Agreed–with plenty of learning opportunities along the way. 
Think of it both the goal and the journey. I remember spending a few days to strip old seasoning off of my cast iron Dutch oven and then reseason it. Certainly, it would have been cheaper and easier just to buy a new cast iron Dutch Oven. I am driving around. Will explain later.
It’s a journey I myself have taken. I’m deeming myself well informed on the sharpening avocation/sickness, and it was mostly wasted time, except to point out the folly.
Thought I will follow up my own post. I did a knife sharpening session last evening. Sharpened eight knives - four of which are my regular/main knives.
So while I may sharpening my knives every 3-6 months. In effect, each of my main knife get 1-2 months of usage before getting sharpen.
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Wow, what a pretty array that is.
Wow!
Thanks. Like most of you, these are not all of my knives. Just the knives, I tend to have “out”. If you remove the four main knives I have (a Japanese nakiri, a Chinese slicer, and two gyutos), then I really only have a few specialized knives.
Three small knives: two paring knife and a petty knife (one paring knife not in photo)
A honesuki (lower left in the photo) and a Chinese thick cleaver (lower right in the photo)
A bread knife.
I probably have more knives in storage-mode.
Very very interesting, Chem,
Thanks for this!
I love sharpening my knives. Doesn’t take long, either. There’s some satisfaction when you’re done.
I have no doubt the Grohmans are amazing; but they prolly run a little heavier than $5-$10 Kiwis.
Still, one swipe sharpening impresses.
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Greg,
I’m not sure how much of this 188 post thread you’ve read, but the whole concept of sharpening kitchen knives is different for different users trying to maintain sharpness at different levels for different purposes.
KIWI represents some of the easiest knives to sharpen and most difficult to keep sharp. Wusthof, Henckel, or Messermeister, represent a higher standard for sharpness and can be maintained sharp with regular honing for quite a long time.
Japanese knives like Mayabi, Shun, and Tojiro represent a still higher level of sharpness that can be maintained even longer:
Not efficient. You can buy one to play with it, but there is a good reason why most people do not use them.
Ray, do you even own any Kiwi, Messermeister, Wustof, Miyabi or Torijo knives?
Hi Kaleo,
All except Messermeister. How 'bout you?
And what’s the point?
Chef Panko’s done a great job making some video comparisons . . .
Thanks, Chem,
They’re lots of different ones I’ve seen being offered right now.
Ray
I’m not the one prouncing (wrongly) on them with seeming authority, Ray.
Another one:
Hi Ray. What is your current stone setup? Just want to say that most people do not need to go as high as 15,000 grit fine stone. Also, if you are going that high, you might as well go with a good quality one. There is no reason to sharpen down at a good 8000 grit stone and then go to a crappy 15,000 grit stone. You might as well stop at 8000 grit.
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Chem, as a favored knife guru, what stone or stones would you suggest for a fifty year old carbon steel Sabatier? (I mention its age as steels change over the years.) I use a 500 and a 1000 water stones maybe two or three times a year. I always hone, using a polished steel. On rare occasions I’ll use a ridged Sabatier steel for a little touch up.
Hi Chem,
I’m only exploring possibilities right now. With my fanatical attention to stropping with green compound, my hard steel knives are being maintained and even enhanced.
The next obvious step for me would be a diamond spray:
The other approach would be a stone–but I’m not sure how fine. CCTG say they use a shapton 6000 for all their clients.
Ray
