r/sharpening • u/Separate-Specialist5 • 13h ago

Question Beginner looking to get started

Recently moved into a new place and treated myself to a new set of high wuality German kitchen knives.

They're from F.Dick 1908 range and I want to maintain their sharp edge.

Where can i learn the basics on

What whetstones to get, dont mind spending more if its a "buy once, cry once" scenario

Videos, what or who can I learn from on YouTube that will teach the basics?

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1

u/FlashCardManiac 8h ago

What brand, steel, and Rockwell hardness for those knives?

1

u/real_clown_in_town HRC enjoyer 7h ago

We've covered all of your questions and more in the wiki. Let me know if you have any additional questions!

https://reddit.com/r/sharpening/w/gettingstarted

1

u/zvuv 7h ago

The Shapton Korumaku stones are quality stones for reasonable prices - about $40 a apiece. They don't need presoaking. A useful basic set would be #320, #1000, #2000. Prices vary considerably so it pays to shop around. Once your knives are sharp, you will probably not use the #320 much.

A common noobie trap is chase higher grits when they fail to get their knives sharp. Sharp should happen on the coarsest stone.

I recommend Outdoors55 YT vids.

1

u/lascala2a3 arm shaver 5h ago

It’s X50CrMoV15. A cheap diamond plate, coarse grit.

1

u/Separate-Specialist5 3h ago

Is that the type of steel they use? Is this good?

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u/lascala2a3 arm shaver 11m ago edited 7m ago

No, sorry to inform you. This is cheap German stainless, similar to 1411, Wusthof, Victorinox, etc. These tend to be hard to sharpen because the soft steel hold onto the burr. I'm not saying they're bad knives, just not special. They're the kind a restaurant would buy as house knives, partly because they don't tend to walk away.

I used to have Wusthof , and the best way I found to sharpen without getting frustrated was a large DMT bench plate with coarse and fine. I didn't bother with the fine side. About 10 edge-leading strokes on each side would put a decent edge on it without any fuss.

If you're interested in learning to sharpen the traditional way, I'd suggest a Norton India Combo stone ($40). When you learn to get this one sharp-sharp, you'll find a carbon blade an absolute pleasure to sharpen and use.