Lots of questions about edge angles. Here is how to figure out what angle you have. Search for your knife on cutleryandmore.com Their descriptions often specify the angle. Make sure you find your exact knife. Searching for "Wusthof" is not enough. Is it wusthof classic, wusthof icon, wusthof epicure, etc. Each line might have a different angle. You can also check Amazon, but cutleryandmore.com descriptions are usually better. If you have an old knife (10+ years) that was made by an American or European manufacturer (Wusthof, Victorinox, Henckles, Chicago Cutlery, etc) and you can no longer find your exact knife on-line, it's probably 20 degrees. Also be aware that more slender blades like boning knives are sometimes done at a more shallow angle. I hone my 18 year old Victorinox boning knife at 15 degrees. Many manufacturer's websites also specify the angle, so googling for "shun angle" will often give you the answer if the manufacturer's site is returned in the results. Also don't sweat every degree. If you really have no clue, try 17 degrees. It should work for pretty much all kitchen knives that non-geeky home cooks might have. A tip for the future -- I always find out the angle of the edge before purchasing a knife and I stay away from asymmetrical edges (I am geeky about my knives, but not that geeky... yet ;)

@jaymiller3238

4 жыл бұрын

I was excited to see this link, but a search for Chicago Cutlery yielded no results. :-(

@helenrennie

4 жыл бұрын

Chicago Cutlery is mostly likely 20 degrees, especially if it's older.

@claro371

4 жыл бұрын

I just received my Wedgek, but I am confused. The directions say to add 3-5 degrees for the micro bevel. For an average Wusthof do I add 14 plus 3-5 degrees?

@petergreenwald9639

4 жыл бұрын

I have a couple dozen Chicago Cutlery. Old ones, from the animal disassembly job I had in my youth. I hone the heavy and thicker ones at around 20deg and the fillet and paring at around 15deg. Helen, you are the first chef I have heard explain the difference between sharpening and honing. At the packing plant, once a week or every two weeks we would sharpen at the six foot, powered stone till they had a "wire edge". Slice it into a wood block to remove the "wire" and hone. Everyday I would "dress" my blade with a small hand stone. Every several minutes I would steel it. We were taught to draw the knife away, not toward our self. Keeping super hot water around for big jobs helps. Getting some fat tissue away from those micro-burrs with a rinse can help. Today CC is owned by some firm that owns multiple trademarks and the stuff is crap. BTW, in a pinch, out camping, I've used a large screw driver out of my took kit to hone.

I have been been craving the sharpness of a honed knife but in my 72 years have done more harm than good. I say it is never to late. Thank you for your tips. I am really attempting to soak them all in, especially nice having the time now. I love to learn new things. 🤗

Thanks, Helen! Was on the fence about buying the new Wedgek, but with your recommendation I went ahead and bought it. It does look easy to learn , glad you confirmed that. Enjoy all your videos, you are so comforting and fun to watch, while at the same time teaching concrete real world kitchen skills!

Thanks for the informative video. I bought this product on Amazon but was a baffled a bit on how to properly use it. I am not that technical. Now I am an expert and saving some good money instead of buying new knives . And especially now it comes handy, when you can't get a new knife in stores. They are all closed for the pandemic.

Awesome! Very much appreciated. I've been sharpening knives for about 7 years every day or so. I still learned a lot from this video and I will probably buy this product. Thank you!

Thank you so very much. I never understood the purpose of that rod as opposed to a knife sharpener. Very helpful to me🌷🌼🌸🌺

Thank you Helen .Boston is so much better because of you . pleased to have met you..from an aspiring cook ..LOL

You’re amazing, Helen!! I gain priceless impactful knowledge with each video. I must come to Boston and take a class. All the best xx

Really interesting

i love this video because it is compact and information dense, while also being easy to understand. this is what i would show to people with dull knives. (there are so many household with dangerously dull knives) and when i offer to sharpen them, they often agree and hand me the honing stick. That is where the arguments start because people refuse to understand that honing sticks do not sharpen knives. it is only after i used a whetstone to sharpen their knives that they understand what a sharp knife is.

Well, well, well - it took sheltering in place for me to finally settle down enough to actually approach some videos on kitchen SKILLS. I'm a great COOK - I am no chef as I have no formal training and haven't much to hone my skills (did you see that ;-) ) so happy to have found you ... and imagine - it was from camelized cabbage ....yum.

Recently tried ceramic rod to hone, and I was amazed.

I apologize, I missed this video post 😬 So sorry for asking stupid questions but i appreciate your response. Thank you sooo much again for all this accessible info.

Fantastic video and what a great product that solves the "what's my angle". I have sharpening stones, and same issue on angle consistency. I think that this would make a great gift idea. ANd....I see that they have stone wedges too! Thanks so much for sharing this.

I love anyrhing with a blade and have some very high quality knives as wll as some favorites and I use ceramic rods for all of them. For sharpening, I use Japanese whettones and patience.. Excellent video!

I use the flat wedges on my stones. Even though I am an experienced whetstone sharpener they serve as a reference especially with a knife I haven't honed before. They are invaluable if you want to change the bevel angle since you can't lay the existing bevel flat on the stone.

I will totally get one because you say it’s that good, but I’ll have to wait until my deployment is over in December!!!!! keep up the awesome videoes!

Thank you!

I use the Chef's Choice electric diamond sharpener, 15 degrees. With a couple of swipes and I can shave my arm, occasional touch-up on a steel. I never looked back. Scary sharp.

@apatterson8128

4 жыл бұрын

I use Chef Choice as well. I do the paper slicing test before and after. SCARY sharp is right. It's practically idiot proof.

hahahah loved this vid! Thank you!

Just found your site after looking for a review on the Misen knives. Love the way you explain things. Just ordered the Wedgek off Amazon. Any chance you have a video on how to figure out what angle my knife should be honed at?

@helenrennie

2 жыл бұрын

youtube doesn't notify me of the follow ups on comments, but if you e-mail me your knife brand at helenrennie@gmail.com I'll make my best guess. You can also contact your manufacturer.

You’re awesome

Hi Helen- Thank you for your very informative videos. I made homemade pasta for the first time, thanks to you! I just received the Wedge K ceramic rod and angle cones, per your recommendations. I have a Wusthof Ikon Santoku knife that is listed on the Wusthof and cutleryandmore websites as having a 10 degree angle. The instructions that came with the WedgeK cones are vague, and the website is a little confusing about micro-bevels. So my basic question is- which angle guide to use for my knife?

@helenrennie

3 жыл бұрын

Personally, I don't worry about micro bevels and do my 15 degree knives at 15 degrees. That being said, 10 degrees seems insanely skinny. So I might try 12 degrees using a very light touch.

@hannahzackson6884

3 жыл бұрын

@@helenrennie Thanks Helen! According to the Wusthof website, they say to hone at a 10 degree angle, but there is not a 10 degree marking on the Wedgek That is what is so confusing to me. I will try the 12 angle as you suggested. Wishing you and your family happy holidays.

That is an awesome price.

I bought a honing rod at Wal-Mart and, it had different degree marks as part of the handle.

looks like a great tool Helen, I think i'll pick one up to try out also! Thanks

How does this work with a 70 / 30 bevel?

Are the cones flexible? I use a ceramic honing rod, but it has an oval cross section, not round.

@helenrennie

4 жыл бұрын

I believe you need a round rod, but you can get in touch with wedgek on amazon and ask.

What do you think of loaded strops? I saw my mate had a few for his EDC collection and it made any knife extremely sharp after only a few swipes. Now I got a old leather belt (I washed it well) and loaded it up with green cutting compound ($6 on ebay for pretty much a life time supply) and put it on a hook in the kitchen. To strop grab the end pull tight and strop the knife backwards 2-5 times each side very lightly on a slightly deeper angle (if angle is 15 go 13). It makes my knives much sharper than when I was using my ceramic hone and I have stopped using hone all together now. I think its much better than hones so you might like to experiment with it because it cost under $10 and any leather will work so when you have completely broke students you can just give them some compound.

@iiMEiii

4 жыл бұрын

It's also known as green chromium oxide compound or green rogue and looks like a stick of green butter. You load a strop by rubbing it on leather till it green and if you like in a cold climate just heat the end up with fire or a heat gun. Probably just look up a single YT video on how to load a strop it's very easy. Hope you find this helpful.

@helenrennie

4 жыл бұрын

as long as it works for you, it's all good :) some people like honing more. some like strops more.

Why are there different angle numbers on the top and bottom parts of the blue cone?

Question: should ceramic knives be honed?

Extremely helpful since I paid much good money for my professional kitchen knife set. And it’s good I use them all regularly. I know I hone my knives 🔪. But they don’t feel like then as sharp as the day I bought them, so I feel the angle 15-18 degree is off on sharpening them. This gadget should help. But now I think 🤔 I also need one these Ceramic Honing Rod as well. Thanks for this vid.

How do I know what the best angle is for my knife?

@helenrennie

4 жыл бұрын

Many people asked that, so I just wrote a detailed answer. It's the first comment under the video (I pinned it so that it stays first).

It's too bad this affiliate link doesn't work outside the US. This product is not currently available and they don't know when it might be... in Canada.

Helen, I recently purchased a new chefs knife and a strop. After watching numerous videos about sharping stones, I found one guy who is a professional knife sharpener. He claims that stropping a brand new knife a few times a week is better than using a honing rod, so I figured I give it a try. Have you ever used a strop??

@theneighborguy

3 жыл бұрын

Stropping doesn't help if the edge is misaligned. Hence the purpose of a honing rod.

What would be the degree for a wusthof knife of 6 inches plus handle to hone it?

@helenrennie

4 жыл бұрын

Wusthof makes both 20 and 15 degree knives. The length of 6 inches is irrelevant to the angle. If it's very old (15+ years, it's probably 20 degrees). If it's more recent, find it on cutleryandmore.com. Most likely they'll tell you the angle, but if it's still confusing, send me the culteryandmore.com link and I'll take a look.

@cookingdragons

4 жыл бұрын

Helen Rennie mine i got this year so i would assume 15 degrees angle

@helenrennie

4 жыл бұрын

not necessarily. they didn't change all their knives. they have many different lines. some are 15 and some are 20. don't assume :) you got it this year, so surely this knife is available on-line.

Anyone know if it's ok after you get old knifes sharpened professionally or do they have to be brand new for this to work? I haven't used my knives in years only recently started to learn how to cook properly. **soberlife**

@dokaplan1

2 жыл бұрын

You can have any knife professionally sharpened for a few bucks but this video is about honing. You can hone any knife but if they're very, very dull it won't do much until you sharpen it first.

Thanks for the info, I'll probably give the Wedgek a try. However, it's often a challenge to find the recommended angle for a specific knife.

@helenrennie

4 жыл бұрын

find your knife on cutleryandmore.com and they'll tell you the angle (at least for most knives). If you are still not certain, e-mail me what you have and we'll figure it out.

Hey Helen, Chemmy here😋 I have been using the Brod&Taylor system for four years or so now, It sharpens and realign the edge and puts a keen edge with the third step. However it only goes up to twenty degrees...I love it, it does a great job on all my knives 20° or less and does sedated edges also. So I will purchase this for the two Japanese knives I have that are 11° And see how it does and report back with the results ok? And maybe you can check out the Brod&Taylor sharpener on you tube In exchange lol...👍

When I bring my knives to a professional sharpener will they know what angle degree to sharpen to?

@helenrennie

4 жыл бұрын

not necessarily. ask them what angle would they sharpen shun to (the answer should be 14 or 15) and what angle they would sharpen wusthof classic to (the answer should be 18 to 20). If they don't give you the right answers, I wouldn't use them. You can even call them and ask them on the phone to save you a trip.

@donbushek

4 жыл бұрын

Helen Rennie Cutlery and More now lists Wusthof Classic as 14deg. They claim Wusthof changed to 14deg 10 years ago.

I always considered using a sharpening steel as “dressing“the edge of a knife, as you said “realigning” it. I consider sharpening anything below 1000 grit, anything above that is honing. So there’s sharpening honing and dressing.

#realcomment I’m a new subscriber and am binge watching your videos, I’ve watched your knife honing video, and I’m wondering how you feel about ceramic knives.

👍👍👍👍👍

My knife has a bend towards the tip of the blade. Nothing I do seems to be help

@helenrennie

4 жыл бұрын

if the whole blade that bends, that's a damaged knife and no amount of honing or sharpening can fix that.

Cavities is a better than the exercise one.

okay you sold me.

Hmmm... looks like time to go play with my wood lathe... Mwahaha!

Proper whetstones are the only complete solution for sharpening.

@AirrowRocket

4 жыл бұрын

Bunk. Chef'sChoice electric sharpener plus a strop and I can shave my arms and first layer of skin if not careful.

Is this a paid product promotion/sponsored product video?

You didn't say anything about what difference (if any) between the orange cones and the new blue cones.

@helenrennie

3 жыл бұрын

the blue cones offer more angles. Orange come in 14, 16, 18, 20. Blue ones come in 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 25, 30

@squatch545

3 жыл бұрын

@@helenrennie Right, after looking more closely, I see that the blue cones have flat surfaces on them with different angles on each surface. Thank you.

In Soviet Russia, knife sharpens you

I floss and brush every four to six months.

Great video, but the lady's so cute it's hard to focus on the knife!

Warming: this is just one huge infomercial

You really should sharpen a knife first because you're setting the bevel. Honing's only good if you know what angle the bevel was grinded at. And it might not ever get sharp unless you did it so much that you eventually grinded a new bevel on

10% of her students must be feeling pretty bad about themselves. 😢

From Russia with love?