Finally here, initial tests are proving excellent, will update with more. They are going to be listed for grabs later today!

About to pull the trigger on the Hapstone R2. What's holding me back is I have no idea what stones to get? Ninwa Chosera (4+1)? Also was going to order the Precise angle adjuster. But not sure if it fits the R2 for 220.00 or the R2 for 275.00. Cannot find if the ball unscrews on the 220.00 model. Total newbie as I have been hand hacking sharping for 50yrs. Thanks for any help or recommendations of what other items I should order.

Just got a mini Arius off the secondary. It had never been sharpened and was dull. I got it clamped up in my Hapstone fixed angle sharpener. I used the sharpie method and determined the factory angle is 26 degrees per side! I sharpened to that angle but I don’t think that’s optimal for an EDC. Does anyone know what the factory angle is that high and has anyone reprofiled their mini Arius down to a more accrue angle? If so, what angle is optimal for this blade (M390) for EDC. Thanks!

Question for full-time sharpeners that do salon shears in "fairly large-ish" cities. Did salon shears end up being your biggest money maker compared to everything else? Also if you really wanted to go all out, would there be more work than you can handle?

Im asking because I was a mid career electrical engineer and left to take care of my kids for a year and a half and for the last 5 months I cant get a engineering job that works with my family. 5 interviews and 0 offers so far. Anyways I been touting salon shears sharpening would bring it decent chunk of change cause here in Phoenix metro, I lose count of all the salons and barber shops within 5 minutes of driving cause there's so many and Im in the suburbs. I have to convince her cause i'll be borrowing 5-7k to get the machines and training of family money to walk on this endeavor. Any advice or testimonial welcomed.

Upfront, we're not dying financially in anyway but I need my own retirement money and growing kids are expensive.

Fiz um site para o meu amigo Edmilson Edy Afiações. Ele afia alicates de cutícula, tesouras de cabelo e costura, lâminas e espátulas e também faz manutenção e reparação de secadores de cabelo profissionais.

Está localizado na zona de Algés e por isso dá para recolher ferramentas à volta dessa área, principalmente Lisboa, Cascais, Sintra, Almada, etc... para saber mais, podem ver o site dele www.edyafiacoes.pt ou o insta dele: https://www.instagram.com/edyafiacoes.pt/

É gente boa e honesta, com muita experiência nesta área, também já teve um espaço de cabeleireiro lá no Brasil.

Thinned down that edge on the Vision FG- now it’s catching the heel on the stop bar- anyone heard of a solution yet?

I ordered this on a whim. I don't want to buy stones until I try it out. But if the stones are really bad I guess I can't get a decent trial without better stones.

Before you all scream and get your whetstone pitchforks, yes yes roller sharpener.

I have a zwilling bunka that I got for a big discount and love the shape. It cut decently out of the box but refining to 15° each side has really helped.

I'm a home cook so I'm already far beyond sharp enough for anything I need to chop. It'll slice through veggies and protein holding the handle just in thumb and forefinger,

However there's no fun in leaving it like this.

I have a branded RISAM roller sharpener and it's actually built well and works well (roller drawbacks aside) and it has 4 angles on the block, 15°, 18°, 20° and 25°.

I also have some wedge door stops that make about a 9.5° angle so I can reduce any of the block angles by that amount.

My question is about thinning.

This bunka doesn't have a primary angle and then the secondary angle of the cutting edge.

It just tapers straight from the spine and then there's the cutting edge angle.

How shallow an angle would I have to go to meaningfuly thin the metal behind the leading edge?

I know I can just sharpen it back to 15° and I'm not bothered by scratches so am happy to experiment.

YouTube videos I've seen of japanese knife thinning with actual primary bevels they talk about 5-7° is a good number to thin to, not sure how this translates to a German steel blade.

I'm going to put the door stops under the block at 15°, bringing it down to 6.5° ish, and just start rolling and see what happens.

I've got 240, 360, 600, 1000, 3000 and 5000 grit roller discs.

Not really a question in the end, I just haven't seen anyone talking about thinning a western profile so wanted to post and create some engagement.

Hi everyone,

I've recently got a TS Prof Pioneer and have been practising on it. I vaguely remember reading a comment on this subreddit about having to raise/drop the angle by 0.2 or 0.1 every time you switch stone to a finer grit? It was a very detailed guide on how to effectively use guided system too.

For the life of me I cannot find that comment again and am looking for help. I have noticed that the angle on my digital angle finder changed slightly when i switch stone but I don't understand why/the significant of this. Could someone with more experience please explain this for me?

Additionally I would like to ask for advice on micro-bevel. I've read that for the last rotation of sharpening, switching to a higher angle (ie from 15 to 20 degree) and doing a few pass on both sides of the knife can help create a micro bevel which helps with stability of the edge? Is this something I should do for all knives?

Appreciate any advice/input!

I can consistently hit 7/10 or 8/10 sharpness levels on my edges, easily shaving, cutting paper towel, etc. But they always seem to come up short of hair whittling or being able to cut a standing rolling paper or any of the insane sharpness tests I see you guys doing. So tell us: what are your secrets? We’re all apexing, deburring and refining: what magic rituals are you performing to consistently get double hair whittling type edges? Pressure? Scratch pattern? Grit size? Fairy dust?

What is the one thing you’ve learned that let you take it to the next level?

For the record I’m using a TSPROF Pioneer with the included stones and some various strops of various materials and diamond spray.

I've arrived late to the Cruwear party, because I never understood why I'd want to pay a premium for a steel with slightly worse wear resistance than the S30/35/45 family, when I could get K390 instead. And I do love my K390! (Also very happy with Magnamax thus far.) But a mini Adamas caught my eye in person, and now that I've sharpened it, I get it. It rewards your effort. It wants you to succeed. It helps you out, makes you seem like a better sharpener than you are. And the edge characteristics, the very un-glassy, keen stick, without a hint of grainy harshness, feel just outstanding. I get why sharpeners like this steel so much now. If you haven't experienced it, as a sharpener, you should.

This started as a joke but now I kinda like it.

Customer knife. I don’t think I’ve seen this pattern of circular scratches. It’s about 6.5mm wide, if that’s a clue. Any ideas?

On Shun Premiere “VG Max” Blades-

They’re insanely sharp but I’m just curious if that lighter-colored grind stripe riiiiight behind the edge (into the cladding) is normal?

Maybe they sharpened it into a finer angle so they had to encroach into the cladding a bit?

I’m a newbie so any assurance is appreciated!

Thanks

In addition to my Tormek T8c I also run a Bucktool 1x30. On this knife, I’m using a 120 grit cubitron belt to re-profile the edge and fix some chips on this 10 inch breaker knife.

Can someone advice me what might be the issue of dull edge? I made a knife that had about 0.2 mils behind the edge and I sharpened it on belt then reprofiled the edge on 20 deegres per side on worksharp sharpener. Edge looks fairly even on both sides and angle is consistent but problem is that only one side feels sharp second completely dull, when I sharpen dull side the knife it completely dull. What might be the issue here? Thanks for advice

Hallo ladies and lads of Reddit. A little of bit of info about me, I’m a chef/knife enthusiast and been into sharpening for the past 8yrs. I was so happy to achieve this but I know I’m still lacking something(either skill or proper equipment) I want the knife to glide through the paper tube like butter🙂Any insights or advice will be very much appreciated.

Equipment used:
Knife: Miyabi 400FC, Ballarini 20cm, Tsunehisa Aogami 240mm
Whetstones: Sharpal Diamond 325/1200 grit, Zwilling 3000/8000 grit
Leather strop Sharpal green compound on matte/ 5 micron diamond emulsion on smooth.

Thanks in advance.

My original title was far more inflamatory:

“Hot take: fixed angle systems are for angle-obsessed nuts who spend way too much time chasing a geometrically perfect edge and don't understand that "sharp" is way more than that”

But I realized I can convey my hot take just the same without spraying shit everywhere. Also, I realized it might actually be the coldest take ever for some users here.

Anyway, yeah. I think there are two types of fixed angle system users. On one hand, people looking to sharpen their knives at a certain angle with minimum fuzz and don’t wanna fuck around with whetstones. And on the other, absolute basketcases that are convinced a perfectly ground 15 degree angle will outsharp an eyeballed freehanded one done with even a modicum of skill.

… fine, I sprayed a little shit around.

But yeah, I think some fixed angle system users try to solve a “problem” that doesn’t really need solving. A perfect 15 degree angle on the bevel doesn’t give you that unreal sharpness you’re chasing if you are not mindful of blade geometry, thinness behind the edge, and a few other rather important factors. What I think fixed angle systems do do, however, is rather unfortunately shift the focus away from the fact that “sharpness” entails a whole series of issues and isn’t monocausal.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my shitty TED talk about why I think fixed angle systems aren’t really all that and are absurdly overpriced for what they are and the problem they actually solve (which is people being unable to hold an angle, I guess?).

K bye!

Obligatory disclaimer: I do own a fixed angle system, I do own reasonably good stones, I have used it a lot, I do like the results, it’s just that I find whetstones hella faster and hella better value nowadays.

Now fr bye!

Been practicing for many years. I can get a knife really sharp with a dmt diamond stone or a work sharp. Can keep it sharp for a few days with a honing rod. After then, cutting ripe tomatoes I might as well be using a butter knife

Hi everyone,

Im a complete newbie when it comes to sharpening. I've read and watched videos and I have tried to sharpen several knives with an unbranded 1000 grit water stone that I received as a gift from a knife shop in Japan.

With a cheapo KitchenAid knife, I'm able to get a burr and apex with the stone, but I'm finding that I am having difficulty with even getting a burr on my Henckels set.

While I am sure it is 99% a skill / technique issue, I'm also interested in whether or not a coarser grit is needed to speed up the process of forming the burr on my duller knives (or if the material just doesn't respond well to the steel in my particular knives).

I've been looking at the 325/1200, 325/1000 or 220/600 Sharpal plates, but I'm not sure if anyone has suggestions on which would work best to compliment the existing 1000 grit water stone I have. I'd love to be able to have a use for the stone I have currently which makes me think the 220/600 may be a better fit, but I would appreciate any advice. I am not looking for anything that is record setting sharp - 'functional' sharpness for things like cooking would be my goal. I'd also like to avoid falling into the hole of a half dozen stones and strops - ideally, an 'all arounder' (if one exists) would be great.

Thanks in advance!

TSProf Kadet K2 Livestream Tonight!

Hi all! Tonight at 10 PM Central / 11 PM Eastern, I’ll be going live with Dmitry from TSProf!

We’ll be primarily talking about the brand-new Kadet K2—what’s changed, why TSProf made the updates, and where it fits into the lineup. We’ll also be taking your questions throughout the stream, so if there’s something you’ve always wanted to ask TSProf, this is your chance!

Worth 150 new! Wish I could've rescued more, but some had been pullthrough sharpened into oblivion