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Re: I'm convinced my reed knife is the problem

Author: huboboe
Date: 2013-05-06 23:55

Remember that this is not a slicing knife but a scraping blade, so it should be sharpened more like a wood plane than a kitchen knife.

I sharpen my knives with a 30º angle on the trailing side of the blade and sharpen the leading side flat on the stone.

Diamond stones are great for occasionally roughing out the edge on a very dull knife, but even a 1200 grit stone has the distribution of diamond in a single layer on the surface and produces a very raggedy edge compared with 1200 grit water stone or India stone.

I find the Shapton ceramic water stones superior to all the others; they cut faster than other water stones and don't need to be soaked. You just spritz the top of the stone with a spray bottle and work in the resultant puddle. They are available from Jenda and other on-line sources. The 1200 grit produces an almost mirror edge that will shave the hair from my arm easily. I don't think you need to step through a lot of grades of water stones. I get excellent results putting the edge on a brand new blade roughing it out on a 320 grit diamond, followed by 6oo grit diamond and polishing on a 1200 grit Shapton stone. After the edge has been established, you can keep it sharp with the 1200 grity stone. There's no need to go back to the diamond unless you have steepened the angle on the blade and need to rough it out to a shallower angle.

(When we hand sharpen, we tend to get a quicker edge by progressively steepening the angle, in effect putting ever steeper micro-bevels on the existing angle. A sharpening fixture holds the angle constant, thus eliminating the need to re-rind the blade)

If you're coming to the Double Reed Conference next month you can try my reed knives and a sharpening fixture I am introducing there which will maintain the same angle each time you sharpen.

I gave up metal plaques years ago. I use only a wooden plaque, and can make 4 or 5 reeds between sharpenings.

Remember, the first secret of reed making is a sharp knife. The second secret of reed making is a sharp knife...

Robert Hubbard
WestwindDoubleReed.com
1-888-579-6020
bob@westwinddoublereed.com

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