Knife porn thread

@Stonehedge Are you an international hitman ;)

Yes

Late to the discussion (and in no way a knife expert) but someone mentioned Spyderco a few pages back and I am happy with their “UK penknife” model that they designed to be UK EDC legal (though I know that’s not relevant to you). It folds and can easily be opened one handed but it doesn’t technically lock - it just has a pressure bar that gives it a click/notch that you have to overcome. It’s a neat design. Solid, light, plenty sharp enough (for me certainly).

This sounds like a good excuse to buy a Rockstead. Everyone should do it once in their lives. The Kei ZDP Tan would fit the bill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRvWik0u2uI

https://heinnie.com/rockstead-kei-zdp-tan

I have the same one, it is my edc knife and gets transferred between overalls and work vest all the time.

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That's the one (other than I have the drop point version and also I swapped the clip to the other side because I'm a lefty).

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The really amazing thing about a Rockstead isn’t that you can cut catalogues to shreds, it is the number of times you can do it. I’ve got a Rockstead Chou which has been in regular use for three years and I’ve never needed to sharpen it. I used to be a bit precious about it, but I now treat it as I would an opinel.
Rockstead use an amazing steel.

I use mine every day, even in the kitchen, or as a steak knife when eating. It's such a pleasure to use. I did a dry shave with it the day it arrived. (Not recommended. It worked, but I was a bit sore.) I'm afraid I managed to chip it on a steel ruler. A lot of stropping has pretty much removed the chips but I'm going to send it to Rockstead to be sharpened. Might as well.

Got me a Wicked Edge kit. £250 on ebay for a hardly used £839 Pro Pack 2. It's such an ingenious invention, and I think I'll get far, far better results than I would have done with the same investment in a course and stones. My worst kitchen knife is now quite frightening.

course and stones

Weirdly came here to ask the same question: anyone done the Blenheim forge sharpening course? No amount of YouTube watching has got me anywhere approaching good results with the stone I have, so reluctant to try it on nicer knives..

I’ve done the bleinhem forge course, haven’t put any of it into practice. But found it very useful in terms of getting the basics of what you want to go to get your knives sharp in your head..

I did the Blenheim Forge course just before the pandemic struck.
All my life I thought I did a good job of sharpening knives and other tools.
This course was a game-changer as far as that is concerned.
Recommended.

While looking for the perfect knife I stumbled across these cheap ones on Heinne. £14 a pop. Also available with different blade shapes.

I ended up buying one because why not? Awesome little things. Takes a great edge. Super light. Cheapz. Whats not to like?

https://heinnie.com/real-steel-heinnie-vale/

Edit: Just seen that they've put the price up by a quid or so.

course and stones

How on earth do people get a consistent angle? If I did a course I'm sure I'd understand the theory, but I couldn't train my hand to do precise, consistent 15 degree strokes. And forget about changing to consistent 25 degree strokes for a different knife. If you don't practice your sharpening every day, how do you ever become competent? The joy of the Wicked Edge gadget is that even the first knife you sharpen can be perfect.

With all due respect, I think that Wicked Edge is a big spend to put an edge on a blade. But, equally, I confess to being a sucker for any kit which yields fine results.
I'm trying to think what the next worst option would be. I'm guessing, but I'll take a punt, that it would be a significant way financially distant from the cost of a Wicked Edge kit.
Insofar as angle is concerned, in my case I think it is (luckily) down to manual dexterity, and having sympathy for how the material behaves.
How are you , for instance, with wood working tools, say, carving, as opposed to (most) bike spannering?
Wood carving IME requires a lot of 'feel' for what is going on.
To go back to maintaining a constant angle, the angle on a chef's knife (for instance) doesn't remain constant. It changes as you work your way around the curve towards the tip, unlike something like a Nakiri, where it is more constant.
I've seen stuff on the inter webs showing 'x' number of coins being placed under the thick edge of the blade to maintain a constant angle, but that has always struck me as being a faff and unreliable.
TBF, I've not tried the coin method, but I guess I'm lucky that I've not felt the need to do so.
My knives are due for a hone this weekend. When done I usually test them by shredding edges off a piece of newsprint.
I think I'll see if I can give it a go on something thinner, tissue perhaps, and see how I get on.
Apropos of nothing in particular, when sharpened, my Yaxell Super Gou will halve and quarter a cherry tomato without me applying any pressure, relying just on the weight of the blade. Doesn't sharpen up as nicely as my carbon steel knives tho.

I agree, £250 is too much. I've probably spent about £100 on sharpening tools which didn't seem to work for me, including a Lansky Turn Box and a Vulkanus. Probably my fault, as I'm not good with tools, metalwork, jewellery making and so on, and I'm impatient. The Blenheim Forge course and a pair of stones would have cost another £100, and to my mind there was no certainty that I'd get things razor sharp, which is what I want.

Every bladed thing I've ever bought in my very long life has gone blunt, and I've never got a single one of them back to 'as new' sharpness. So the £250 I've just spent has eased my frustration and given me a sense of relief. And at least I can sell the Wicked Edge for at least as much as I paid for it. Not that I would. But it's comforting that I got a good deal. (The seller advertised it as a £612 Pro Pack 1. I didn't discover it was the £839 Pro Pack 2 until I unboxed it.)

Sounds like a bonus. It also sounds like you are going to struggle to get a good edge on your blades. It is an activity that is not for everyone. You could always use the services of someone like Ital Cutlery. They're based in Brockley which I believe isn't too far from you. They have a knife collection service. I've never had the need to use them, but they've been at it for 30 odd years and get good reviews.
I recently pointed someone else on here in their direction.
Make it someone else's problem.

It’s a tactile thing, how you position your wrist and the pressure you apply to the blade when creating the burr. Quite satisfying when you discover it. But you’re finding the angle that is good for you, not the angle the blade may have had when you first brought it. So that angle will be slightly different for different people as their technique for finding the angle is different.
If that makes sense.

Wut? I've got a Wicked Edge! It's a problem I can now solve myself!

Misunderstood you.
Wishing you a keen edge.

Totally

That's very clear. The Wicked Edge is also educational! I've been trying different angles on the same knife. The penny has dropped that the consistency of the angle is nearly always far more important than having whatever angle the knife had before, or an angle recommended on a web site.

Ah Dr Stonehenge, coming out of retirement to avenge.......

Finally managed to bag a Clement Knife - the blade is made from recycled nos canisters and the handle from recycled plastic. I got the 193mm chefs knife which was the size I wanted. Very excited 😊

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How on earth do people get a consistent angle?

Keeping my arms as a static frame, and generating the movement with my upper body seems to work.

I've not done any courses though, and have no external reference point, so could be doing it entirely wrong.

Also, my sharpening stones are cupped af.

I thought those cannisters were aluminium