoomed in. The blurry details get in the way when you're trying to study the video frame by frame at 4k. I know that YT trashes a video, but that's not as true at the 2-4k res, so it's possibly to get a decent from YT at those resolutions because for some reason YT gives a better compression ratio past 1080p.
Hey Ryky,,, Iam a beginner at wet, Splash and Go sharpening stones. And although I have one or two chief type knives,, primarily I use pocket, Sheath and wood carving knives. My collection focuses more around the love of the Outdoors, camping, fishing and hiking. One quick question,, which would be more efficient,,, stropping on the Splash and Go,, or a leather strop,,,??? His Blessings,,,,,, Joshua
Dear Ryky, I am really impressed with your sharpening procedure. Would it be possible for you to translate the procedure for use with a wood chisel and other wood working tools? Thanks, and keep the great content coming. Bill
DAYUM! i have too many burrs and I never knew it was that. i only thought I did not sharpen it but it's cuz I did not sharpen it correctly 0_o THANK YOU!
I like the way your personal methods gained in the development of Burr and understanding the edges. Trying to explain what you know from your own practical experience and nothing more adds a personal touch that grabbed my sttention. i have a clearer understanding & foundation for developing burr and knife sharpening techniques that come from my practical experience is thank you again. #isupportyouwithasub
Pleased to meet you. I live in the Netherlands (Holland). It can be very rainy here too, but I managed to keep some newspaper dry enough. I always cut complete circles (approx 4 or 5 inches diameter) out of the sheet as an indicator of the sharpness.
i was always under the understanding that "deburring" was mechanically fatiguing the burr so that working it back and forth would eventually make it flake off leaving an ultra sharp edge. Imagine bending a paperclip back and forth until it breaks...same idea with the burr.
Thanks for the reply! Nice to see you interact with your fans! Keep up the great work! Something you might do in the future...a video on the various steel types and their virtues when it comes to kitchen cutlery.
I don't think you realise what an ELECTRON MICROSCOPE (not "electronic") is. They can cost tens of thousands of dollars, are highly sophisticated to run and you only find them in large research institutes.
Have you ever considered getting into sharpening (and using?) straight razors? Edge perfection and sharpness is highly valued in those communities, as it is a blade you will actually have to put to your skin and the edge has a direct relation to your enjoyment. Usualy gets into the most extreme of grits on stones!
Watching this last video - you seem to be saying that you need only develop a burr on one side of the blade and then use stropping to straighten it ( method 1), rather than sharpening the edge on both sides and then stropping ( method 2) - which gives the best result- method 1 or 2? - thanks
Great video. Love the multiple angles. Question/request for you: I'm somewhat new to sharpening (pocket knives for years but was never great at it). I have a 7 piece Wusthof Classic set that is in dire need of sharpening. Based on budget and your recommendations, I went with the King KDS 1000/6000 and picked up that cheap Numa knife to practice with since it is fully bolstered like my Wusthofs. My question is how close should I get to the bolster while sharpening? I have watched bunches of your videos and you make it look very easy, but I found myself grinding into the bolster regularly (so far just on the Numa and Wusthofs paring knife). Any tips or tricks? to know how close is close enough?
just slow down when you are coming close to the bolster. you can do up to 1/4 inch from the bolster, since it's not likely that you will use that area when cutting food.
Hey Ryky, After a burr is created on the one side (and folding onto the other) do you immediately go into your de-burring method? or do you then create a burr on the opposite side first and then do the de-burring method? Thank you!
Hi man, I am a working chef and am just wondering what the best way to maintain my knifes is I have a 1000/3000 combo stone and a ceramic honing rod. For a long time I was just using the rod every now and then but found after a while my knives would get dull(well duller than I would like) I've just sharpened most of them with my combo stone and am wondering should I just quickly strop them on the 3000 stone if they need a touch up? or just use my rod then once they go dull re sharpen them. Thanks in advanced love your stuff!
Oh, my grandmother has an ancient 'oilstone' made by 'norton'. Is there a difference with a whetstone? I used water on the stone and i noticed these oilsmudges on the surface of the water. Should i use oil instead? It's a 2 sided stone but I don't know what grits they are, is there some way of finding out? I was sharpening my opinel n°9 carbonsteel pocketknife and saw these tiny hairlike flakes of metal, i thought i was wrecking my knife :D
Hello Rikki I really like your Videos you helped me alot learning how to free hand Sharpen ... i just have one thing that confuses and bothers me alot . When i sharpen my Chef knives i start on lets say the right side after 10 Minutes of sharpening i start feeling a nice burr like you say ... than i switch my knive and start doing the exact same thing on the other side but the burr starts to devolp much much faster... so this means in the end i sharpend one side more than the other one ... i start seeing this on the endges of my knives one cutting edge side lookes “longer thicker “ than the other one... for the rest i follow everything you say after i deburr on the cerax 1000 i switch to a shapton pro 8000 and do the polishing... for the polishing do you think it is better to do push and pulls or just single pulls ...please help me am i doing everything right ? .... I work as a professional Camera Assistant tv commercials feature films etc so if you like or have any questions i can help you with Camera Setups Lightning questions or colour correction green keying or editing questions ... keep up the good work 👍🏼 and Greetings from Italy ...
Hi there Ricky! I'm a very new subscriber, and I am LOVING IT!! I, myself am a bit of an amateur and I am loving these informational videos, I am currently working with a mixed stone with a 1000 and a 3000 grit side. what is my next step? budget is not really a problem for me, and I don't know whether to go coarser or finer on my next stone. also, can you do a video on flattening stones? I would really appreciate it! thanks, and keep up the amazing work!
hey Lion. thanks for writing. well... you CAN get a coarse stone, like a Shapton glass 320 or 500 to start with for knives that are pretty dull. but if you plan on sharpening your knives before they get very dull, a good 800 or 1000 would be a good buy. the Chosera 800 is one of my favorite sharpening stones. if you want a mirror polish, the Arahshiyama 6000, Shapton Glass 6000 or 8000 are also great. here is a list of items i have used and really like. kit.com/Burrfection/knife-kit
Thank you for the answer! I really do appreciate it! I will give the stones you listed a look! And also, huge applause to you for answering so quickly! A rare thing with creators today! I will definitely be returning here in the future
Hi , i been watch your channel, I would like to know how to get out some scratches of my Ran damascus knife . These scratches occurred during sharpening. Thanks
For polishing you can use a soft pad (mouse pad) with high grit sandpaper. 1000 for start then directly to a 4000. Press the scratched surface into the pad but not fully. Polishing is time consuming and will take a lot of effort. When the above mentioned scratches are gone you can finish the new scratches with a denim pad (or denim like thick cloth) and a polishing agent (ex. jewelers rouge aka iron rust). Pressing hard helps to get a difference in polishing of the damascus pattern. With some luck and if the Damascus is genuine you can obtain it back. And after all this, a resharpen.
hello people I really love this channel the reason why he one of few people I've found on RU-vid that knows what he is talking about the reason I say that my daddy was former green Beret and taught me to properly sharpen a knife when was six and every day since I'm twenty four now and I'm very good at it and I find this Channel and learn several new things
@Burrfection if you get the chance to borrow a microscope(that can be used for filming) it would be interesting to see what edges of varying quality look like. As in comparing a poor edge, with a decent and a good edge via a microscope.
ive really been enjoying your videos and ive had some success with sharpening my knives. im just curious about your thoughts on the messermeister 1000/3000 combo stone. that was what was available to me and seems to work OK, just curious. keep up the good work and thanks for all the info!
Ok which of your sharpening vids is all beginner,I thought sharpening was using a cutting movement on stone, I'm lost, now you reverse that? On more course stone say 5 times on each side then to more fine stone alternate one each.?
at this point, just about everything you see is sent to me for review. so , yes, i have bought many knives and whetstones, but when you see me feature new product now, it's most like a review sample.
When I feel for a burr I use my fingernails instead of the fleshy part of my finger tips. I find that I am able to feel my fingernails catch on the burr before I am able to feel the burr with my finger tips. Do you think this is a good technique for achieving a microburr, or am I just not recognizing the feel of the burr until it is large enough to catch on the edge of my fingernails, since I am somewhat of a novice?
unless the edge is chipped, a 400-500 should do. if you are experienced, a 1000 can do it too. here is a list of the stones/knives i have reviewed/used and like. kit.com/Burrfection/knife-kit
Hi, Iam used to Mechanical sharpening (with that method i get normaly very long burrs sometimes 0,5mm or a bit longer, you can see it via your eye) after iam finished with polishing my knifes I check for a burr, I let the knife run (without pushing it) over my thumbnail, if there is a "bad" burr you will feel it right away, thats my method for finding a good vs bad burr
Spyderco makes some of the best, and their variety of steels is impressive. Oddly enough, the company's initial product was a knife sharpener! www.spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/about-us/
Do you do this "stropping method" on each stone during the sharpening process, or only on the finishing stone? I am trying to figure out what the last step should be before I move up to each stone. Thanks!
I use fine on 1000 and above stones. I use medium on 400 and below stones and to remove rust from older knives. I'm not ryky, but I think this is what I picked up from watching his videos.
how many passes would you go thru on a 1000 stone on average to sharpen a knife.. i just don't know when to stop.. . im new to sharpening and had some practise with my mums blunt knives .. 5 nos but it took me 1 hour per knife on a cheap china combination coarse stone to make an edge and then i moved on to my Japanese mid range 1000 grit stone ... was i over doing things ... on each stone i did at least 150 passes on each side... so my question is whats a good average .. i know knifes defer.. just an average pls.. thanks
i think the shun stone is not bad, may be a few dollars too pricey for some. here is a list of the stones i have used and like. kit.com/Burrfection/knife-kit
Newbie question... I have a chosera 1000 and chosera 5000. After achieving a burr on each side of the knife on the 1000 stone, and after straightening it, should I expect to feel a (new?) burr while polishing on the chosera 5000? Thanks in advance. Your video has been inspirational for me to discover my knives real potential!
Thanks Ryky for the quick reply. so if I understand it correctly, majority (almost all?) of the "sharpening action" takes place on the 1000 grit/medium stone and when I get to the 5000 grit, I'm really just focusing on the polish? Is the higher grit stone mainly more for cosmetic purpose (mirror finish)? I'm following your videos and tips but just want to make sure I understand the results I should expect at each stage (grit level) of sharpening... Thank you again for dropping knowledge...