Hey I just want to say thanks. I have sharpened knives before on 1000 and 3000 grit stones before, but i just bought my first knife from Korin ($200 gyuto with a 70/30 bevel) and i spent a couple hours watching your vids before sharpening, and through patience she came out so much more beautiful than that factory edge. I hope you continue to help everyone with your experience.

Finally did my first sharpening session yesterday! Bought a whetstone over a year ago but never dared to use it. It went quite well and this video also helped a lot. Thx!

Watching your videos taught me how to sharpen my ever day carry knife, so thank you!

Thanks a bunch ricky! really appreciate your uploads and the effort you put into your videos.

yes!!! I've wanted you to do this video for a while now thank you this clears a lot up

Lucid, very inspiring, and it helped me again to salvage some long neglected knives that I bought at a street fair once, and that are surprisingly good if given some loving care, which for too long I did not do. After some good sharpening of one of them I went and surgically took apart a whole jackfruit, and froze a large part of it, and I assure you a sharp knife made all the difference.

Thank you for making all your videos. I have severe arthritis so i don't have energy to waste or dexterity to use dull knives. I now have super sharp knives and cooking is much easier for me again. It is a small thing, but those count when you have a serious illness. Thanks again for helping.

Thank you so much for sharing your insights Ryky, I really appreciate it! I wonder have you done a video specifically on sharpening the tip? Sometimes it can be a little tricky getting the bevel even and smooth towards that area.

Great videos. I know this is 3 years ago, but as a beginner this definitely works perfect. Thank you.

You are one of my favorite you tube personalities dood, keep up the awesome work man! Stay humble (:(:

As always, the explanation is great. This video, along with your How to Sharpen a Chef Knife video are probably best watched in tandem to understand the method and theory behind this style of sharpening.

Great video! I already knew your burr minimizing technique from your other videos but now I understand why you do it!

Finally the beginner got a burr not on entire edge but more sharpening did increase it, thanks for video. It really helped.

This video is gold. I only sharpened my kana blade on a 140 atoma and strop with a dialux vert, and I am able to produce extremely thin shavings!!!!

Thank you for educating us I enjoyed your video and meticulous explanation.

Thank you, I am learning a lot watching your videos

This helped me quite a lot. I was always unsure how severe of a burr you needed to be considered a "burr". Thank you!

BURR is Life.

Great video, very clear and informative. Thank you.

Probably the best video I’ve ever seen on this topic.

How weird îs it that I was captivated by your tutorial. Thanks for all your hard work sharing these videos!

Thank you very much for your detailed explanation.

I really enjoy the 3 camera angles. Excellent video & explanation.

thanks Ricky this was very good information.

Ryky there is another approach and I recommend you just give it a shot, off camera to see what you think, it is close to what your current method is. Let's face, the Burr, it's formation and subsequent removal are pivotal elements of successful knife sharpening. This is the way I do it, again, similar to your approach. After the burr is formed on both sides, repeat the sharpening process but reduce your pressure by 50%, you're not stropping just yet, so go from heel to tip and then from tip to heel on both sides. Now, repeat that process with another reduction in pressure, so very light pressure, naturally you don't want to form additional burrs so it takes a very light touch, heel to tip, tip to heel on both sides. NOW, you do the stropping motion to finalize the burr removal process on the coarse stone. I call it coarse stone refinement. It's just a little more time spent "cleaning" that edge. The sharpest knives I've produced are done using this method. I use four levels of pressure when I sharpen on the coarse stone. (Just a suggestion, not suggesting your method is not good, just throwing something out there for to catch if you wish).

Great explanation Ryky!

Thank you very much

Great tutorial Ricky! Thank you!

Great explanation. The burr is the reason I like to sharpen everything by hand. I believe grinders and belt sanders change the heat treat and temper of the metal on the very fine edge (burr) that does all of the cutting. I think the edge will always last better when sharpened by hand.

Good stuff Ryky Thanks

Awesome, this is the exact video I needed in my life rn

Great video. Love the multiple angles. Question/request for you: I'm somewhat new to sharpening (pocket knives for years but was never great at it). I have a 7 piece Wusthof Classic set that is in dire need of sharpening. Based on budget and your recommendations, I went with the King KDS 1000/6000 and picked up that cheap Numa knife to practice with since it is fully bolstered like my Wusthofs. My question is how close should I get to the bolster while sharpening? I have watched bunches of your videos and you make it look very easy, but I found myself grinding into the bolster regularly (so far just on the Numa and Wusthofs paring knife). Any tips or tricks? to know how close is close enough?

Very interesting, thank you. What are the stones you used for the video please ? And the load remover ? Thanks ;

When I feel for a burr I use my fingernails instead of the fleshy part of my finger tips. I find that I am able to feel my fingernails catch on the burr before I am able to feel the burr with my finger tips. Do you think this is a good technique for achieving a microburr, or am I just not recognizing the feel of the burr until it is large enough to catch on the edge of my fingernails, since I am somewhat of a novice?

Thank you very much for the videos, i just started sharpening as a hobby and your videos help a lot. I have a question tho, do i get the same result if i sharpen a knife on a let's say 400 grid stone and strop on a 1000 opposed to sharpen it on a 1000 and strop it on the same stone?

Hi man, I am a working chef and am just wondering what the best way to maintain my knifes is I have a 1000/3000 combo stone and a ceramic honing rod. For a long time I was just using the rod every now and then but found after a while my knives would get dull(well duller than I would like) I've just sharpened most of them with my combo stone and am wondering should I just quickly strop them on the 3000 stone if they need a touch up? or just use my rod then once they go dull re sharpen them. Thanks in advanced love your stuff!

so i'm supposed to make equal burr on both sides of the edge with a ~1000 grit stone and then start to refine or remove the burr once on each side while eventually swapping to finer stones when i stop noticing any difference?

"We'll go 10 times" Proceeds to go 12 times :') Still love the video! Thank you Burrfection

Hello Rikki I really like your Videos you helped me alot learning how to free hand Sharpen ... i just have one thing that confuses and bothers me alot . When i sharpen my Chef knives i start on lets say the right side after 10 Minutes of sharpening i start feeling a nice burr like you say ... than i switch my knive and start doing the exact same thing on the other side but the burr starts to devolp much much faster... so this means in the end i sharpend one side more than the other one ... i start seeing this on the endges of my knives one cutting edge side lookes “longer thicker “ than the other one... for the rest i follow everything you say after i deburr on the cerax 1000 i switch to a shapton pro 8000 and do the polishing... for the polishing do you think it is better to do push and pulls or just single pulls ...please help me am i doing everything right ? .... I work as a professional Camera Assistant tv commercials feature films etc so if you like or have any questions i can help you with Camera Setups Lightning questions or colour correction green keying or editing questions ... keep up the good work 👍🏼 and Greetings from Italy ...

I always described the burr as the steel rolling over from one side to the other, once I'm done sharpening, the burr become very thin and barely sticks to the edge of the blade, then I strop to remove the tiny burrs left like if they were tiny slivers of steel sticking to the edge of the blade

yes by hand its the best way to go, thanks for video

ive really been enjoying your videos and ive had some success with sharpening my knives. im just curious about your thoughts on the messermeister 1000/3000 combo stone. that was what was available to me and seems to work OK, just curious. keep up the good work and thanks for all the info!

I like the way your personal methods gained in the development of Burr and understanding the edges. Trying to explain what you know from your own practical experience and nothing more adds a personal touch that grabbed my sttention. i have a clearer understanding & foundation for developing burr and knife sharpening techniques that come from my practical experience is thank you again. #isupportyouwithasub

Hey Ryky, After a burr is created on the one side (and folding onto the other) do you immediately go into your de-burring method? or do you then create a burr on the opposite side first and then do the de-burring method? Thank you!

Thank you for this tutorial man. I look forward to making it work at work :)

I'm confused. Is refining the burr to make it stand straight about making the knife sharper, or breaking off the burr to prevent contaminating your food? The idea of sliding the edge down a piece of wood makes it seem like you're undoing all your hard work. Is it needed to keep metal out of your veggies?

If you are new to sharpening watch how calm and steady Ryky's hands are. This takes a lot of practice but is worth taking the time to develop. My hands are not this steady but I continue to strive to achieve this level.

Good vid brutha, gave me some solid improvent steps to try

How do people deburr on coarse stones though, if the size of the burr is bigger on coarser stones?

Watching this last video - you seem to be saying that you need only develop a burr on one side of the blade and then use stropping to straighten it ( method 1), rather than sharpening the edge on both sides and then stropping ( method 2) - which gives the best result- method 1 or 2? - thanks

Very interesting and simple explanation. Ryky could you record some video about how to sharp different types western knives and what angles?

Do you just create a burr on one side then strop or sharp one side create a burr then sharp the other side to create another burr and then strop?

Really good video

Hey Ryky,,, Iam a beginner at wet, Splash and Go sharpening stones. And although I have one or two chief type knives,, primarily I use pocket, Sheath and wood carving knives. My collection focuses more around the love of the Outdoors, camping, fishing and hiking. One quick question,, which would be more efficient,,, stropping on the Splash and Go,, or a leather strop,,,??? His Blessings,,,,,, Joshua

Burrfection, the frame/zoom on the bottom right of the video. The compression in the image shows. I'm assuming it's because it's the left image, but zoomed in. If you're not already, could you try recording in a lossless format before editing? i'm thinking it'll hide that artifacting that's more apparent when zoomed in. The blurry details get in the way when you're trying to study the video frame by frame at 4k. I know that YT trashes a video, but that's not as true at the 2-4k res, so it's possibly to get a decent from YT at those resolutions because for some reason YT gives a better compression ratio past 1080p.

Thank you

DAYUM! i have too many burrs and I never knew it was that. i only thought I did not sharpen it but it's cuz I did not sharpen it correctly 0_o THANK YOU!

how about the ancient technique of using a leather strop. I find stropping on the cutting board is very practical and works reasonably well

So very complete and accurate, your explanation. Nowhere in the vid any needless word. You're unique, Ryky. Btw, is it always raining there in LA?

what is your opinion on the Shun sharpening stones? Also what is the best sink bridge sharpening stone holder?

Hi I'm new to sharping knifes I have a 1000/6000 Ohishi stone and knifes are sharp ,but I have a steel can I use this to get rid of a burr ta

Can you do a video to help factory workers who wear gloves and use a diamond rod, steel rod and steel mousetrap? We can't feel it with our hands and we have very limited time to sharpen.

I love that you eschew brevity in the modern age.

Have you tried the DMT Duo sharp diamond "stones"? I recently bought one and so far I'm loving it =P

zero dislikes... awesome by the way, I use a Q-tip to find a burr the cotton gets stuck on it and you can see it...

hi. i love your channel and i was wondering: do you buy all of your knifes? hi from portugal

I've never sharpened a knife..I mean...not really. Now I want a whetstone.

Oh, my grandmother has an ancient 'oilstone' made by 'norton'. Is there a difference with a whetstone? I used water on the stone and i noticed these oilsmudges on the surface of the water. Should i use oil instead? It's a 2 sided stone but I don't know what grits they are, is there some way of finding out? I was sharpening my opinel n°9 carbonsteel pocketknife and saw these tiny hairlike flakes of metal, i thought i was wrecking my knife :D

The burr is like what you get when you file your finger nails.

Which rust eraser do you prefer, the medium or fine?

Hey Ricky what's a good grit stone level to start at with kitchen knives that haven't been sharpened in months

Do you do this "stropping method" on each stone during the sharpening process, or only on the finishing stone? I am trying to figure out what the last step should be before I move up to each stone. Thanks!

After watching this video with my girlfriend she was like ''So the burr is the steel part on the knife?...''

Hi there Ricky! I'm a very new subscriber, and I am LOVING IT!! I, myself am a bit of an amateur and I am loving these informational videos, I am currently working with a mixed stone with a 1000 and a 3000 grit side. what is my next step? budget is not really a problem for me, and I don't know whether to go coarser or finer on my next stone. also, can you do a video on flattening stones? I would really appreciate it! thanks, and keep up the amazing work!

very cool.

Do you get the same kind of burr if you draw in the direction of the edge as opposed to away from the edge? Do you notice a difference?

My grandfather called the burr the "wire" always made good sense to me.

how many passes would you go thru on a 1000 stone on average to sharpen a knife.. i just don't know when to stop.. . im new to sharpening and had some practise with my mums blunt knives .. 5 nos but it took me 1 hour per knife on a cheap china combination coarse stone to make an edge and then i moved on to my Japanese mid range 1000 grit stone ... was i over doing things ... on each stone i did at least 150 passes on each side... so my question is whats a good average .. i know knifes defer.. just an average pls.. thanks

I use King set stones and shapton glass set, shapton does less burr than king stones and with a 4000 grit the knife looks ready can't do the same with king set stone, do you have any tips to use stones like king deluxe? Keep going with your videos they're awesome.

Newbie question... I have a chosera 1000 and chosera 5000. After achieving a burr on each side of the knife on the 1000 stone, and after straightening it, should I expect to feel a (new?) burr while polishing on the chosera 5000? Thanks in advance. Your video has been inspirational for me to discover my knives real potential!

hello people I really love this channel the reason why he one of few people I've found on KZfaq that knows what he is talking about the reason I say that my daddy was former green Beret and taught me to properly sharpen a knife when was six and every day since I'm twenty four now and I'm very good at it and I find this Channel and learn several new things

Hi Ricky, Thank you for the lesson

Dear Ryky, I am really impressed with your sharpening procedure. Would it be possible for you to translate the procedure for use with a wood chisel and other wood working tools? Thanks, and keep the great content coming. Bill

@Burrfection if you get the chance to borrow a microscope(that can be used for filming) it would be interesting to see what edges of varying quality look like. As in comparing a poor edge, with a decent and a good edge via a microscope.

Have you ever considered getting into sharpening (and using?) straight razors? Edge perfection and sharpness is highly valued in those communities, as it is a blade you will actually have to put to your skin and the edge has a direct relation to your enjoyment. Usualy gets into the most extreme of grits on stones!

Hi , i been watch your channel, I would like to know how to get out some scratches of my Ran damascus knife . These scratches occurred during sharpening. Thanks

i was always under the understanding that "deburring" was mechanically fatiguing the burr so that working it back and forth would eventually make it flake off leaving an ultra sharp edge. Imagine bending a paperclip back and forth until it breaks...same idea with the burr.

The burr is the word :p Ababababababa m mao mao, baba umma ma mao

Can you do a review on Gekko Japanese knives?

Hi Ricky, just landed here and I'm a noob just trying to figure out what to buy in a budget in order to keep my knives sharp without a lot of hassle (and developing a technique to do so). What would be the difference between "stroping" with a finer grit stone thus having a shorter burr vs a longer burr? Maybe the duration of the kife being sharp? You seen super cool thanks!

Good tutorial on knife sharpening

Describing a burr...it's like a hair on hopefully on one side of the edge of your knife. a few ways to straighten.

Burrfect.

Hi, Iam used to Mechanical sharpening (with that method i get normaly very long burrs sometimes 0,5mm or a bit longer, you can see it via your eye) after iam finished with polishing my knifes I check for a burr, I let the knife run (without pushing it) over my thumbnail, if there is a "bad" burr you will feel it right away, thats my method for finding a good vs bad burr

Would you do sharpening tutorials on other knife types? Maybe combat knifes oder bowie knifes? Would love to watch

Why do some people break it off on the stone and some people keep refining it?

You should get an electronic microscope to see the bevel

Ok which of your sharpening vids is all beginner,I thought sharpening was using a cutting movement on stone, I'm lost, now you reverse that? On more course stone say 5 times on each side then to more fine stone alternate one each.?

When I first started to sharpen I would remove the burr by stroking the blade behind my ear. Now I can't find my ear. ; )

I imagine the Burr should have smoother/more polished texture?