Kife sharpening with a whetstone

I spend about 20 minutes every couple of weeks (or when they feel like they need it) doing about 4 or 5 knives.

Little and often.

The thing is. Unless you're using a knife all day every day you really don't need to sharpen it that often, beyond that is giving it a couple of wipes along a decent steel.
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For the most part I run it through a chantry sharpener, then the steel to remove any burr(there isnt one really but habit) Then after that a few wipes down the steel now and again prior to cutting something.
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If you're using a whetstone a lot and the knife is just really a domestic kitchen type, all you are doing it wearing it down prematurely.
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A decent quality knife helps, made of a decent quality steel, and knowing how to use a chantry properly(slightly firm strokes, you arent trying to cut through the bloody thing) and knowing how to hone on a butchers steel is all that is needed to keep the tool sharp enough to cut super thin slices of tomato, or whatever.

Even if you don't do it often a whetstone does a great job of putting your knives into a lovely condition.  I prefer a course and a fine rather than the super fine ones you get e.g. 400/1000.  It's nice having something that comes in a base with non slip feet to make it more stable on the worktop.  I've never used those honing guide things you get for setting the angle, seems like a lot of faff

The knives only get done a few times a year but I also have chisels and a plane so it's a super useful thing to have.

I guess what I’m saying is that if it’s something that’s not too time consuming once

Maybe half an hour to an hour 3 times a year for me. 8 or so knives.

A lot less after I found my other half cutting onto a plate because she couldn't be bothered to get a chopping board out.

I like sharp knives so I'm happy to sharpen them. It's satisfying getting to get them razor sharp

I bought a cheap whetstone to sharpen cheap knives, you can get them really sharp really easily. I now hunt for old knives to sharpen and have graduated to sharpening a cheap axe a friend gave me.

YouTube can give you simple useful realistic guides or make you think you need to buy Damascus steel knives forged by alien artisans then sharpen them with wd40 and leather, whilst underwater.

I tried this and just couldn’t seem get the hang of it despite following a number of videos. I packed up in frustration and was set to buy new knives when none of my attempts gave anywhere near the results indicated in the tutorials.

However, when I next came to use the knives in anger (for just cutting food rather than shaving tissue paper to a needle) they were significantly improved so I’ve concluded that it’s a worthwhile thing as long as you don’t expect the hone them like a ninja and take the videos with a pinch of salt*

*not to knock those who can sharpen to the point of being able to shave the hairs off a gnat’s ballsack!

Its all about being able to hold the onife at same angle all the time, and finding the angle that works with the knifes existing grind 

It takes me 30 sec to get my tool steel home made knives razor sharp and they hold the edge far better than any stainless steel knives. I have 1 factory made knife with fancy stainless steel and it is much harder to sharpen that.

Practise is key.

I bought a set 4 stones graded from 400 to 4000 IIRC.
I do it about once every 8-10 weeks (i have a good number of knives in circulation) takes about half an hour to do a dozen knives and drink tea, they will occasionally get a wipe on a steel in the mean time though.

Can't quite do the tomato trick though, but most of them will slice through the end of a finger before you even notice.

All you blue paper steel afficianados looks away, but this minosharp does a great job in twenty seconds or less for my global knives...

https://www.kitchenknives.co.uk/minosharp-sh220-br-ceramic-shinkansen-sharpener-black-red/

Giving me lots more time to weigh out *exactly* the right dose of beans for my coffee

I went on a course! Community Cutlery in Ilkley do an evening course to teach you how to sharpen knives. They even give you a vegan strop which keeps them sharp with less wear than a butchers steel.
I very much enjoy sharpening my knives after a hectic day of wild swimming and sourdough baking.

They take no time at all to learn how to use, also takes very little time to sharpen your knives. You can do them in the comfort of a wing back chair, whilst sipping your vegan small batch IPA and catching the smell of your sourdough bread baking in your homemade pizza oven.

It’ll take years of regular sharpening to wear them down to a level that they are of no use anymore. 

They even give you a vegan strop which keeps them sharp with less wear than a butchers steel.

I thought a vegan strop is when they find the only option on the menu is a nut loaf?

I got really into sharpening and spent quite a bit if time and effort learning how to sharpen knives. I spend a few min when ever any get blunt never more than 10 min even for high wear resistant super steels.

I disagree that a steel hone is all you need to keep things sharp. Eventually they will need to be sharpened on a whetstone imo.

It's not hard but there is so much nonsense online about it. I'd recommend getting a 1000grit shapton and watching the basic sharpening video by "stroppy stuff" on YouTube. After that and a bit if practice you'll be shaving.

Yeah, I should go little and often... but I tend to wait/procrastinate and have a yearly sharpen everything day using whetstones. So knives, axes, penknifes etc.  No vegan strops or the like though. Some use of a steel inbetween sharpenings though.

Depending on where you live, the kitchen window sill maybe just the job. Look at the window sills of many an old house. Or the door step.

I aspired to having a whetstone for a long time and spent more time than I should have researching obsessively. Mentioned it to a mate over a pint and he got me one of these for Christmas:

I don't know why it's not showing a preview

I was disgusted and horrified, but not wanting to upset him I thought I'd use it once or twice before throwing it away. Bugger me it works. 2 years on and I'm still using it, I even had to carry out some repairs recently as one of the little stone jobbies fell out of the bottom.

a vegan strop

They do, often.

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I've worked with a few older butchers who preferred their knives to be flat ground, as in no shoulder on the edge, and would just use a steel to keep the burr off.

Every couple of months their knives would go to a sharpeners who would flatten the knife and from the marks on the blade that would mean most of the blade was laid on whatever grinding stone.

I'd guess that however they sharpened it, the marks would be 3/4 of the way up the blade sop the back remains the same thickness, but below that the blade would become thinner and thinner.

I put a shoulder on one of their blades and he was rather unhappy about it. But i suppose each to their own.

Yep, minosharp 3 or 4 times a year, a steel every few uses in between.

For years I had a set of cheap knives and a V style sharpener, and I would do a single swipe through several times a week before cooking.  Knives were always sharp.
I got a more expensive set of knives last year and a whetstone, I've probably sharpened them three times.  First and second time I slipped the included guide onto the back of the knife to help learn the best angle and not ruin the existing edge...the second time the guide must have had grit trapped into it as it scratched all down the knife as I put it on.
I've no doubt that with a bit of dedication the whetstone would be technically better at the job, but in reality, my knives would be sharper if I went back to a V style one as I can wipe the knife through it before cooking it, rather than soaking the stone and spending 10 minutes messing about, making a mess.

Why does Whetstone have a H in it?

Apparently 'whet' means sharpen in foreign talk. Sharpen+Stone

The Whetstone in Whetstone.

The is for the advice everyone. Have dispatched my sister to Enfield with a crowbar as that’ll look lovely in my garden. Hope the postage isn’t too much for her.

a vegan strop

They do, often.

I can't imagine why.

Enfield? What an insult. Whetstone is in the London Borough of Barnet, and shares a tube station with Totteridge.

Have dispatched my sister to Enfield with a crowbar as that’ll look lovely in my garden. Hope the postage isn’t too much for her.

I read that as "Have dispatched my sister in Enfield with a crowbar as that’ll look lovely in my garden..."

I mean, I know we have a penchant for new patios on this forum...

I thought a vegan strop is when they find the only option on the menu is a nut loaf?

👏🏻👌🏻

I don’t use my ProCook knives that often, and I really only need to use a leather strop to polish the edges, I’ve got two, one has a coarse and fine stropping paste on either side, the other has very fine on one side, and just smooth leather the other.

My various pocket knives get touched up with a hard Arkansas stone with a very light oil, then finished with the strops. My CRKT Pilar holds an extremely good edge, as do my modified Opinel Carbone No6/7 knives, but carbon steel usually does, with the downside of staining easily.