How Many Sharpmaker Steps for Kitchen Knives

[Louis Cohen]

Which Tri-Angle Sharpmaker steps do you use for everyday kitchen knives? I seem to be getting the best results with just the 40° step 2 (utility edge). The knives just don't seem to slice tomatoes as well after steps 3 or 4.



Do you use the 30° 1 - 3 and then the 40° 1-2-3-4?



This is for a chef's knife, parer, utility knive, and boning knife (not flexible).



Thanks

[Sword and Shield]

Howdy Louis! Welcome to <img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>Land! <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

How old are these kitchen knives? If they are fairly worn, I would suggest running the knives through at 30 to remove any shoulders and thin the edge.

For a knife that doesn't see hard impacts (bone, frozen foods), 30 degrees will work well. This is especially true for something that is relegated to chopping veggies and the like.

On the boning knife, I would suggest 40. This needs the added strength of a 40 degree edge, but it will not slice as well as a 30.

Keepin' it real...real sharp, that is.

[Louis Cohen]

Would you suggest 30° and then 40° (as the instructions suggest), or just 30° and out?

The knives are 20+ years old, Forschner Victorianox, fibrox handles, still great and a bargain.

Thanks

[Sword and Shield]

I would say just 30 for each of them except the deboner. For that, go 30 then 40, as the added strength is needed.

Keepin' it real...real sharp, that is.

[Louis Cohen]

Thanks. I tried them at 30° and the tomatoes fled, terrified.

[vampyrewolf]

I sharpen my butcher's(8&quot<img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> and chef's(5.5&quot<img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> at 30degrees, stopping on step 3. The cleaver is 40 and stopping on step 2. The boning knife at 40 and step 3. The fillet knife at 30 and step 4.

The rest of our pile is serrated(cheap*****parents("Oh look! 12 knives for $30!&quot<img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>... 40degree... I had to buy the chef for myself and won't let them use it. I'm trying to decide on a set of either Spyderco or Henckels(sp?)...

[Louis Cohen]

Makes a lot of sense, eh, V-Wolf. Thanks.

I've found that the Forschner Victorianox stamped knives are very high value. Or, for pure cutting pleasure cost no object, try out Globals. A buddy of mine sharpens his Globals with a Sharpmaker, which got me into it.