Question about Tri-Angle Sharpmaker and Wusthof knives

[pharoeste]

Hi, everyone! The reason that I'm posting this here it's because I've searched everywhere and could not find an answer to my questions.

I recently bought two Wusthof knives: one chef knife and one paring knife.

According to Wusthof's website (https://www.wusthof.com/support/faq), their sharpening angle is 14˚ per side.

With that in mind:

• Can I use the 30˚ degrees configuration on my Sharpmaker to sharpen these knives? Is this going to actually damage the blade? It's a 2˚ angle but I'm not sure if this is a big difference or not;

• People told me to buy a honing steel, but can I use my Sharpmark as a honing steel? If yes, how? I have the grey rods and white rods that come with it.

Thank you!

[Michael Janich]

Dear pharoeste:

Welcome to the Spyderco Forum.

The Sharpmaker's 30-degree included angle setting will do just fine in sharpening your Wusthof knives. When you sharpen them, it helps to use a loupe magnifier to make sure your bevels remove enough steel to reach all the way to the apex of the edge. Coloring the edge with a Sharpie or dry-erase marker before sharpening will make it even easier to see.

A steel is generally used to touch up edges by realigning them. In most cases, it doesn't really remove steel from the blade to sharpen the edge. Using it also requires good hand-eye coordination and the ability to hold a precise angle by feel. With all that said, you don't really need one.

In general, European kitchen knives are not has hard as Japanese knives and are designed more for durability than extreme sharpness. Using your Sharpmaker as needed to keep your knives at peak performance is the best way to make the most of both investments.

Stay safe,

Mike

[Doc Dan]

First, I don't think 1º per side is going to make any difference. Second, 14º is what they aim at, but most knives will probably vary from that a little. Yours may already be at 15º per side. You can buy a blade angle tester and see. Michael Janich gave some good advice to you. I'd probably mark it, sharpen it with the Sharpmaker as it was intended to be used, and call it a day. If it isn't exact, you can always resharpen it. You certainly won't ruin the knife.

[Bolster]

When you're sharpening by hand with stick/stones, you're wobbling a bit and actually making a nice strong appleseed/convex edge. So chances are you'll be getting something like a 14-16° convex on your blades (if you can hold within two degrees) with the Sharpmaker's 30 setting, which should do nicely.

[mongo1958]

Hi, everyone! The reason that I'm posting this here it's because I've searched everywhere and could not find an answer to my questions.

I recently bought two Wusthof knives: one chef knife and one paring knife.

According to Wusthof's website (https://www.wusthof.com/support/faq), their sharpening angle is 14˚ per side.

With that in mind:

• Can I use the 30˚ degrees configuration on my Sharpmaker to sharpen these knives? Is this going to actually damage the blade? It's a 2˚ angle but I'm not sure if this is a big difference or not;

• People told me to buy a honing steel, but can I use my Sharpmark as a honing steel? If yes, how? I have the grey rods and white rods that come with it.

Thank you!

Hey there and welcome to the forum.

[kennethsime]

Welcome to the forum, pharoeste!

Great advice here already, so I'll just add that I regularly use my Sharpmaker to sharpen my Zwilling-Henckels knives, and don't bother with a kitchen steel. Works great every time.

If I had more disposable income, I'd probably by the Galley V sharpener as well, which offers longer rods designed for larger knives.

[dsvirsky]

A honing steel's purpose is to align a rolled edge. A couple of passes on the Sharpmaker, using the white triangles, will do the same thing, while removing very, very little steel.

[Bill1170]

A honing steel's purpose is to align a rolled edge. A couple of passes on the Sharpmaker, using the white triangles, will do the same thing, while removing very, very little steel.

Exactly. I never use a steel and advise my friends to donate to charity the ones they own. Even used correctly, a steel provides very little benefit in a home kitchen. Almost nobody knows how or when to use a steel correctly. Therefore, steels become a meaningless talisman to fill the round hole in their block of dull knives.

[HolySteel]

A honing steel's purpose is to align a rolled edge. A couple of passes on the Sharpmaker, using the white triangles, will do the same thing, while removing very, very little steel.

I have been successfully using Spyderco Stones to sharpen ALL of my knives, only using an orange diamond stone for trashed 2nd-hand knives.

During the Summer sale I grabbed three Itamae knives and afterward grabbed a Sharpmaker system, thinking it would be better for the large kitchen knives, along with an ultra-fine rod, thinking I would use the UF rod as you describe, rather than honing. But watching a video, I should have gotten TWO of the UF rods, correct?

In any event, I look forward to both the knives and the new sharpening system - I've only ever sharpened knives using stones.

[Guts]

A honing steel's purpose is to align a rolled edge. A couple of passes on the Sharpmaker, using the white triangles, will do the same thing, while removing very, very little steel.

I have been successfully using Spyderco Stones to sharpen ALL of my knives, only using an orange diamond stone for trashed 2nd-hand knives.

During the Summer sale I grabbed three Itamae knives and afterward grabbed a Sharpmaker system, thinking it would be better for the large kitchen knives, along with an ultra-fine rod, thinking I would use the UF rod as you describe, rather than honing. But watching a video, I should have gotten TWO of the UF rods, correct?

In any event, I look forward to both the knives and the new sharpening system - I've only ever sharpened knives using stones.

Well it would certainly be easier with two UF rods, but you can just move the rod to the other hole when you need to switch sides. Not a big deal. Although having only one makes doing single alternating strokes more annoying definitely.

[RustyIron]

People told me to buy a honing steel, but can I use my Sharpmark as a honing steel? If yes, how? I have the grey rods and white rods that come with it.

Good thing you came here to learn from the RIGHT people. I have a honing steel because there would be an empty hole if I threw it in the trash.

Just go with the 15 degrees on the Sharpmaker. You'll be "blunting" the edge a little, but it's not a lot. The knives will be fine, and you'll be able to put a "better-than-factory" edge on them.

I don't think you'll be banned from the group if you deviate from Sal's video and "tip" the blade a little. It's not unusual for me to purposely tip the blade if I want the angle to be a little different. Again, use the Sharpie and a loupe to see what you're doing.

[dj moonbat]

Honestly, Wusthof's steel isn't hard enough to stand up to edge angles that acute. I think the Big 3 (Wusthof, Henckels, Sabatier) all harden their knives to maybe 58 HRC. At those blade angles, you'll probably roll the edge a lot.

You're better off using the Sharpmaker to slowly change the angle to 15 per side. At first it will just be a microbevel, but over time the main bevel will be overtaken. And you might want to put the 40 degree microbevel on there.