I am in desperate need of help in sharpening these little devils. The more angled they are, the harder they are to sharpen without "rounding" the blade! I consider myself "pretty good" at sharpening, but these are next level difficult for me. I even took them to a professional sharpener who gave them back to me no better than I could do.
Has anyone here used a little sharpening jig that can hold a skewed blade at the perfect angle?
Hi David. In one of the images below you show the knives being held with the blade edge perpendicular to the direction you will be sharpening.
In this position, any pressure on the handle is going to rock the knife back and forth and round the edge as you sharpen.
If you turn the edge 45 degrees or more to the direction of sharpening, you create a much more stable platform. Use medium pressure with the fingers supporting the back of the blade, and use the other hand to cradle the handle and support the movement. Try not to initiate the movement with the handle alone.
Here's a screenshot from the video course 'Techniques of the Blade'.
I apologize for spamming... I'm commenting my thoughts to you in real time haha. But I think this would be a better/more feasible way of creating a jig. Let me know if this makes sense to you. Might be difficult to get the blade totally flat and articulated to the diamond plate without tilting (if you are clamping to leather wrapped handles), but it could probably be done well enough by playing around with where you screw the wood pieces together and how much pressure you apply.
They look to me to be quite similar to the traditional English paring knives that Phil has used. Cut at angles with a single bevel. Phil shows a great way of sharpening them in Technique of the Blade. Have you taken a look at that course? Or are these knives different in a way that I'm not comprehending? Btw, I love the leather handle wraps!