Slightly OT - kniFe sharpening

I disagree. maintaining a constant angle is unnecessary on most tools and just about irrelevant with kitchen cutlery. even with woodworking tools, if you are within a few degrees (handwork tolerances) and do not exceed a critical angle (more degrees than the frog angle of a plane, for instance) the tool will work just fine. the time used setting up a jig is better used elsewhere almost every time. I say this as a 39 year old guy who has been working with sharp tools (and sharpening them) since I was 8 or 10.

of course, YMMV

you mean by hand or with an angle controlling device? ; ^ )

Reply to
nospam
Loading thread data ...

snip link to sharpening info

Phil- here's a little test you can do to confirm that your steel is (or isn't) removing metal. they aren't all the same, ya know, and most

*do* remove some.

get a largeish sheet of white paper and some paper towels. clean your steel before you start. take a nice dull knife and holding it and the steel over the paper sharpen away at the knife. check yourself often, and don't be afraid of using a bit of pressure. sooner or later the knife will show signs of improving sharpness. then take a damp paper towel and wipe the steel. look for black marks on the towel- that's metal from the knife. now fold the paper and shake the filings down into the crease. that's also metal from the knife.... Bridger

Reply to
nospam

You want knife edges to be "hollow ground" i.e slightly concave to give a thin sharp edge. To do this you sharpen with the edge of a grinding wheel, nit the flat or the circumference. Commercial knife grinders do this and hold the knife at the proper angle. I've got one that belonged to my grandparents back in the 50s. Not commercial, but it does the job for everything but my cleaver.

If you can't be bothered with this, ask your local butcher where they take their knives for sharpening, and do so once a year or so. Our local Sears Hardware store has a professional sharpener come in about once a month.

Year old Henckels aren't even broken in. Mine are now 23 years old, and still in brand new condition, except for minor grainyness on the handles. If you can afford them go with either the 4 or 5 star. The knives are identical, only the handles differ. 4 star was all they had back when I bought mine. Commercial grade full tang heavy duty stuff, but with treated wooden handles. If you're running a restaraunt, and have to runthe knives through a commercial dishwasher, go with the 5 star plastic handles. THat will prevent the minor degridation I've seen on the handles.

Minimal set: 8" chef, 6" utility, 4" paring, steel. I've also got an 8" thin slicing knife, a 7" bread knife, both a boning and fileting knife, a tomato knife, and a cleaver. And the matching fork.

IMHO fancy steak knives are a waste of money. I wish we hadn't bought the set we did, as we NEVER use them. If I can't cut a piece of meat with a regular table knife, I don't want to eat it or serve it to guests!

While holiday gift shopping, I discovered that Henckels now has a lower grade made in Spain that appear to be almost the same quality as the regular stuff, but much less expensive. I can't yet comment on the quality. I'd be VERY cautious of any knives from Japan or China...

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

Reply to
Bob Kaplow

I remeber when I was a kid, the Sharpener used to drive through the neighborhood periodically, ringing his bell... We took our Henkels to Chef Central for sharpening and they charged $20+ for sharpening that was IMO not very well done.

I think I saw these too. The handles were a very cheap plastic and they did not feel very solid. Felt like something you would buy from a TV ad. Now maybe they cut very well and hold an edge great, but frankly I was suprised that Henckel would put their name on something so shoddy.

-Chris

Reply to
Chris

Thanks everyone for the good information.

I just wanted some advice about the automatic sharpeners, such as the Chef's Choice. Several responded as such and I thank you.

Many others responded (as I predicted) about other methods, such as the Lansky System, and I curse you. I wanted a simple method, but as usually is the case, I found the best method might not be the simplest method and I usually opt for best over simplest (that's MY curse). Seems like the Lansky might be best for me since I am not very good with just a plain stone (can't seem to keep the dang angle consistant

- same reason I have a jig for "scary sharp."

I am also going to check out rec-metalworking.sharpening (or whatever the group was) for a little more info.

I really just wanted sharp knives - I didn't want to become an expert (sigh).

-Chris

Reply to
Chris
[...]

Why? Because they are so extremely sharp? Or because the expensive ones are not stainless?

Reply to
Juergen Hannappel

Oh. Then you'd have no interest in this page:

formatting link
(G)Jim

Reply to
Jim Wilson

Having seen electron microscope pictures of knife edges both before and after steeling I think it is a lot more complex than just "standing the edge back up". The pictures seem to show metal being flowed back along the blade from the edge, if overdone it showed slabs of steel that were overlaying the sides of the blade and which would break off as soon as the knife was used, making it duller than when it started. I've used both smooth and serrated steels and the smooth ones seem to be prone to the over-steeling problem while the serrated ones remove metal from the edge so don't do the same thing. In short, a smooth steel is a completely different tool from a serrated one and does a similar job in a completely different way.

In most cases if 5-6 strokes on each side with the steel doesn't restore a razor edge you need to go back to the stone.

Tim Douglass

formatting link

Reply to
Tim Douglass

I too have been a carpenter and wood worker for over 40 years. I do not whet and strop kitchen cutlery. A fine edge is not appreciated by SWMBO when she hacks at something still a bit frozen or uses it instead of a screwdriver, or tries to pry the lid off whatever. I think after this many years she is unteachable about these things, but, bless her heart, she means well and I will probably keep her.

I went looking for a picture of the one I like and googled my way right to here:

formatting link
found the one I like here:
formatting link
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Keep the whole world singing. . . . DanG

Reply to
DanG

I use the 3 stage Chef's Choice for my large kitchen knives only because it leaves about 1/2 inch at the heel of the blade unsharpened. For the smaller knives and pocket knives I use the short "Ultimate Edge" fine grit diamond sharpening steel. It is quick, and removes metal faster than a hard Arkansas stone but is not too aggressive.

Jim Stewart

Reply to
JS2RT

On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 02:30:39 GMT, "Wood Butcher" scribbled

Gotta try that diamond hone trick, if I can still find to old coarse stone - I might have tossed it. The others (fine & medium) are in good shape as I only use them to hone the blade, rather than to shape the angle.

Luigi Replace "no" with "yk" for real email address

Reply to
Luigi Zanasi

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.