I have for some years a considerable "knife Park" in the kitchen (admittedly about as pointless as forty pairs of shoes in Frauengaderoben), but it's just a hobby.
As befits this hobby, I have of course has always been a nice selection of Japanese grindstones (especially Shapton, a very recognized brand). So I sharpen my knife regularly and of course you also have some success, the more practice and experience you have with it.
On the occasion of another knife order (from Japan) but I am become unsafe (again) because the supplied knife was so sharp as I did not hammer out there even with long practice. Of course, one is then uncertain, why is it? Long story short: even if it seemed to me like Admitting defeat, I simply times ordered these grinding aids ...
... And it is an absolute "bomb"! Obviously, it is really so (which has always been my suspicion) that the penibelste keeping the grinding angle is responsible for success or failure. My results were not really bad (the common tests whether the knife, the hair on the forearm absäbelt - were never the problem), but a "razor" (and so the latest sharp knife from Japan) was in a different league.
The fact is that I have been today (with the aid of these really simple means) also able to definitely bring my knife on razor sharpness. On the idea of a trial basis shave the underarm hair, so you come not only to great is the danger to seriously cut.
BUT: this sense of achievement require a complete new meter main ground. The crudest and most powerful stone that you have (I have currently a 500 ceramic stone of Shapton, so do I need with a 20cm diameter about 40 minutes hard work to get these basic grinding). I have therefore now ordered the 220er - the coarsest of the series of ceramic tiles.
If you have taken this difficult hurdle once (often in a much larger "phase" - also called "cutting edge" - a result of the knife), so the rest is just a breeze. I then take the 2000 stone for some trains and closing finally the 8000 stone. Every stone but only 50 trains in total per diameter side. This is done relatively quickly.
And after that I have (for many years the first time!) Really razor-sharp knife. It is the pure joy: I have (definitely Given the sweat of my) already reground today five knives - the success is sensational, I would really not previously believed that I ever can do that so. It was just an attempt - hit, sunk!
However, this is at these knives only to very tough steels with high carbon content - I can not say whether this ground for the spread in Germany molybdenum steel (which is much softer) is appropriate, or whether this knife if necessary to quickly become dull. But for these Japanese steels of this cut is ideal!
