: Hello All,
: Through kayak building I bought some water stones and got good
: enough at sharpening chisels and plane blades. I'm interested in
: sharpening my kitchen knives but I'm also a bit scared to do it.
: With chisels and plane blades, I used Lee Valley's Honing Guide.
: With knives, I'm worried that I won't be holding the blade at a
: constant angle to the stone, and therefore may really screw up
: the edge. I'd like to hear about other people's experiences
: trying this, if they have any tips or other suggestions for me.
: I guess the other option is to buy a knife-sharpener like this
: one from Lee Valley:
: http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32995&cat=1,43072,43079&ap=1

: thanks
: Doug

As long as you are aware of the need for a roughly consistent angle, you should have no significant problems. Approximate is good enough for kitchen knives. Use some sort of guide to show you more or less what the right angle looks like, and have at it. Keep in mind that the knife is sharpened on both sides, so the apparent angle between the blade and the stone while honing either side will be half the intended edge angle. Shoot for something like 25 -30 degrees total edge angle, and you should be pleased with the results.

Try to use the entire surface of your waterstones so as to minimize uneven wear which will require flattening the surface before proper plane or chisel honing. You can also reserve one side of your stones (except those that are mounted on wood supports of course) for knives and the other for planes and chisels.

If you don't already have one, a steel works well to touch kitchen knives up between honings.

Good luck,

Allan Edie