European kitchen knives and their sharpening with the TSPROF K03 knife sharpener

Chief's knife

One of the main kitchen knives. Designed for a wide range of tasks. It is primarily used for cutting vegetables, meat, bread, etc. The chef's knife has to work very hard in the kitchen and its steel has high requirements. Therefore, depending on the manufacturer, it can range from the simplest 420 steel with a hardness of 54 HRC, to good powder steels, such as M390 or Elmax, whose hardness exceeds 60 HRC. The length of the blade is usually from 15 to 30 cm, the thickness of the spine is 2-4 mm, the width is on average 40-47 mm. Most companies produce chef's knives with blades 15, 20, 25, and 30 cm long. A knife less than 20 cm long does not cover the entire range of kitchen work, and more than 30 cm requires a lot of space to work and has less controllability of the blade, the cook's hand gets tired faster.

The overall sharpening angle of the chef's knife is usually about 30-35 degrees. On a TSPROF K03 sharpener, such knives can be clamped in any clamps except single ones, since the length of the blade will not allow you to fix the knife firmly, it will not be enough fixing. The knife can be sharpened with any abrasives, depending on the steel. Soft steels are well sharpened by stones based on silicon carbide and aluminum oxide. More hard steels can be sharpened by diamond or CBN abrasives, but also by Naniwa water stones. 

Knife for peeling vegetables and fruits (paring knife)

A knife for paring vegetables and fruits is an extremely common knife. Usually, it is a small knife, quite light and convenient, with a blade up to 10 cm long. It is used for cutting thin skin, cutting out potato sprouts, thin slicing, and other works. These knives have a fairly fine reduction and a sharpening angle of about 36 degrees. In the TSPROF K03 sharpener, such a knife can be clamped in almost any clamp.  Usually, manufacturers do not make high demands on the hardness of steel for such knives, and it rarely exceeds 58 HRC. The best abrasives for sharpening it will be stones based on silicon carbide and aluminum oxide. 

 

Fillet-knife

A fillet-knife is a specialized knife for preparing fillets of fish, meat, or poultry. A special feature of this knife is a long, narrow, and flexible blade. Good fillet-knives can bend almost in a circle. That is, the main distinguishing feature of such a knife is its flexibility. This knife should work ultra-thin, cutting off the thinnest pieces of fish or meat, often less than a millimeter thick. The knife should also pass through the bones, along the spine and tendons, separating the skin from the meat, leaving a minimum layer of meat and subcutaneous tissue. The length of the blade of a traditional "fillet" varies from 10 to 30 cm. Usually, in serial industrial production, the dimensions of these knives are 10, 15, 19, and 23 centimeters. The thickness of the blade varies from 0.5 to 1.5 mm. The blade width is from 1 to 3 cm. According to the profile of the blade, the fillet-knife often has a straight spine, sometimes slightly curved up. A narrower knife is most often used for cutting fillets, and a wider blade separates the tenderloin from the bones. At the same time, it should be noted that a well-sharpened "fillet" should easily cope with cutting across the side (abdominal) bones of a medium-sized fish. And with primary dulling, it is quite capable of working due to its geometry without much effort. The optimal angle, which is considered the standard cutting edge of the fillet-knife, is 23+/-2 degrees. The steel of such a knife can be very diverse, including high-carbon and stainless Damascus, various powders, and the usual inexpensive options for rolled steel. On a TSPROF K03 sharpener, special fillet-clamps are used for such knives. They allow you to securely fix the knife and do not allow it to bend during sharpening. For sharpening a fillet-knife, almost any type of abrasives can be used, from the simplest stones based on silicon carbide to diamond or CBN bars.

Knife for separating meat from bones (boning knife or deboning knife)

A boning knife is a tool for separating meat from bones, tendons, and connective tissue and preparing it for cooking. The boning knife must have the highest degree of maneuverability in the hands of the cook. It must go around the bones, cut the meat across and along the fiber, and separate the skin, hide and fat from the soft tissues. That is why it has a special shape: a fairly narrow and thin blade, no more than 3 mm thick, with bevels from the spine and a certain shape of the blade. It must have a guard to protect the hand and a blade no longer than 20 cm. This knife usually has an average reduction and sharpening angle of about 25-30 degrees. To steel such knife manufacturers do not make high demands, the knife usually has fairly soft steel. In the TSPROF K03 knife sharpener, it can be fixed in almost all types of double clamps. Set a single clamp for such a knife will not be possible, because of the long length of the blade. These knives are successfully sharpened on inexpensive abrasives made of silicon carbide. The boning knife can also be successfully edited on a TSPROF metal honing rod.

Hatchet (butcher knife or cleaver)

The kitchen hatchet has a thick and wide blade with a length of 15-18 cm. It is a massive knife designed for heavy tasks such as chopping bones or frozen meat. Its weight helps to apply the greater force necessary for chopping meat. This knife almost always has a thick reduction and an overall sharpening angle of about 45-60 degrees. This knife can be clamped in a TSPROF K03 sharpener in whole-milled clamps that allow you to successfully fix knives with a fairly thick spine. Single clamps are not suitable for them. As abrasives, you can use stones based on silicon carbide and aluminum oxide for soft steels and diamond bars for high-hardness steels are most suitable.

Steak knife

A steak knife is a narrow knife with a raised point, a flat spine, and a curved handle. The blade length of such a knife usually does not exceed 13 cm. These knives are often sold in sets of kitchen knives. A knife with the thinnest reduction and an overall sharpening angle of about 15-22 degrees. Steel on such knives is usually soft and will be well sharpened with stones based on silicon carbide. Diamond and CBN bars are not suitable for sharpening such a knife, as soft steel will pull out the diamond grain and lead to its premature wear. You can sharpen this knife in almost any clamps on the TSPROF K03 sharpener, both double and single. Besides, TSPROF ceramic honing rod is well suited for editing such knives.

Pizza cutter

There are several types of pizza cutters, among which, roller - with the rotation of a circular disk-shaped knife and traditional, in the form of a crescent with two handles. The first option is the most popular. It is a round blade with a handle that you need to roll on the pizza. Most often, steel for such a knife is used quite simple and soft, type 420 with a hardness of about 50-54 HRC. Therefore, for sharpening such knives, stones made of silicon carbide or aluminum oxide are most suitable. In this case, diamond bars are not suitable for sharpening, since soft steels pull out grains from hard abrasives and contribute to their accelerated wear. This knife usually has a fine reduction and not a large sharpening angle of about 20-25 degrees. On a TSPROF K03 sharpener, it can be sharpened by fixing it in a single fillet clamp. Due to the softness of the steel, the TSPROF ceramic honing rod is also well suited for sharpening this knife.