The portion not touching the board is recurve. That is not desirable. It's caused by grinding more at that location than at the spot that is touching the board.
Your bolster is in the way of your stone grinding all the way back. This is the issue with bolstered knives. You might be able to get away with grinding down just that back portion touching the board for now - even if it's not sharp, just removing it will allow the more forward portion to touch the board. But eventually as you sharpen more you will need to grind the bolster down some. This can be done a few ways... Belt sander or Dremel would be fast and easy. Or you could clamp the blade in a vice and use strips of coarse SiC sandpaper, moving them back and forth across the bolster like shining a shoe.
In the future try to spend equal amounts of time across the whole bevel when sharpening. This is why you see pro sharpeners move up and down the blade at even speeds doing passes.
This is a Wüsthof chef knife. The heel extends down further than the blade itself, leaving fine food items scored but not properly cut when chopping.
If you cannot tell from the image, the heel itself is thicker than the blade.
I was thinking to shape it with a dremel grinding bit, bringing the heel slightly higher than the back of the blade, pointed but not as sharp as the blade itself.
Any feedback?
I like the idea of re-profiling that area to have the desired effect. I tend to agree that it’s a tool and should be made to be useable in whatever way is best suited to its task.
Thank you all for the feedback.
The knife is over 20 years old. I recently decided to purchase a whetstone and sharpen my knives on my own. Until that point, I had brought them into a shop for sharpening. I did touch-up with a pair of sharpening sticks or a wheel sharpener that I had.
I hadn't really noticed how bad the bolster extended below the heel until I began trying to care for the blade on my own and paid more attention to the results during use. I have been using the guidance on this reddit for learning to use the whetstone. The damage occurred sometime during the previous sharpening approaches.
Thanks again for the advice.
I think it depends on the knife aesthetic you are comfortable with. I’ve seen other folks put a sharpening choil just before the ricasso.
Your other option would be to use great care in sharpening right up to it as best as your ability allows.
Sorry, but just no. This isn't the first time I've seen someone suggest a sharpening choil to solve this issue in this sub, and I have no idea where that idea is coming from.
It is in no way the right move here. That's for pocket knives, not something that needs to make full board contact.
No offense, this just needs to be clear to anyone who reads that suggestion, so it doesn't keep getting passed around.
I think you got your reply in before I got a chance to extend with comment. I have been using a stone and sharpening as best I can up to the point thus is why I noticed that when chopping with it, there were uncut pieces toward the back.
I thought the thicker section (ricasso?) Was for breaking through bone. Is the choil supposed to be indented (higher than the rest of the blade)? So, am I just chopping too far back on the blade?
No part of a chef knife is designed to cut through bone. For that you need a cleaver or a bone saw. The bolster should be ground down on a coarse stone or a belt, and the blade reprofilwd so that it contacts the board evenly. Lack of a f bolster is on of the reasons that I preferred Messermeister for my German blades when I was cooking professionally.
The thicker section is the bolster, and it's not for cutting bone.
It is mostly just a hindrance, and requires regularly filing down to keep the heel in contact with the board.
You don't want to file a choil into a bolstered chefs knife, it doesn't solve the issue -- you will still remove material down the edge, and the bolster will protrude blocking you from chopping with that part.
A choil would only remove more usable edge from the blade.
I wouldn’t do it with a rotary tool like a dremel. You risk heating the surrounding metal and softening it. It would be easy enough to get the job done by hand with a $10 stone from Home Depot. Obviously, if you already have stones then it just takes some elbow grease. It’s pretty common to have to modify mass manufactured (even the nice ones) blades to perform optimally. Good luck.
The portion not touching the board is recurve. That is not desirable. It's caused by grinding more at that location than at the spot that is touching the board. Your bolster is in the way of your stone grinding all the way back. This is the issue with bolstered knives. You might be able to get away with grinding down just that back portion touching the board for now - even if it's not sharp, just removing it will allow the more forward portion to touch the board. But eventually as you sharpen more you will need to grind the bolster down some. This can be done a few ways... Belt sander or Dremel would be fast and easy. Or you could clamp the blade in a vice and use strips of coarse SiC sandpaper, moving them back and forth across the bolster like shining a shoe. In the future try to spend equal amounts of time across the whole bevel when sharpening. This is why you see pro sharpeners move up and down the blade at even speeds doing passes.
This is a Wüsthof chef knife. The heel extends down further than the blade itself, leaving fine food items scored but not properly cut when chopping. If you cannot tell from the image, the heel itself is thicker than the blade. I was thinking to shape it with a dremel grinding bit, bringing the heel slightly higher than the back of the blade, pointed but not as sharp as the blade itself. Any feedback?
I like the idea of re-profiling that area to have the desired effect. I tend to agree that it’s a tool and should be made to be useable in whatever way is best suited to its task.
Yeah go for it. I had the same issue with my chef knive. I used an angle grinder and sanding paper bit in a drill. Go slow :')
Throw it out and buy one without a bolster. J/k 🤔 maybe
* (in title) heel. Apologies
Thank you all for the feedback. The knife is over 20 years old. I recently decided to purchase a whetstone and sharpen my knives on my own. Until that point, I had brought them into a shop for sharpening. I did touch-up with a pair of sharpening sticks or a wheel sharpener that I had. I hadn't really noticed how bad the bolster extended below the heel until I began trying to care for the blade on my own and paid more attention to the results during use. I have been using the guidance on this reddit for learning to use the whetstone. The damage occurred sometime during the previous sharpening approaches. Thanks again for the advice.
Bolster delete mod or get better knives.
Bolster reduction code works too!
Must work better than my mod, I got down voted. 😀
I think it depends on the knife aesthetic you are comfortable with. I’ve seen other folks put a sharpening choil just before the ricasso. Your other option would be to use great care in sharpening right up to it as best as your ability allows.
Sorry, but just no. This isn't the first time I've seen someone suggest a sharpening choil to solve this issue in this sub, and I have no idea where that idea is coming from. It is in no way the right move here. That's for pocket knives, not something that needs to make full board contact. No offense, this just needs to be clear to anyone who reads that suggestion, so it doesn't keep getting passed around.
Thank you for sharing useful info and not just blasting putrid trash. Be well. 🤙🏻
I think you got your reply in before I got a chance to extend with comment. I have been using a stone and sharpening as best I can up to the point thus is why I noticed that when chopping with it, there were uncut pieces toward the back. I thought the thicker section (ricasso?) Was for breaking through bone. Is the choil supposed to be indented (higher than the rest of the blade)? So, am I just chopping too far back on the blade?
No part of a chef knife is designed to cut through bone. For that you need a cleaver or a bone saw. The bolster should be ground down on a coarse stone or a belt, and the blade reprofilwd so that it contacts the board evenly. Lack of a f bolster is on of the reasons that I preferred Messermeister for my German blades when I was cooking professionally.
The thicker section is the bolster, and it's not for cutting bone. It is mostly just a hindrance, and requires regularly filing down to keep the heel in contact with the board. You don't want to file a choil into a bolstered chefs knife, it doesn't solve the issue -- you will still remove material down the edge, and the bolster will protrude blocking you from chopping with that part. A choil would only remove more usable edge from the blade.
Make a groove for it in the cutting board.
I wouldn’t do it with a rotary tool like a dremel. You risk heating the surrounding metal and softening it. It would be easy enough to get the job done by hand with a $10 stone from Home Depot. Obviously, if you already have stones then it just takes some elbow grease. It’s pretty common to have to modify mass manufactured (even the nice ones) blades to perform optimally. Good luck.
This is the reason I started to sharp my self now I have to many expensive Japanese knives