"like a thief in the night"

[Ken S]

My favorite (and only) chef's knife was not seeming up to speed. I ran a BESS test on the blade and had a reading of 650 grams. On the BESS measurement chart, 650-700 grams is "Typical Knife in Need of Sharpening". Actually, that wording is being kind. My knife was dull. The dullness had snuck up on me like a thief in the night.

I am presently in the process of making extreme closeup photographs of knife edges. It is a work in progress, but I needed my knife back in service.

I wanted to give the blackstone (SB-250) another try. My initial tests with it were disappointing. This test went better. I also tried using Steve Bottorff's technique of having the edge trailing the grinding wheel direction instead of facing it.

The sharpening went much better. The blackstone did a nice job. The factor which changed was that I used a much lighter touch than before.

I finished up by using the Japanese grinding wheel (SJ-250).

The proof of the pudding was the BESS number. The post sharpening number was 258 grams. Considering that I had bested "High End Cutlery (factory edge)", a range of 375 to 473 grams, I felt modestly proud. I have no doubt that further improvement is possible with practice.

It was a good day.

Ken

[stevebot]

Inspired by your post I pulled a knife from the block to test. It was an 8" Wusthof chefs knife that had suffered a bent tip and I had modified it into a 7" Santoku. I had sharpened everything recently so I expected what I got - a BESS reading of 152. I returned to the kitchen and prepped the vegetables for our pasta.

[Elden]

Ken, 
   That sounds like you are doing a good job. How does that compare to using the SG-250 for you on the sharpness tester?

Steve,
   Is using only the Tormek? If so, was it with the SG-250, SB-250, or the SJ-250?

[Ken S]

Elden,

For the record, I did not use the SB-250 because of any dissatisfaction with the general purpose SG-250 grinding wheel. I have always had good results with the SG-250. In the past, I had disappointing and puzzling results with the SB-250. Whenever I have difficulties, the first thing I look at is "operator error". Steve uses and likes the SB, so I decided it was worth another try.  I have had a nagging feeling that the SB might cut better with lighter pressure. Based on today's results, which is a very small sample, that may be the case. I would not make a bold a statement at this point.

I will post BESS readings for the SG-250 (and SG-200 with the T4) as I do them. At present, most of my small set of kitchen knives is again sharp.

I am not at all surprised that Steve's BESS reading was substantially lower than mine. I am catching up slowly, but I have a long learning curve ahead to even approach his level of expertise. He has certainly been generous sharing his experience, both with me and with the forum.

Ken

[Stickan]

Ken,
You found the right technique with the Blackstone. The grid is almost twice as hard but they break and get dull with to high pressure. When you use less pressure than on the SG stone the Blackstone does a faster job.

Sincerely,
Stig

[stevebot]

I routinely use 2 1/2 to 3 lb pressure on either Tormek wheel. This pressure turns about 1/4 of my nails white on 3 fingers. You can check by pushing against a postage scale.
That said, I have an older SB-250 wheel and I understand Tormek has changed the formula for the binder.

[mark1]

I'm interested in BESS tests you guys are running - do you have special equipment for that? From what I read on the bessu.org website you need special test media etc.

[Elden]

http://www.edgeonup.com/eou_web_pagelarge_003.htm
Their manual is very informative and interesting as well.

Check out Steve' s website at:
http://sharpeningmadeeasy.com/