Maybe they did it to thinning behind your edge. Your knife blade is getting too thick behind the edge.
Not…
I’ll go with “not”
I started to sharpen on whetstones about 20 years ago.
It’s not as hard to do as some think it is.
Still not easy - but people tend to exaggerate how hard it is to find the proper angle, when sharpening.
Also I personally never spend 20-30 minutes on the same knife as you for instance see Burrfection does in his Youtube videos.It’s overkill.
I own Naniwa Professional stones in #400/#800/#1000/#1500/#2000/#3000/#5000 grit, but I could get by just fine with a #400 grit, a #1000 and a #3000 stone.
Hell even a #1000 stone alone could do it for most people.
I also own 7 (too many) sharpening rods and steels and I find, that as long as I hone my knives before each kitchen session, I honestly don’t need to sharpen my knives on a whetstone more than say once a year. The edge is still very sharp just from honing on honig steel and rods. I can cut thin paper like it was nothing.
I do enjoy sharpening on whetstones, but I just don’t spend more than 6-8 minutes total pr. knife on a stone. So if I for instance want to sharpen a knife, that’s Ok sharp, but still lacks the final touch on the edge and I can’t get it sharp enough with my honing rods, I’ll typically give it 6-8 minutes on a #800 or #1000 stone and then maybe 4-6 minutes on a #3000 stone or so…
3 Likes
Ha ha ha. I actually just thinned out my Tojiro knife like 3 weeks ago. Enough energy to thin behind the edge, but not enough energy to polish the scratch marks out. Here:
2 Likes
No, it is not that hard. Also, most sharpening mistakes can be fixed.
3 Likes
+1 on the Kiwis. Most of my cutting is done with those sweet/cheap Thai guys. Simple handles, easy to sharpen, stainless.
My neighbor has a Mercer bread knife that I really like, though.
1 Like
I was wondering what the obsession was with buying a knife to slice kiwis not realizing Kiwi is a brand of knives. 
5 Likes
Even after 83 comments about most everything, I’d like to repeat that a home cook should not be choosing between misen and mercer for a purchase–nor any other alternative comparison brand.
Far more important is to identify and search for a real need, a potential upgrade–or a strong want–and see what alternatives pop up–irregardless of retail price or brand name.
Wow!
4 Likes
I’m a home cook. You do not speak for me.
2 Likes
IMO, of course.
Ray, I’m just cutting up some vegetables here. I’m not marrying or including it in my estate planning.
5 Likes
Hi RD,
IMO, that’s how you get into all sorts of trouble. It’s all connected.
Either you organize–or get frustrated
When
you cut yourself
your knife won’t cut anything
knife chips cutting an acorn squash
you can’t find your knife
you cut through your cheap cutting board
you dull your blade on the wrong cutting board
your knife rusts when you put it in the dishwasher
etc. etc. etc.
It starts with defining the task
and
buying the right knife
To my beloved great-nephew Mergatroid I hereby bequeath, will, devise, transmit, bestow, and grant My Precioussss, the One Knife to Rule them All, the unending, obsessive quest for which consumed my entire existence, day after day, night after night, while friends, family and associates fled and my house burned down around me.
6 Likes
Hi Claus,
When I was actively purchasing, I chose a very beautiful Williams Sonoma retail store as my “face to face”, and visited regularly–telling them about other prices I was getting. After awhile, I started getting introduced to special opportunities by that specific shop–especially Le Creuset. I also found short term discount prices for Shun. It took a year or two . . .
Ray
Victorinox knife I think, but not sure:
It doesn’t appear to be some premium offering.
When you can do this, at the same speed, sitting down, while narrating the process on a radio show, then talk to us about knives. They’re tools. Not an end in themselves.
10 Likes
I love both techniques. The first was perfect for my July 4 hot dog lunch. The second is the one I use when making my vegetable averse son a sauce or most anything with onion.
2 Likes
Absolutely.
And with a $35 knife, maybe less, before the inflation of the last year or so.
3 Likes
In cooking schools that keep standards high (which is a reasonable expectation, given how crazy their prices are now), I doubt they train their budding cooks with junk or send them out with a wrap full of crap knives.
Hiring chef to sous chef, filling an opening: Oh no, he went to *****. That means he’ll be bringing his shitty knives into my kitchen.
Sous chef: Yeah. Plus none of our cooks have ingrained respect for knife maintenance. Let’s find some guy with HRC 62 knives from China.
This kind of infantile sensationalism maligning donkeys is another great reason to look to sources other than reddit. Mercers are nice, well regarded knives, and for someone who, like most people, does not want to drop a couple hundred on a knife, they are a pretty good choice. As to edge retention or difficulty with sharpening, I am guessing it has an element of user error. Softer steels are usually easy to sharpen, and frequent honing keeps them sharp a long time.
4 Likes
Hi JustCharlie,
In the abstract, you’ve made powerful points about knife use that have merit.
Now that you’re a home cook yourself, it would be most helpful if you got more practically specific. What’s your home batterie right now, and how do you use it?
Maybe describe your home setup?
Maybe some specific examples and a few pictures?
It would be interesting to see how you follow your own admonishments for and with your family at home.
