All the blades I ordered were Victorinox and I was amazed at how low they were priced. I can’t wait for them to arrive!
I didn’t fully grasp the difference between honing, wheting and all that lark (I didn’t read everything in this thread.) But I did grasp that there’s a difference between a minor service being done every few months, which can be done yourself, and a major service every couple of years, done by a professional.
For the minor service needed every few months, try your local butcher if you have one. A friend needed his knives sharpened, so he went to his butcher, but a buttload of meat and asked if he’d mind sharpening his most-used knives. The butcher had no problem doing so, it only took him a few minutes to do them, and they were ready to pick up the next day. The customer was happy, thus the butcher was happy.
I don’t recommend doing this if you only have a supermarket butcher (not butchers at all.) I doubt they know how to sharpen knives seeing as the only cutting they do is to cut portions for customers off already cut meat.
I am pretty sure that MelaniePalmero is a bot and tried to post a video featuring “Chef Phil” as well, since she refers to “pay attention to some of these tips”.
Still, its a great thread…
For the minor service needed every few months, try your local butcher if you have one.
Local hardware store will often be able to sharpen knives as well.
I’m sure Chef Phil would have given us a great recommendation on some knives and sharpening tools.
I figured as much with one post and bumping a thread a year old. Bots bump strange things though, so who knows.
Honing: Re-aligning the blade. Even though the edge may be sharp, that thin piece of metal can be bent to the side, reducing it’s cutting ability. You can test this by dragging the blade backwards over a thumbnail from both sides, if one side grabs then you should hone.
Whetting is the same as sharpening, you’re removing material to get a dulled edge (worn away from a Vee to a U) back to sharp.
For honing you use a steel that is of similar hardness to your blade, so no material is removed. For sharpening you must use something harder than the blade to remove the material and get back to that nice Vee shape.
Oftentimes you can find places that sell high-end cooking equipment or classes that have free sharpening days.
H.
I use this:
http://www.amazon.com/AccuSharp-1-001-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B00004VWKQ
Its cheap and it works like a champ. I have a range of knives from cheap to relatively expensive. I am not sure its the greatest thing for a really high-end knife (the most expensive knife I own is a ~10" Kasumi chef’s knife) but I use it anyway and so far, so good.
You really should avoid any sort of carbide solution, it just eats the knife away much, much faster than necessary. For a Victorinox that’s fine, for a Henckle not so much. Carbide is what I use when a knife is utterly hopeless; typically this is a knife a friend has asked me to sharpen. But you then have to work beyond with stones and ceramics to get a good edge. The carbide edge will have a lot of bite but it won’t really be very sharp. I would suggest that if you’re going for a one-piece solution like that to find a finer-grit ceramic tool. One good store sharpening and you should be able to maintain the blade after that without resorting to carbide.
H.
My Victorinox’s came in, along with matching sharpening steel and a couple of different sharpening systems recommended here to give my old knives a little more life. Just another thank you to you guys for the recommendations.
One thing is for sure, the Victorinox’s are extremely sharp right out of the package. I’m actually going to have to be very careful the first time the boning knife gets used, but my god do I love the santoku knife.
Bumping this, not because I want to sharpen my own knives, but because I’m looking for advice.
My own Henckels knives are sorely in need of sharpening. I’ve had the set for years, but they’ve never been sharpened, so they’re in terrible shape. I want to bring them somewhere, but I’m wondering whether one service is as good as another or what? Should I worry about picking somewhere that’s actually going to end up destroying my knives?
And if that’s the case, can anyone recommend somewhere on the Seattle eastside (Bellevue/Redmond/Kirkland) that does a good job sharpening knives?
Just make sure you go to a local non-chain cutlery store, this one seems to be well-liked: http://www.yelp.com/biz/seattle-cutlery-seattle
Bumping this old thread again, because I picked up a present for myself and this damned fascination with sharp knives.
Since this thread my kitchen cutlery has been added to, a couple of Henckels, a Shun, my Victorinox, a couple of ceramic Kyoceras, etc. But I’ve been through multiple methods of sharpening systems, not being happy with any of them.
I just picked up a Work Sharp from Amazon. What the fuck is wrong with me that I can’t be happy with a semi-sharp knife and I must continually chase this goal of easy knife sharpening?
Am I blowing money on stupid things again or is this going to fill the need between, “I can’t use a Japanese whetstone to save my life,” and, “I need to resharpen half the shit in my kitchen, but I’d like to get another round of Overwatch in, too, let’s make this snappy?”
Looking for advice for any of you with similar addictions, here. I don’t need to shave with these things, but I do like them sharp, and easy to redo mine and neighbors who occasionally ask for me to do the same for theirs.
EDIT: I may have bought the regular version of the Work Sharp, not the one linked, sorry. Either way, same belt driven system.
I have a Work Sharp and I love it (though it is messy). The only way to get a better edge is to be proficient with a whetstone. If you have to make more than 4-5 passes to get a burr (or lip) use a coarser belt and work your way back.
I bought a set of stones and I SUCK at it. It is going to takes lots of practice.
No, you are not crazy. Once you are accustomed to working with a sharp knife dullness will drive you insane.
Remember with sharpening - its all about the lip until you strop.
So the path I’ve taken was:
- Hmm, I’d like sharper knives, I should get this cheap ass pull-through sharpener. (Went as well as you would imagine.)
- Maybe a motorized version of above? (Negative, I’d rank it easy, but medium sharp, if that.)
- Some diamond rod doohickey that you set up in a V. (I suck at it.)
- Handheld sharpening rods. (Ditto, suck at keeping my hand even.)
- 1 diamond stone and one normal stone (They will eat an edge, real fast. But without practice and time, I’m not that great.) Then I looked and saw that most people use multiple stones and how quickly the cost adds up.
I have hones and strops. They are my only savior right now in -keeping- an edge once I have one. My strop is so-so, but the hone is pretty nice. The two stores near me that offer sharpening are just the motorized sharpener above that I wasn’t happy with. I’d really rather just have something here that will get me where I’m targeting without me needing a degree in it, or enough extra time that I really should take it up as a side business. There are a few services that come to the house and sharpen, but I’ve yet to line one up. They are expensive to use.
But, never fail, that first time I cut a tomato and snag the skin, or can’t debone a chicken easily, or try to cut something and fail, it starts. “I need to sharpen my knives again.”
I use this thing and it works great-- it even sharpens serrated knives really well. Obviously an oil stone will do a better job, if you’re obsessive about it.
Something to keep in mind with rods. There are three basic flavors: steel, ceramic, and diamond. It is a best practice to use a honing steel every time you start your prep work. When you notice the knife dulling grab the steel again. Eventually you will need to resharpen, but regular honing will delay that time. The ceramic and diamond take off considerably more material, respectively, and you need to be much more careful of the angle, particularly with the diamond. I keep a diamond rod at the place I volunteer at because the knives there are treated poorly and I don’t care to resharpen them every month.
The sharpener I posted is basically a set of diamond sharpening wheels surrounded by a little metal enclosure ensuring you hold the knife at the proper angle.
Hmmm… I should get one of those for that volunteer kitchen. BUT NEVER FOR MY BABIES!
And don’t get me wrong; I don’t baby my knives. They are tools after all.
Edit: Now that you mention it, I believe at least first stage of the commercial Chef’s Choice sharpener is diamond.
All 3 are diamond, if you’re referring to the one I posted.