Took a 6-hour knife sharpening intensive Tuesday from master sharpener Albert Edmonds (http://www.knifesharpeningseattle.com/).
An all-day meditation in motion with the sounds of steel on stone. What a blast…
Most of the day and most of the information is not new to most of you on this forum. And, for the most part, not new to me. Though, obviously, there is something to be said about working under the direct gaze of a master.
Albert knows of the Wicked Edge and complimented it. He does everything freehand. In the class, we worked with his Chosera water stones from 400 up to 10,000. And, at the end of the day he pulled out a milky-white, nearly translucent stone that was used dry and still so slick it felt like the blade floated on it… Amazing… I’ll get the name of it from Albert.
There were two bullet point lists on his whiteboard that made up the sum total of the day.
His process:
1 Inspect
2 Address Issues
3 Sharpen
4 Inspect
5 Strop
6 Cut
In general, Albert repeats steps 1-5 until all issues have been resolved through thorough inspection.
He likes to strop between each grit level. So, we typically did 10 strokes per side, then 8 strokes per side, then 5 strokes, then 2 strokes and then 1 stroke per side for 5 strokes, then strop. Inspect, repeat as necessary before moving on to net grit or next blade issue.
And also, all day, Albert emphasized the underlying foundational principles:
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Movement isolation – once you find your technique you lock it in, make it repeatable. Start slow.
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Consistency
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Inspection
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Patience!! (The exclamation points are his!!)
A few pictures….
He teaches newbies to set your feet, legs, hips, back, neck, head, shoulders and arms in a relaxed & ready position. Set the angle of the blade on the stone and gently but firmly “lock” your wrists keeping the fingers “just” touching/gripping the knife -- like shock absorbers.
Center the thumb on the back of the blade, as in the photo.
Then, lay the blade on the stone so the heel of the blade has a good purchase. Then, slide the blade along the stone without wearing the corners off your thumb!
There – that’s my/your natural, normal blade angle setting. You can make the angle more obtuse or acute by moving the blade up or down the thumb as it rests on the stone. A simple trick that helped me lock in my sharpening angle.
The Henckel EdgePro knives I picked up at the local Goodwill for a couple of bucks each.
Now, I have to pick up some stones so I can keep in practice.
I'm not sure how to describe exactly how this class helped me but the two knives I've done on my WE since the class are sharper than I got before the class.<div class="attachments"><div class="attachment_title">Attachments:</div><ul><li><a href="https://knife.wickededgeusa.com/app/uploads/2014/04/Intensive1ThumbPlacement.jpg">Intensive1ThumbPlacement.jpg</a></li><li><a href="https://knife.wickededgeusa.com/app/uploads/2014/04/Intensive1ThumbPlacement2.jpg">Intensive1ThumbPlacement2.jpg</a></li><li><a href="https://knife.wickededgeusa.com/app/uploads/2014/04/IntensiveBlades.jpg">IntensiveBlades.jpg</a></li></ul></div>
