kitchen knives too sharp

[Ken S]

My faithful old Henckel knives are very sharp.  Unfortunately I am talking about the backs of the knives.  They have sharp "ninety degree bevels".  I suspect they would make good (but very expensive) hookless scrapers.  Unfortunately, they are also uncomfortable on my hands.

I have thought about softening the edges with a mild radius, much like is often done to turning skews.

Do any of you have any experience with this situation?

Thanks.

Ken

[glh17]

Ken,
I hadn't noticed the back of my Henckel but I checked it out and it is pretty sharp.  It's never caused a problem but I see where it might.  Maybe someone can give you something better, but I would be inclined to just break the back with an extra-fine mini diamond hone. 
Gary

[Jeff Farris]

Give the leather a healthy dose of compound and go for it. You could use the grindstone, but I would try just the hone first. If it won't break the corner to your satisfaction, use the grindstone carefully.

[ionut]

Yes Ken, as Jeff said, in the past I used the leather honing wheel for a Kershaw knife which had the back edges pretty sharp and it did a good job with easing the edges. I don't know the Henkel ones or the steel used in them but you could give it a try.

Ionut

[Ken S]

Thanks, guys. 

I'll start with the leather honing wheel this weekend.  Good thought, Gary, about the mini diamond hone; the chef's knife would make quite a gouge in my water stone.

It does seem a shame to ruin such a stalwart scraper just for my hands.

I'll post the results.

Ken

[Ken S]

The results:

Half a tube of honing compound later, the backs of four of my Henckel knives are no longer sharp.  I wouldn't call the back edges "rounded", however, they are no longer sharp.  They are noticeably more comfortable on my hand.  (I often use the knives with my hand "choked up" for more control of smaller cutting operations.)

Gary's suggestion of the mini diamond hone also has promise.  Mine is an old one purchased with an odd lot of sharpening stones.  I think it doesn't have much useful life left.  I will look into a replacement.

I think an ideal combination might be using the diamond hone to knock off the initial sharpness and finish with the Tormek honing wheel. 

This could be an extra source of revenue for those of you who have knife sharpening businesses.

Ken

[ionut]

Hi Ken,

I owe you a tube of honing compound, it looks the steel in my small knife is not that hard as I only had to apply as much as I do for normal polishing of any cutting edges to ease the sharp edges of the knife back.

Ionut

[Ken S]

No problem, Ionut.  Just subtract the tube from your "consultant's fee" for helping me locate the SVH-60 Jig.
Operator inexperience might have figured into the amount of honing compound I used.  It was a good learning experience. I guess the Henckel people aren't kidding with the "dur" part of "friodur" (cold hard).  Maybe I could use my chef's knife to flatten a diamond stone.

Ken

[Ken S]

I used my chef's knife to cut up shallots for pasta tonight.  The newly smoothed top of the knife felt comfortable to my pointer finger.  Everything was fine until I flipped the knife over to scrape off a bit of the outer layer of the shallot with the back of the knife.  The knife no longer scrapes well. For future reference, I would only smooth the first couple of inches of the back of the blade (starting with the bolster) and leave the rest sharp.

Ken 

[Ken S]

Ken,
I hadn't noticed the back of my Henckel but I checked it out and it is pretty sharp.  It's never caused a problem but I see where it might.  Maybe someone can give you something better, but I would be inclined to just break the back with an extra-fine mini diamond hone. 
Gary

Gary,

After working on my kitchen knives, I still had my diamond mini hone out.  While cooking supper last night, I reached for my favorite measuring cup.  It's actually an ancient Kodak 8oz darkroom graduate.  My great aunt gave it to me.  It was in the cupboard of her cottage forever.  I suspect it was acquired at a barn sale in Maine decades ago.  Using it brings back many happy memories for me.

The edge of the base was sharp for manufacturing.  Your post came to mind.  A minute's work with my relic Norton diamond hone, and the edge is now smooth.  The little hone will certainly never replace my Tormek, but it is a very useful adjunct.  I plan to look into a set of them.

Thanks for the tip.

Ken

[glh17]

Ken,
Those hones are useful tools.  I have a 2 sets of the DMT mini hones and use them all the time from lawn tool touch-up to kitchen knife touch-up. (That's why I have 2 sets, wife won't let me touch-up steak knifes with same tool I use on my shovel and grass clippers.)  They certainly are no substitute for my Tormek but are great for things too small for Tormek and for light touch-up work.
Gary

[tb444]

I have a lot of kitchen knives, and much prefer a rounded spine and choil as i pinch grip

I have found the best way is to clamp the knife edge down in a vice, protected with tape if you're worried about scratching the sides, and then use a 1 inch strip of 400 grit with a "shoe shine" motion over the spine, this gives a very nice even rounding to the spine. You can then take it to the leather wheel if you want to make it smoother than smooth..... 

[Ken S]

Good post, TB.

Your "shoeshine" method reminds me of watching Kelly Mehler round his square tenons to fit router cut mortises--fast and effective.

Ken

[Ken S]

Gary,

My DMT mini hone set arrived yesterday.  Nice tools!  They look like they will be useful for many small tasks.  They are well made; inexpensive ($20) for the set of three; take up almost no space. 

Thanks for the tip.

Ken

[glh17]

Gary,

My DMT mini hone set arrived yesterday.  Nice tools!  They look like they will be useful for many small tasks.  They are well made; inexpensive ($20) for the set of three; take up almost no space. 

Thanks for the tip.

Ken

Great, I hope you find them as useful as I have.   
Gary