Question about fillet knife

I fillet for a living.  90% of everything I do is with 2 knives, which I LOVE.

First, for all my actual filleting and steaking I use a 12" Forschner Cimeter
http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Cimeter-Curved-Granton-Fibrox/dp/B000IXHGDS/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1266819398&sr=1-8


Once the flesh is off, or for smaller fish, all my detail work is done with an 8" Forschner Fillet
http://www.amazon.com/Forschner-Victorinox-Straight-Flexible-40613/dp/B000FJQM9O/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1266819514&sr=1-11

What kind of fish are you filleting?

Also, can you give a short tutotial on how you hsarpen the SS blades?

thanks

Allen

+1 on the Forschner Cimeter.  Allen, that's the large knife I have.

But I do also have a 7" and a 9" Dexter Russel.  The 7" gets called on when doing "precision filleting" (OK, smaller fish!).  The 9" doesn't get used much anymore after I picked up the Cimeter.

BTW, I need to get both the DR's professionally sharpened.  I don't know why, but I get a lot of nicks in the edge of the DR's.

-Allen

http://cgi.ebay.com/15%22-KEENE-USA-made-Carving-knife-Fishing-filet-&-Sheath_W0QQitemZ230439632061QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20100221?IMSfp=TL100221143011r12614

What kind of fish are you filleting?

Also, can you give a short tutotial on how you hsarpen the SS blades?

thanks

Allen

Salmon (Coho, Chinook, Sockeye, depending on the season), Halibut, Lingcod, Blackcod, Rockfish, Albacore, and Dorado to name a few.  The occasional trout too whenever we run out of our machine-filleted trout.

All my sharpening is done on a Norton's 3-stone setup http://www.nortonstonesstore.com/Store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=26  This is a little much for home sharpening, but a lovely system nonetheless.  They do make a "home" version with 8" stones for about half the price.

Thanks Isaac.

I ask because for some reason I have a real hard time sharpening these days.

I spent years working restaurants, cutting every day, using that exact sharpener, cutting sirloin butts and prime rib, and veggies of course.

Most the knives were carbon steel and sharpened very well, but lost their edge quickly.

Now I have a  few SS knives and I can only get them sharp with my Buck diamond bar.
What do you say as the proper degree of angle for sharpening?  20 degerees?  30?
Sometimes I feel like I've lost my touch, looking for guidance here.

thanks

Allen

I try to keep around 20 degrees, but different knives have different edges.  My 8" fillet knife I like around 17.  If you have a stone and need a guide, use a matchbook.  They're pretty close to 20 degrees.  Utility & pocket knives are usually 30, cleavers are 40...

I spend a lot of time removing metal on the course stone.  I try to make the edge sharp enough for me to use on the course before moving on to the finer stones.  I think a lot of people overlook this and try to get things sharp on finer grits. The sharper it is at the beginning, the better it will get as you go on.

Thanks Isaac:

I guess the key for me is to go ahead and get the right set of stones, go with what I know.

Hmmmm, now where can I find a set of multi-oilstones?




Allen