Yeah, I suppose one could argue the Swiss army is so well outfiltted with sharp bayonets that no enemy has dared test them.
The Papal Guard is a small police force. But their dress uniforms are impressive.
That’s pretty clever. Might be a good company in which to own shares.
I have a cheaper version of this: king brand iirc.
I use it when I get pissed off at myself for how dull I have let my knives get and before they are actually dangerous. I have a strop and find that stropping occasionally really adds to the interval I can lazily ignore the stone with a much less fussy to-use strop.
When we had the restaurant, a lot of good honing and steeling, etc happened on any day Nero was working the line. He took a devilish delight in sharpening knives! For the 8 or 9 years he was with me, we did not have to think about sharpening knives.
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A good friend of mine used to live in Zurich as an expat. I remember visiting him, on his roof terrace, some place on a hill outside of the city centre. There was a small forest nearby. All of a sudden I started hearing gunshots… From the forest.
Apparently Swiss people like to shoot guns to pass time on a Sunday… 
I’ve switched from freehand to using an Edge Pro Apex with Shapton stones. It’s a jig that holds the stone and knife at a fixed angle so there’s a lot less skill needed, which is good for me.
As often as needed. I have a dude.
My love affair is with ingredients, not knives.
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Oh, yeah. And they stow tanks and artillery tubes in random barns, too.
I diverge, but basically, the Swiss army is a militia, and men have to keep trained on all sort of weapons, for which they have to do compulsory periods of exercice. One of my uncles who was the director / owner of a watch company was a sergent, his colonel was one of his employees :o)) The best thing is that, if you’re exempted, you have to pay extra income tax!
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I meant I disgress… Can’t find a way to edit my post.
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Switzerland has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world and many Swiss people are highly competent in handling said firearms due to both compulsory military service and a strong culture of recreational shooting (half a million Swiss children are said to be part of a gun club of some kind).
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Now that I’m old and retired, and with just two of us in residence, my knives don’t get much work–at dinner time only, really. Still, I have never had any of them sharpened–just steeled. And I’m talking about years.
I steel them regularly on a 14" Zwilling that I have used for nearly 40 years. After 3-5 strokes aside, I then reverse steel, 3-4 strokes a side. An d if readily slicing through paper means a knife is sharp, then my knives are sharp. Lately I’ve begun–after steeling in both directions–stropping on an old leather belt. Even more recently I’ve put a little green polishing compound on the belt. My Zwillng Pro Line blades are 8" and 10"; I mostly use he 8" for the handiness of its significantly wider blade. The 8" is about 10 years old and cuts beautifully despite being steeled only. So does the 10" but it’s only a couple of years old. I accept the idea that knives seeing regular hard use may benefit from regular visits to the stone, but I also suspect that in some of the posts I’ve seen there are touches of faddishness and fanaticism. I have, by the way, a goodly selection of stoner results may vary."–but feel no need to use them.
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I want to add here that my old Zwilling Steel (stamped w/name only, no model number) is very fine-grained. Recently I’ve been looking for something like it for a friend that I’ve introduced to steeling. Problem: Almost of those I see in stores–including restaurant suppliers–are very coarse or very short or both. Especially those that come with knife sets. As it’s therefore too risky to buy online, I may have to seek out Zwillng or Wusthof outlet.
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Welcome! This is priceless advice. Any steel with some grit is doing a bit of sharpening, not just honing.
Sounds good. 99% of knife work needs an edge with some tooth to it. As long as the edge isn’t folded, you’re basically fine.
The F. Dick 14" sapphire would be an excellent choice, the closest thing to their polish steel.
I second this recommendation.
Welcome @billmarsano !
Folks, please feel to direct me to a more appropriate knife thread, but I’m wondering about the feasibility of repairing this paring knife; on a previous thread someone suggested a new tip could be created.
For some reason, I have two of three knives from this set with damaged tips. I know what happened to this one; bent the tip during a foray with a sharpening stone.
Oops! ETA the picture of the knife with the bent tip.
I don’t usually use the tips of knives, but right now I’m coring a lot of fruit, and I’m considering replacing the paring knife.m
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Can def be repaired, but you might lose some of that belly. Check to see what’s more cost effective, repair or replacement.
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PM our friend Eiron–he does this professionally.
This looks like a selectively-hardened $$$ knife. If it were a cheapie, I’d suggest starting by bending it back, but it might just snap off. That wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it might be the start of some clever, extensive grinding, especially if you want the tip to be the same general profile. Luckily, you have some height to work with. If you go that route, the blade will be much shorter–also not necessarily a bad thing in a parer.
Personally, I’d try gently bending it back, and then doing just a bit of grinding to gain A tip. KEEP IT COOL–knife tips heat up shockingly fast.
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