Is This $1 Sandpaper Really as Good as a $60 Whetstone?

Discover the surprising truth about knife sharpening: is a $1 piece of sandpaper just as effective as a $60 whetstone? In this in-depth comparison, we put both methods to the test, analyzing sharpness, durability, and ease of use. Unleash the power of your kitchen knives and save money with our expert analysis.
Have you ever wondered if you're using the right tools for knife sharpening? Watch now to find out the best way to sharpen your knives!
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[@Burrfection]

My knife store burrfectionstore.com/ Ryky x Taku Knives rykyx.co/

[@edwardfletcher7790]

If you want the sandpaper to not get cut, you could stick it down with spray on contact adhesive or 3M double sided tape (basically CellPhone screen repair tape) 👍 I'm very envious of your skills, you make it look so easy 🤯

[@richardshade8999]

I use sand paper attached to a smooth piece of tile. Both the sand paper and the back side work for honing tools.

[@TheWestx]

A piece of 1/4” glass sprayed with some 3m adhesive to stick the sandpaper to. Been sharpening wood chisels like this for 30 years.

[@mydearriley]

Where do you get the glass?

[@TheWestx]

@ I bought mine at a wholesale glass dealer many years ago.

[@jeffcowles5328]

Great stuff! I learned about sandpaper sharpening woodworking tools. A thick piece of plate glass makes a great base. Look in the auto section for wet/dry sandpaper used for refinishing. It goes from aggressive to like 3000 grit and uses water as lube.

[@Burrfection]

great tip!

[@davesmith5656]

A common $50 wood sander works for chips (3x18 belts), just a lot of worry about heating up the blade. A lot of caution required to prevent heat. I do not know for sure, but if it is only warm to your finger, it must be below 100C.

[@polak3022]

Classic burrfection, I missed this. Sharpening on sandpaper will be more expensive in the long run. It is a good method if you're away from home with dull knives and no whetstones

[@Jayson90210]

Man, I love watching your Channel and how great you are. But no matter how much I watch, I've watched hours and hours and practiced for hours and hours, and I still can not sharpen a knife to save my life!! It's the most frustrating thing. I've never not been able to do something. Thanks again for the great video!

[@Burrfection]

Hang in there friend. It will come together

[@WARLOK813]

The main thing is the burr. Gotta form it on both sides and also properly remove it. Thats the key

[@davesmith5656]

@@WARLOK813 ---- And practice. About burr formation, some say it is metal scraped towards the apex, like steel peanut butter, and some say it is a fine line of steel left on the side not being whetted, remnants of the opposite bevel. Do you know which it is?

[@Kmuggle]

@@davesmith5656 As the edge becomes sharp it also becomes thin. When the edge becomes thin enough it begins to bend from one side to the other as you sharpen ... this is called a burr. It bends back and forth as it develops ... it always bends from the side being sharpened to the other side ... back and forth as you sharpen one edge and then the other. It eventually breaks off ... how well it breaks off depends on your steel and technique.

[@davesmith5656]

@@Kmuggle --- Thanks! Good description.

[@Petsod]

Love seeing new videos from you. 🥰

[@mikehibbett3301]

The PT50A is something I didn't know existed until today. Thanks for the education! I'll be using your technique to bring my bread knives back to life, great video, thanks!

[@DixonLu]

Thx. Next time we travel, we will use this method to sharpen the dull/crappy (IKEA) knives they give us at the rental apartment.

[@gregmccormack5709]

This is how I fell down the sharpening rabbit hole. My Family was at a cottage and the knives wouldnt cut anything. My Mom had me pull out my camping knife sharpener that used auto sandpaper and leather....... the rest is history.

[@kirkelicious]

A diamond plate is one of my travel essentials.

[@camerongunn7906]

I've done this more times than I can count. As long as you're removing material in a fine enough way to get the edge that you want it'll work.

[@TrebleMelodies]

Hell yeag Congratulations on the new store!

[@coreytreverson740]

Its not new😂 id why he just started doing these ads for it

[@coreytreverson740]

Sweet as ryky. I would have left out the stropping for a true comparison. Keep up the vids man

[@Burrfection]

Good call!

[@KeithCooper-Albuquerque]

I just found your channel! I like your style and I have subscribed!

[@Burrfection]

Thanks and welcome

[@mathygaming3635]

i just got into knives and sharpening them. This is the first time seeing videos of you and think you make great videos about this subject. I would want to ask you what you would do if you just started and what pieces of equipment you would buy, as in knifes and sharpening tools. ( i am not English so sorry for mistakes in my grammer )

[@Burrfection]

Look at my sharpening kits burrfectionstore.com/

[@NickBR57]

Hi Ryky, First, my Burrfection order arrived yesterday. Really well packaged to avoid damage and really quite quick for a shipment from HK. Not only that but a nice free gift too! Thanks Then I wanted to say I recently got a couple of Takamura knives. Out of the box they measured 130 and 145 on the BESS-C scale with the PT50. A couple of very light strokes on a smooth leather strip and they measured 75 and 80 !!! I don't think I'll be sharpening those with paper (in fact I doubt I could ever get them back to this level). Normally I get to around 120 - 140 on stones but I've never had knives this thin. Luckily my retailer gives the first sharpening for free. After that I'll take one of their sharpening classes and see if I can get better by personal hands-on tuition than by learning from your videos. But it's your videos that got me to 220 to 140. Thanks for all the videos over the years and for the great experience from Burrfection Store. I recommend it to anyone.

[@Burrfection]

Thank you for trusting me and allowing me to earn your business

[@Kmuggle]

3M makes a variety of grits of self adhesive PSA abrasive films that are much less prone to the problems you're having with sandpaper. They're often used with (mounted on) a ... flat piece of tile or a super flat granite "surface plate". The method is popular with the fine woodworking crowd. Myself ... I tried sandpaper ... I liked the results but all the cut-up edges from knives and dings by Japanese chisels drove me nuts ... so I still use stones.

[@Burrfection]

great points (no pun intended). i use stones too but this is just to show you can get impressive results with sand paper. this will solve all of your knife problems burrfectionstore.com/

[@TimmMix]

nice comparison

[@sherrystroh241]

Very cool.

[@efiksas2]

Paper is messy because you have to affix it somehow. Also the grits are not equivalent for stones and sandpaper.Something closer to 600 sandpaper would be similar to 1000 stone I think. Anyway, stones are much more fun of course but as a cheap way of getting finer abrasives sandpaper is valid too.

[@oijans]

Good one!

[@lb8413]

A bit late to the party, first i really like your work and videos. I have see you have test on early video the King KW and KDS65 1000/6000. I have buy one lately for begin sharpening my Kai, Myabi and other Japanese knife ( i own the Kai SHUN Classic Santoku and chief since 10 years and the edge is is still in good condition, nicely sharp, but start to ask for a bit of maintenance. The 6000 is a splash and go, no question, the 1000 is a soak one, the 1000 one seems no make much bubbles, Basically they gone nearly as soon, you soak it, just ear them then go as soon you put the stone in the water. But it work perfectly fine, and the stone seems really full of water, making a lot of mud over the passes, the metal is clearly well removed too.) should i be worrry about this non bubbles ?

[@yagoa]

putting some glue under the sandpaper seems like a good way to make it much easier but which one would be thin water resistant and removable?

[@Burrfection]

they make PSA backed sand paper which sticks better. i was just using what i had laying around at home

[@yagoa]

@@Burrfection yeah all that custom stuff ususally is 10x more expensive and harder to find though

[@md93-z5e]

Just put a piece of tape on either end

[@trahtrebor]

I've used sandpaper for well over 20 years. As for the cost of sandpaper? I have used some sheets for years. Different story if I'm having to reform an edge. Of course I move the paper in reverse as if stropping.

[@FrankToThePoint]

I use the same paper. Flup it over to strop on the other side

[@TomB1236]

I already bought 3 knives from you, This passed month, You knives most are sold out , only few for aogami super blue. Are you having new line of products coming up for aogami super steel?

[@Burrfection]

thank you for supporting what i do. we are working on getting as many knives back in stock as we can. please be patient and if you want first notification on a particular knife, please sign up for the notification list on that knife's page. reach out anytime

[@TomB1236]

Will do. Love your videos. Thank you

[@davesmith5656]

Well, yeah ... but you could sharpen a knife on a mud puddle. I still would like to see a video on the composition of whetstones. When I get a friend's knife with chips (my hobby), I use a $50 dollar 3x18 belt sander at low speed and 400 grit, then 1000 grit belts. I am very careful about the friction heat, but still very unsure about whether or not even the lightest and briefest touches will ruin the heat treatment. I did get a $140 dollar continuously wet grinder, but the wheel is only an inch wide, and the angle requires a good eye to determine, so a lot of care is required. I'm not buying one of those $1,000 dollar plus knife grinding machines with jigs. Ryky has covered the really big deal about keeping your kitchen knives sharp, and that is stropping for a minute before use.

[@Burrfection]

this will solve all of your knife problems burrfectionstore.com/

[@mohammadmobassir2363]

Should I get the Haruyuki Zanpa Gyuto 210mm Or Sakai Takayuki "Tokujo Supreme" Shirogami #2 Deba with Buffalo Horn Handle Choose one for me plz

[@Burrfection]

very different knives. if you are planning on using more on fish, or dedicated fish knife, the Tokujo burrfectionstore.com/products/sakai-takayuki-tokujyo-supreme-shirogami-2-deba-with-magnolia-buffalo-horn-handle?_pos=1&_sid=ffe7d1485&_ss=r

[@robohippy]

Well, maybe it was you who showed the sand paper trick with the sponge. That made a lot of sense. The problem with the sand paper is that it wears out quickly. Diamonds are forever....

[@Burrfection]

Until she files the paperwork…

[@redangrybird7564]

​@@Burrfection 😮🤣👍

[@michaelidarecis]

Have cardboard backed sandpaper paddles for months without changing doing over 50 knives a week

[@jdisdetermined]

​@@michaelidarecis What kind of paper are you using?

[@michaelidarecis]

@@jdisdetermined wet dry 150, 220, 320, 400, 800, 1,500 and 2,500 grit sandpaper. Elegantutility on KZbin has vids on it

[@abrahamjoseph6707]

Cool spiky hair

[@timness1649]

Don't run the knife cutting edge first on sandpaper and you won't have that problem. Drag the edge only and it works for a long term solution.

[@Burrfection]

this will solve all of your knife problems burrfectionstore.com/

[@anotheryoutuber_]

yup

[@eriktorp-olsen1706]

I'm using sandpaper. My knives get scary sharp.

[@Towerfrank993]

Glad it’s not your finger cut off

[@Burrfection]

not this time

[@ohasis8331]

Rubbing knives over whetstones like that is very pornographic!

[@Burrfection]

Could be worse things in life

[@BoneDangle69]

I maintained my kitchen knife with sandpaper for years before really going down the rabbit hole and buying nice stones and equipment. I will say though, it was just a Victorinox fibrox- western style, softer steel, and convex edge. I used 400 grit paper on one of those foam-backed manual hand sanders. Edge trailing only, just like stropping motions. Then I'd de-burr on a ceramic hone. Dunno about a bess score as I've never used those testers, but to this day I can get an edge hair whittling using only that stuff.

[@Burrfection]

you are better than me

[@BoneDangle69]

@@Burrfection IDK about that. Your technique on stones is definitely more technical and consistent than mine. A little more attention to de-burring whether on a strop or finer stone (I find edge leading on a 3k-ish ceramic easiest ) after what you did in this vid and I think you'd be pretty easily hair whittling too.

[@b-radg916]

You’ve lost Bryky!? Say it isn’t so!!! 🫨

[@Burrfection]

I cannot confirm nor deny

[@b-radg916]

@@Burrfection : I think his cousin might be available!? He hangs out at my place a lot.