CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
203
Cool. I think with time and practice and “muscle memory” you may be able to do away with the angle guide.
Once you do get them sharp, don’t forget to hone occasionally. I misplaced my honing steel in a move about 20 years ago and for a long time was sharpening my daily-use knives 2-3 times a month. Reading various knife threads here last year convinced me I really needed to replace it. What a difference it makes (“Thanks HOs!”). I hone before each use and now the edges last 6 months or more between sharpenings.
I am now using 400, 1000, and 3000 in Sharpening Supplies house brand, MiUSA. A very small bit of burr can make the blades more efficient in the kitchen IMO. I also got a holder and their house brand flattening stone.
When I was working in a “pro” kitchen I was obsessed with getting the sharpest edge possible, but in the end I think I did more harm than good tbh. Now the I’m retired I sharpen them when they get dull ,which isn’t that often. I use a Wusthof steel for my cheep daily users and a 1000 grt stone for my good knives.
I still find it Zen and relaxing but I just don’t find the need to do it as often.
Pro tip for drying knives after a days session, use an old phonebook(remember those :D?) if you have one lying around.
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CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
207
Daddy, what is a facts masheen?
Edit - old lawyer joke just bubbled to the surface.
Secretary: Sir, the plaintiff just requested we send them the discovery materials by facsimile.
Old Lawyer (not too up to date on this newfangled facsimile stuff): Okay, but make sure you make a copy first!
Agreed. Kiwis don’t keep for too long; but I prefer easier sharpening with frequency to honing all the time. Take about the same amount of time and the Henckels I hone do stay sharp, but not like a freshly sharpened Kiwi. Thus, I love Kiwis. Love my Henckels, too; but I always use the hell out of the Kiwis. Dexters, too. I can get those suckers sharp.
Simple answer — not as often as I should. I have a sharpening steel which produces a good edge on my knives but these are not super duper ones meaning they were never as sharp as better ones from the start. Plus I abuse them somewhat especially the five inch blade as I regular chop it into avacado stones to remove them occasionally having to make several attempts to get the knife deep enough and central to effect removal.
So far so good! Haven’t sharpened since then. Except some steak knives, which I recently sharpened on an appliance. I’ve also been putting them ( the steak knives )in the dishwasher.
Back in the '50s I’d sneak my dad’s sharpening stone outside and go to work on my pocket knife. I had no idea what I was doing, but damn! That thing got really sharp. It is that easy and natural don’t be afraid of a blade and a stone. Just jump in.
My grandpa had the grinding wheel you pumped with your foot. May have been the best toy of my young life. If you remember the cheap jackknife 'Barlow" , my friends all had them and I’d get them all sharp. That is after ruining a bunch of old junky knives my grandpa had laying around.
I never went anywhere without it, still always have one around. Back then you could bring them to school. I remember bringing my Old Timer skinner for show and tell. Now, I’m the adult at school and I can’t carry one anymore.
A jackknife was the first tool many kids where I lived got. It’s a screwdriver, splinter remover, ingrown toenail remover, whittler, squirrel skinner (no sht, you can skin a squirrel with a little jackknife), fish gutter, fishin’ line cutter. Anyone care to add to the list? Jeez I used it for everything. Coupon cutter…
Funny how the “dare” seems a worldwide phenomenon. PF Flyers, baby! Had a few myself. Then I got Chucks. There’s a reason I call my mom every Sunday without fail. She should have killed me.
I think I’d opt for my Buck skinner over my Buck jackknife. But, yeah, I suppose one could gut and clean a deer. Squirrels are easy, though. Gutted some big ass salmon, northern, lake trout with one, though.
Some weeks ago while visiting mum, I sharpened her knives on a diamond stone. It was kind of fun for a change, I had not been doing any sharpening for around 6-12 months or so I suppose.
Enthusiastic from the experience, a couple days ago at home, I fixed a thin and hard Japanese knife that had some pretty serious micro chipping on it. Then today I took the time and sharpened 16 knives in about an hour to working order on a Naniwa pro 1k stone. The knives were pretty dull considering the long time. I mostly only went until I had an even-ish burr from one side, then continued on the other side for about the same amount of strokes. Maybe a few strokes still on each side, plus a bit of burr removal on the stone. While washing them, I “stropped” with a sponge and then promptly dried with a towel and placed back into the drawer block.
Not sure if I’m going to sharpen for a while now, I don’t need my knives tip-top all the time. I guess it helps having plenty of knives. I did lap the stone though and left it ready on the holder. I have way too many stones, but since the novelty of putting or keeping a higher grit finish wore off, I suppose I could get by with just the 1k or an 800# and the double sided diamond stone.
Little risk in there.
