- 4
- 10
- Joined Apr 7, 2010
Hi guys,
I'm a long time lurker who has finally decided to step out of the shadows to mingle with the big boys.
I am a home cook who has slowly come to the realisation that good knives and good care make cooking so much more enjoyable. This slowly trodden path has led me to my current juncture. I have been searching for days for the info but can't quite get the exact information I am after. And I am not experienced enough to glean it from the tons of other posts about similar knives.
Here's the situation. I have a Yaxell Ran Damascus 20cm Chef Knife and a Ran pairing knife as well as the Ran pull-through wet ceramic wheel sharpener. The sharpener has two slots, for sharpening left and right sides of the edge, not different grades.
Is that sharpener a genuine sharpening device or a hone? Here's a link to the sharpener.en.item.rakuten.com/yaxell/36021/
Intuitively this sharpener doesn't seem right. Am I doing my knives a disservice by using such a device? It says to pull through ten times on each side but inspecting the knives' edges shows a right-side bias (maybe 70/30ish)...will this be compromised with even stroke counts?
Am I better off getting a water stone? The Ran knives are VG-10 edges so is there a particular stone (or set of) that I should be using? I'm willing to learn the the art of sharpening if necessary, and I have some older knives to practice on.
I also read somewhere that a steel should be avoided for honing VG-10? Is this right? Has the internet lied to me? If not, is there a particular type of steel that I should be looking for (I imagine diamond would be too hard on the brittle VG-10...)
I'm not trying to make the world's sharpest knives, I just want a practical solution to obtain an honest and serviceable edge to slice with...but who knows, perhaps I'll catch the sharpening disease (...must...resist...gah!)
These are my first non-stainless knives. Is there any other tidbits I should be aware when taking care of these knives?
Much appreciated, in advance. And apologies if this dredges up previously answered questions.
Cheers,
McPop.
I'm a long time lurker who has finally decided to step out of the shadows to mingle with the big boys.
I am a home cook who has slowly come to the realisation that good knives and good care make cooking so much more enjoyable. This slowly trodden path has led me to my current juncture. I have been searching for days for the info but can't quite get the exact information I am after. And I am not experienced enough to glean it from the tons of other posts about similar knives.
Here's the situation. I have a Yaxell Ran Damascus 20cm Chef Knife and a Ran pairing knife as well as the Ran pull-through wet ceramic wheel sharpener. The sharpener has two slots, for sharpening left and right sides of the edge, not different grades.
Is that sharpener a genuine sharpening device or a hone? Here's a link to the sharpener.en.item.rakuten.com/yaxell/36021/
Intuitively this sharpener doesn't seem right. Am I doing my knives a disservice by using such a device? It says to pull through ten times on each side but inspecting the knives' edges shows a right-side bias (maybe 70/30ish)...will this be compromised with even stroke counts?
Am I better off getting a water stone? The Ran knives are VG-10 edges so is there a particular stone (or set of) that I should be using? I'm willing to learn the the art of sharpening if necessary, and I have some older knives to practice on.
I also read somewhere that a steel should be avoided for honing VG-10? Is this right? Has the internet lied to me? If not, is there a particular type of steel that I should be looking for (I imagine diamond would be too hard on the brittle VG-10...)
I'm not trying to make the world's sharpest knives, I just want a practical solution to obtain an honest and serviceable edge to slice with...but who knows, perhaps I'll catch the sharpening disease (...must...resist...gah!)
These are my first non-stainless knives. Is there any other tidbits I should be aware when taking care of these knives?
Much appreciated, in advance. And apologies if this dredges up previously answered questions.
Cheers,
McPop.