3 ms·

Whetstones, pretty cheap only and not as hard as it seems.

by xandrius 1y ago

dzhiurgis 1y ago
Wet stones are hard. Rolling ones are easy albeit “real” knife aficionados don’t like it.
- maqp 1y ago
  They're really not. All you need is an angle guide you stick to the knife. Something like https://setamono.co.za/products/knife-sharpening-angle-retainer https://setamono.co.za/products/knife-sharpening-angle-retai... With that all you need to do is pretty much go back and forth. Note that the whetstone eventually wears them out too. Something to grab while you're at it, is a truing stone to take care of the whetstone as it _will_ wear out unevenly making the sharpening a pain.
  - dzhiurgis 1y ago
    Thats 2-3 extras over rolling sharpeners
- ReptileMan 1y ago
  Whetstones were hard 20 years ago. Right now there is abundance of quality info and products. The community actually figured out idiotproof and effective ways to deburr, to strop, resin bound diamond stones are affordable (or even cheap if you just buy the abrasive from China and go the diy route).
- kminehart 1y ago
  I used to sharpen my straight-knife planer blades, planing irons, chisels, and knives with whetstones / water stones. It was too big of a pain in the ass over time, so I switched to diamond stones. Biggest advantages is that you don't need to pre-soak them and diamond stones don't develop a valley / have to be flattened. if you plan on getting into sharpening I would just start with a coarse, fine, and extra fine diamond stone and a leather strop w/ stropping compound.
  - xxs 1y ago
    Same advice - don't use the soaking stones. Nowadays they are plenty of decent quality diamond stones (or ceramic ones)
appcustodian2 1y ago
just want to point out that maintaining a knife is a whole hobby that requires a time investment of learning the skill and storage of additional tools and materials. i'm surprised at all the apparent knife enthusiast posts trashing this device. I take my victorinox (which is absolutely nothing special and surprises me that it costs $60+ dollars) to the farmers market for sharpening but sharpness isn't even the problem. Potatoes in particular stick to the blade like a strong magnet and it takes me 5x longer to prep. I enjoy cooking but not chopping endless veggies and i'm hoping this thing can carry some of that weight without looking like i'm using an oversized electric toothbrush.
- nkrisc 1y ago
  > just want to point out that maintaining a knife is a whole hobby that requires a time investment of learning the skill and storage of additional tools and materials. Properly maintaining a knife does. Most people don't need to properly maintain a knife. You can do it good enough with a honing steel and some crappy automatic sharpener. I enjoy cooking good food for my family and myself, but cooking is not a hobby of mine. So if my knife can slice a tomato without crushing it, then that's good enough for me. I don't need to shave a tomato so thin that the slice is transparent. Does the crappy automatic sharpener work? Well the knife cuts better after I use it, so yes, it does.
  - appcustodian2 1y ago
    Yes as I mentioned I use often-recommended knives (victorinox, shun) and have them occasionally sharpened professionally and at least in my case the ultrasonic knife appears to solve some very real problems that knife maintenance cannot.
- non_aligned 1y ago
  > just want to point out that maintaining a knife is a whole hobby that requires a time investment of learning the skill and storage of additional tools and material. You're right that's a hobby. But the hobby's definition of "proper maintenance" and what it "requires" is basically just people nerding out about things that don't matter the slightest in the real world. To maintain a kitchen knife so that it cuts a tomato without squishing it, you don't need a book on knife science. Further, that nerdery is probably actively harmful, because instead of simple solutions, people are told they need an inspection microscope and a variety of jigs and other implements. So they buy an objectively bad electric sharpener and move on.
Ertuit 1y ago
Yes, and a pass with a honing steel every day to maintain the cutting edge between proper whetstones sharpening every few months.
- kminehart 1y ago
  don't use honing steel. at best it doesn't do anything, at worst it damages your knife. here's a closer look at it with a microscope. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ReQ83CZOQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ReQ83CZOQ
  - ricardobeat 1y ago
    Ceramic honing rod. Works amazingly well and is appropriate for japanese knives.
  - goopypoop 1y ago
    just a guy abusing his knife to prove he can't fix it using the wrong tool badly
    - Hikikomori 1y ago
      No? The point was to understand what the tool does and when it can help. And he found out that if you have a Burr it can help. But if you have a properly sharpened knife without a Burr it won't do anything to help and will just destroy your edge.
      - goopypoop 1y ago
        microwaves are useless because they can't toast bread no matter how hard I mash the keypad
sleepybrett 1y ago
do not buy those garbage amazon whetstones. Buy a diamond sharpening 'stone'.

Whetstones, pretty cheap only and not as hard as it seems.

dzhiurgis 1y ago

Wet stones are hard. Rolling ones are easy albeit “real” knife aficionados don’t like it.

maqp 1y ago
They're really not. All you need is an angle guide you stick to the knife. Something like https://setamono.co.za/products/knife-sharpening-angle-retainer https://setamono.co.za/products/knife-sharpening-angle-retai... With that all you need to do is pretty much go back and forth. Note that the whetstone eventually wears them out too. Something to grab while you're at it, is a truing stone to take care of the whetstone as it _will_ wear out unevenly making the sharpening a pain.
- dzhiurgis 1y ago
  Thats 2-3 extras over rolling sharpeners
ReptileMan 1y ago
Whetstones were hard 20 years ago. Right now there is abundance of quality info and products. The community actually figured out idiotproof and effective ways to deburr, to strop, resin bound diamond stones are affordable (or even cheap if you just buy the abrasive from China and go the diy route).
kminehart 1y ago
I used to sharpen my straight-knife planer blades, planing irons, chisels, and knives with whetstones / water stones. It was too big of a pain in the ass over time, so I switched to diamond stones. Biggest advantages is that you don't need to pre-soak them and diamond stones don't develop a valley / have to be flattened. if you plan on getting into sharpening I would just start with a coarse, fine, and extra fine diamond stone and a leather strop w/ stropping compound.
- xxs 1y ago
  Same advice - don't use the soaking stones. Nowadays they are plenty of decent quality diamond stones (or ceramic ones)

appcustodian2 1y ago

just want to point out that maintaining a knife is a whole hobby that requires a time investment of learning the skill and storage of additional tools and materials. i'm surprised at all the apparent knife enthusiast posts trashing this device. I take my victorinox (which is absolutely nothing special and surprises me that it costs $60+ dollars) to the farmers market for sharpening but sharpness isn't even the problem. Potatoes in particular stick to the blade like a strong magnet and it takes me 5x longer to prep. I enjoy cooking but not chopping endless veggies and i'm hoping this thing can carry some of that weight without looking like i'm using an oversized electric toothbrush.

nkrisc 1y ago
> just want to point out that maintaining a knife is a whole hobby that requires a time investment of learning the skill and storage of additional tools and materials. Properly maintaining a knife does. Most people don't need to properly maintain a knife. You can do it good enough with a honing steel and some crappy automatic sharpener. I enjoy cooking good food for my family and myself, but cooking is not a hobby of mine. So if my knife can slice a tomato without crushing it, then that's good enough for me. I don't need to shave a tomato so thin that the slice is transparent. Does the crappy automatic sharpener work? Well the knife cuts better after I use it, so yes, it does.
- appcustodian2 1y ago
  Yes as I mentioned I use often-recommended knives (victorinox, shun) and have them occasionally sharpened professionally and at least in my case the ultrasonic knife appears to solve some very real problems that knife maintenance cannot.
non_aligned 1y ago
> just want to point out that maintaining a knife is a whole hobby that requires a time investment of learning the skill and storage of additional tools and material. You're right that's a hobby. But the hobby's definition of "proper maintenance" and what it "requires" is basically just people nerding out about things that don't matter the slightest in the real world. To maintain a kitchen knife so that it cuts a tomato without squishing it, you don't need a book on knife science. Further, that nerdery is probably actively harmful, because instead of simple solutions, people are told they need an inspection microscope and a variety of jigs and other implements. So they buy an objectively bad electric sharpener and move on.

Ertuit 1y ago

Yes, and a pass with a honing steel every day to maintain the cutting edge between proper whetstones sharpening every few months.

kminehart 1y ago
don't use honing steel. at best it doesn't do anything, at worst it damages your knife. here's a closer look at it with a microscope. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ReQ83CZOQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ReQ83CZOQ
- ricardobeat 1y ago
  Ceramic honing rod. Works amazingly well and is appropriate for japanese knives.
- goopypoop 1y ago
  just a guy abusing his knife to prove he can't fix it using the wrong tool badly
  - Hikikomori 1y ago
    No? The point was to understand what the tool does and when it can help. And he found out that if you have a Burr it can help. But if you have a properly sharpened knife without a Burr it won't do anything to help and will just destroy your edge.
    - goopypoop 1y ago
      microwaves are useless because they can't toast bread no matter how hard I mash the keypad

sleepybrett 1y ago

do not buy those garbage amazon whetstones. Buy a diamond sharpening 'stone'.