# Sld and vg10



## Dbjames123 (Feb 10, 2019)

Anyone have any tips for sharpening vg10 and sld. Been getting pretty good at my vg10 gyuto but still get some resistance cutting though hard things. Maybe it needs to be thinned. I'm gonna sharpen a sld kiritsuke gyuto today. Still factory edge. I'll start on 1000 to set the angles.


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## Bensbites (Feb 10, 2019)

Let’s break this down. 

Cutting through paper or shaving off arm hair are testing of keen/sharp edge. Also soft, over ripe tomatoes and grapes work for sharpness tests. 

Cutting carrots, onions and potatoes are tests of the grind as well as the sharpness.


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## Benuser (Feb 10, 2019)

Try the finest cigarette paper to make sure there's no more burr. Listen. VG-10 needs very careful abrading of the burr, through the entire progression


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## Dbjames123 (Feb 10, 2019)

Oh it shaves arm hair cuts the thinnest paper. I guess I just want it to get as sharp as easy as my white#1 yanagi and there just isnt the chance the metal is so hard.


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## McMan (Feb 10, 2019)

Benuser said:


> Try the finest cigarette paper to make sure there's no more burr.


Neat idea!


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## Xenif (Feb 10, 2019)

Dbjames123 said:


> Oh it shaves arm hair cuts the thinnest paper. I guess I just want it to get as sharp as easy as my white#1 yanagi and there just isnt the chance the metal is so hard.


W#1 and VG10 are pretty much on opposite sides of the steel spectrum. Also double bevel knives like gyuto have higher inclusive angle (usually) than a single bevel like a yanagiba. So not really a fair comparison on sharpening.


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## Dbjames123 (Feb 10, 2019)

Thanks. Yea I know they are no where near the same. It was just took a very long time to set proper angles. The manufactured edge was terrible.


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## Benuser (Feb 11, 2019)

Xenif said:


> W#1 and VG10 are pretty much on opposite sides of the steel spectrum. Also double bevel knives like gyuto have higher inclusive angle (usually) than a single bevel like a yanagiba. So not really a fair comparison on sharpening.


I hope your yanagiba won't have the same board contact as a gyuto.


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## Benuser (Feb 11, 2019)

Dbjames123 said:


> Anyone have any tips for sharpening vg10 and sld. Been getting pretty good at my vg10 gyuto but still get some resistance cutting though hard things. Maybe it needs to be thinned. I'm gonna sharpen a sld kiritsuke gyuto today. Still factory edge. I'll start on 1000 to set the angles.


Use the marker trick to make sure you don't overlook a micro-bevel. Use a loupe. It is very well possible to feel an apparent burr while the bevels actually don't meet and there still are the remains of a micro-bevel. Don't ask how I know.


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## psfred (Feb 17, 2019)

Carrot test: Cut fairly thick slices off a fat carrot. If the sound is "snick" and the slices are very clean and flat, you are OK for thickness. If the sound is "crunch" you are wedging -- the knife is too thick behind the edge and the carrot is splitting in front of the edge, it's not being cut. The slices will be slightly rough.

The fix for that is thinning the knife, or getting one that has the correct geometry in the first place, a fat knife will never cut carrots cleanly, it's too thick. 

If you have wedging issues, you will have to thin the knife down behind the edge to get it to cut hard vegetables cleanly. If the back of the knife is too thick, you will need another knife (we all need more knives, eh?). No matter how sharp the edge is, if the knife is wedging, it' not going to feel sharp because the edge isn't cutting, the material is being split by the body of the knife well in front of the edge. Probably unavoidable in something like a butternut squash, which is why I keep some old carbons steel thick knives around, I don't mind banging on those if I need to. I don't use my good gyuto for that job, don't want to break it.

And, as noted, make SURE you have a clean, properly apex bevel. You can get a nice burr with only one side of the bevel reaching the apex...

Wobbling while sharpening will also produce a burr, but not a clean bevel (0r a very convex one) and you will have a bad edge. It will cut paper, but wedge in hard vegetables.


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