# How do you sharpen a bird's beak



## Godslayer (Oct 1, 2018)

No joke, I can't figure out how to do it(properly) as the knife won't lay perfectly flat on my stone and if I do it one half at a time I'm worried I may develop an uneven surface on my stone.


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## ecchef (Oct 1, 2018)

Ceramic rod. Easiest way.


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## Qapla' (Oct 1, 2018)

Or if you want to get fancy, there are stones with a curved side.

https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Naniwa-Gouken-Curved-Water-Stone-P1605C4.aspx


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## Nemo (Oct 1, 2018)

I was gonna say that you have to hold the bird very still... [emoji16]

On a more serious note, would wrapping sandpaper around a dowel work?

Or even a PVC pipe that matches the radius of the edge?


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## mikaelsan (Oct 1, 2018)

+1 to ceramic rod, i do quick touch ups on my mother in laws birds beak knives ever once in a while, i have a rough ceramic rod, followed by a loaded leather strop that i just so happen to have stretched over the sides, that way i can use the corners to strop it afterwards, i also occasionally use it for bread knife serrations. Works well enough for the purpose


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## zitangy (Oct 1, 2018)

I remove steel on the edge on a chamfered stone corner ( or bevelled side) that every mm of edge is abraded on the chamfered/ beveled edge by an sweeping appropriate motion.

Have fun...Z


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## Benuser (Oct 1, 2018)

I thin behind the edge on automotive sandpaper, up to the very edge. Blade flat. Don't have to care much about aesthetics as these are simple peelers. Create a very small bevel with scratches perpendicular to the edge on a stone's corner à la Zitangy. Deburring: clean up one side with rough split leather or cardboard and deburr the other side with a Sieger Long-life ceramic rod, and vice versa.


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## HRC_64 (Oct 1, 2018)

use a sicke stone with rounded side, or to DIY
just wrap some 3M autmotive wet/dry papers
around a spoon handle ... works fine too...


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## Godslayer (Oct 1, 2018)

Thank you for all the ideas, I presume once I get it sharp I won't have to do it again for a long long time


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## Kingkor (Oct 2, 2018)

I usually buy the cheap ones tbh(3-8$) and use a hone until they really can't get anywhere throw them out or leave them at the kitchen and get a new one.


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## Benuser (Oct 2, 2018)

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/german-asymmetry-a-peeler-knife.15749/
If the knife is used as a peeler by a right-handed, the most favourable geometry is an inverted one to what we are used to. So, left side convexed, right side as flat as possible, edge off-centered to the right. The flat, right side will lay under when peeling with the edge in your direction; the left, convexed side will help the peel coming off.
I do with peelers like Robert Herder and add a fat micro- (or mini-) bevel on the left, convexed side.


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## Keith Sinclair (Oct 2, 2018)

This thread shows innovation as to whatever works for you.


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## Nemo (Oct 2, 2018)

Hopefully not tko much of a derail... but... I never really got the point of parrot beak knives. What's the idea behind the profile? I assume that they are used for peeling? If not, what else are they used for? What advantages do they have over a veggie peeler?


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## Benuser (Oct 3, 2018)

Nemo said:


> Hopefully not tko much of a derail... but... I never really got the point of parrot beak knives. What's the idea behind the profile? I assume that they are used for peeling? If not, what else are they used for? What advantages do they have over a veggie peeler?


https://www.messerspezialist.de/tourniermesser.html
Has to do with the traditional presentation of vegetables in the French kitchen, where e.g. carrots are cut as bulbs. The spherical form assures an even cuisson.


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## Nemo (Oct 3, 2018)

Benuser said:


> https://www.messerspezialist.de/tourniermesser.html
> Has to do with the traditional presentation of vegetables in the French kitchen, where e.g. carrots are cut as bulbs. The spherical form assures an even cuisson.


Thanks for the explanation


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## Benuser (Oct 3, 2018)

Nemo said:


> Thanks for the explanation


My pleasure, Nemo.


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## Lpn562 (Oct 3, 2018)

It’s a great tool to peel and devein shrimp also.


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## Benuser (Oct 3, 2018)

By the way, if it is a cheap Herder shorten the handle to free the heel. Makes both use and maintenance much easier.


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