Information regarding Grindstones

• Online Calculators that can be used for sharpening knives.


• Jigs, Fixtures, & Modifications. One key one for this topic is below.


• Jan Svancara posted a design for using a knife sharpening platform in 2015 on the Tormek Forum. This is certainly worth reading, and there are also pictures of this in the jigs section.


• Research Articles, Other Information, and some Final Thoughts. Some key ones for this topic are below.


• If you want to get truly sharp, Dr. Vadim Kraichuk with KnifeGrinders has a really good method and has adapted the Tormek system to these wheels. The KnifeGrinder method is one that is proven, and has great tools to assist with making it easy.


• Dr. Vadim Kraichuk posted a great analysis titled, "Edge Stability in Butcher's and Kitchen Knives as a Function of Edge Angle and Initial Sharpness" on the BESS EXchange.


• Effect of the Chopping Board Material on Edge Longevity



Click on either image for bigger size.
Images courtesy Todd Simpson
via Dr. Vadim Kraichuk of KnifeGrinders
• Polished or "toothy" bevel? An article by Larrin, "How Chipping of Edges Happens at a Microscopic Level" (on Knife Steel Nerds), debunks the idea of coarse edges due to the increased propensity for chipping and faster dulling of the blade. As noted by Dr. Kraichuk, "Meat plants are well aware that knives with coarse edges worsen product presentation and increase operators' fatigue and repetitive strain injuries. On the contrary, polished edges improve product quality through higher value cuts and increase throughput."


• It is a common, but quite bad, practice of drawing the newly sharpened knife edge through a piece of wood or some other media to "rip off" the remnants of the burr. When this is done, the ripped off metal builds up on the front of the slice, and you then drag the rest of the edge through this crud. This crud, together with breaking off of ledges of material along the edge, will roughen the edge and worsen sharpness.

  The scanning electron microscope (SEM) images to the right show the burr on a knife in the 1st image, that was then "ripped off" by cutting cross-grain into a piece of redwood in the 2nd image - loss of the sharp edge is obvious.

  Key take-away from these photos : don't skip the honing step.

• Dr. Vadim Kraichuk with KnifeGrinders has posted an article about sharpening ceramic blades.

  Andrew Murphy ("smurfs" on the Tormek Forum) followed that procedure to sharpen (and re-profile) a ceramic knife. He posted his results after following Dr. Kraichuk's procedure, showing the before and after pictures (pictures courtesy Andrew Murphy).

  	The knife before, with a broken tip and nicks in the cutting edge.
  	The plan for re-profiling the blade.
  	Once finished.

  
  Notes on other styles of blade materials and shapes are available from links on the KnifeGrinders page.


• Two good YouTube videos from America's Test Kitchen are below. One is on heavy-duty wooden cutting boards, and the other on the use of steels to keep your knives sharp.

Wolfgang and Sèbastian from Tormek talk about different techniques for knife sharpening.

Wolfgang and Sèbastian from Tormek talk about advanced techniques for knife sharpening.

In this episode we learn how to use the Tormek MB-100 Multi Base to sharpen a completely flat bevel ▼, on the side of Tormek's diamond wheels DC-250, DF-250 and DE-250. For some tools, such as 🎻 luthier knives,🔪 Kiridashi knives, v-tools, chip carving knives and Japanese plane irons, a completely flat surface on the bevel is preferred over a slightly concave, which you get when you sharpen on the rounded part of the grinding wheel. For some people this is more of a personal preference.

Regardless of what might be the reason to want a flat bevel, Sèbastian and Wolfgang show how to achieve it with your Tormek wet sharpening system, They will also touch upon the differences between the different types of bevels.

Dr. Vadim Kraichuk with KnifeGrinders has posted this video on why felt is best to remove the wire edge when honing a knife, and why they chose the hardness of felt that they sell.