Sharp like a razor, or dull like a burned out lightbulb?


 
Question for the knife pros. I decided to pick up a Mac 8" chef's knife today. Wow, is it nice. I'm in love.

Anyway, I asked what was the best way to sharpen it. The guy who sold it said that a ceramic steel is all I needed. He said that would both sharpen and hone it. Is that correct, or is he off his rocker? He didn't seem all that knowledgeable about knives in general, despite owning a cutlery store. When I asked him the angle of the Mac Chef's knife, he said he didn't know. (He also offered to sharpen all my knives for free, but I declined.)
 
I would have declined too. He doesn't know the angle?

I'm thinking 10-12 but I'd have to check. It is likely between 10 and 15 (European and American knives are usually 20-25).

Using your ceramic steel will prolong the edge of your knife for some time. Point the steel tip down onto your board to stabilize it then, judging your angle as accurately as you can, lightly hone the knife. Eventually you'll notice that steeling isn't quite cutting it. Then you'll need to sharpen.

Of course you can use stones (I'd suggest ceramic only) or you can use a system. You must get a system that will support the more acute angle of Japanese knives and, being made for Euro or American knives, many do not, having fixed angles that go often no lower than 20. My knives I sharpen from 9-18, depending on the knife, so variability of angles in a system is important to me.

With a variable system, btw, it is easy to check the factory bevel by using a black magic marker right on the bevel. Then, by adjusting the angle of your sharpener and sharpening a little, you can see if you're off by whether you're above, below or right on the mark you've made. This little video at Edge Pro's site will show you what I mean. (At the end of the vid you'll see how to lightly hone an edge with a ceramic steel.)
 
Kevin, you are a man of many talents! I am also going to try your recipe in the pastor thread
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living in San Diego with a mexican market a block away I and easy chile access I can't wait to try it hah.

David, as Kevin said, good call on declining that guy. He definitely did not know what he was talking about. I'm not too familiar with the MAC knives, I think they are in between the japanese and the german/euro knives. I.e. not as soft as the euro steel, but not as hard as the Japanese steels.

I'm thinking it isn't as acute as 10-12. Even Shun Classics, which are pretty hard VG10 steel, come out of the factory at 16 I believe (each side, 32 total) but you can definitely make those more acute and most have.

What's good about the variable angle system that Kevin speaks about is that not only can you do a variety of knives, you can also test different angles on your knives, if the steel is hard enough to handle, you can try more acute angles, of course if you go to far it'll roll or lose it's edge really fast.

OK I found this site which lists the angle at 15. Not exactly sure how credible the site is. Rockwell of 57-60.
http://www.cookswares.com/manufacturer.asp?m=MAC
Which is like I suspected right between the two ranges.

So you can go for a system like the edge pro apex, which isn't cheap. You can learn to freehand, or even just improvise, and go for the shun sharpener. IT is set for 16 degrees, one degree less than the Mac, but is only $60. Get a nice ceramic rod or more expensive boro rod. Here is just one source:
http://www.japaneseknifesharpening.com/products.html

Sorry for the long post
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">come out of the factory at 16 I believe (each side, 32 total) but you can definitely make those more acute and most have. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That may well be right, especially since we're talking about a chefs knife.

Let me know wht you think of the pastor. Also try when you can cochinita pibil--a favorite.
 
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