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Sharpening knives


roadkill
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About 4 years ago I bought a Work Sharp. This has completely revolutionised my knife sharpening as I could never quite get the angle right on both sides using a stone resulting in sharp edges that did not last. Having the angle set is great, then with a bit of practise you realise that a light touch and not many pass throughs gets better results. I am still using the same original belts using a very light coating of fine grinding paste to rejuvinate the polishing belt which is all I use now on my knives as they stay basically sharp. I use a steel during use, again with a very light touch and have found it very worthwhile buying a better quality one. The cheaper one I had before gradually created a sort of serrated edge on my blades.

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My butchers steel is top quality not one of the garbage steels you see for sale in cookery shops which are far too aggressive. In fact My steel is over 50yrs old and the part close the the handle is very fine and the last 2 inches near the tip is slightly more coarse, so I start with a couple of passes at the bottom and work back up to th handle. Four or five pases and the knife is razor sharp.  You just have to learn to hold it at the correct angle.  Watch a butcher do it in a flash, four or five passes and it is done.

Edited by Walker570
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1 hour ago, 243deer said:

About 4 years ago I bought a Work Sharp. This has completely revolutionised my knife sharpening as I could never quite get the angle right on both sides using a stone resulting in sharp edges that did not last. Having the angle set is great, then with a bit of practise you realise that a light touch and not many pass throughs gets better results. I am still using the same original belts using a very light coating of fine grinding paste to rejuvinate the polishing belt which is all I use now on my knives as they stay basically sharp. I use a steel during use, again with a very light touch and have found it very worthwhile buying a better quality one. The cheaper one I had before gradually created a sort of serrated edge on my blades.

Agreed. A brilliant bit of kit. The Spyderco tri sharp is brilliant if a slightly more traditional sharpening system. You can't really go wrong with either. 

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I’ve always used whetstones for our kitchen knives. Like below

H&S Whetstone Knife Sharpening Stone 3000/8000 Grit Professional Whetstone Sharpener Rubber Holder Base https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CHDHCMR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_CJSDNK2G59JAAPTJ1WFN

I only sharpen when they need it usually every few months and use a honer for in between.

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I use a strop board for my saddlery knives, keeps them razor sharp, with no edge removal that you get with stones.
Very easy to restore the edge with a few strokes on the board. Also great for scissors and similar.
They are so traditional to the UK leather industry that in the summer months the apprentices at the saddlery firms would use the boards to play cricket 

Happy to make one up if you get stuck. I need to make one or two every once in a while as they tend to wander once visitors have seen me using mine

 

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5 hours ago, saddler said:

I use a strop board for my saddlery knives, keeps them razor sharp, with no edge removal that you get with stones.
Very easy to restore the edge with a few strokes on the board. Also great for scissors and similar.
They are so traditional to the UK leather industry that in the summer months the apprentices at the saddlery firms would use the boards to play cricket 

Happy to make one up if you get stuck. I need to make one or two every once in a while as they tend to wander once visitors have seen me using 

when you use a strop board is it possible to mess up an edge if you get the angle wrong or is it quite forgiving?

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4 hours ago, 243deer said:

when you use a strop board is it possible to mess up an edge if you get the angle wrong or is it quite forgiving?

The strop board is faced with two strips of leather...one smooth side up, the other rough side up.

Jewellers rouge is applied to both, especially the rough side.

The end result seems to be a very polished edge, sort of similar to the gradual increase in stone grade used by the Japanese when sharpening katanas.

As the strop does a polishing job, it only does this to the existing edge, good or bad. My leather cutting blades rarely see a stone or diamond sharpener aside from maybe a quick once over annually or every couple of years.

 

Strop board aside, another couple of ways to really get an edge:

1. Car window. The top edge of the door glass is tempered & has a round smooth profile. Gets a phenomenal edge on knives if you have nothing else available...but doesn't last too long.

2. Mug. A normal mug usually has a portion of the base that's not glazed, just bare clay from when it was fired in the oven. Turn the mug upside down, once empty, then use this unglazed base area as a sharpening surface.

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Seriously though, who has the time and the patience to put on the bandana with the rising sun picture on it and go all Myagi on each kitchen knife?

I get it, if you were going in for some sort of kitchen knife competition then you might want to go to that effort but in my gaff you need speed and ease because as soon as you’ve sharpened a knife:

1. One of the kids has taken in an amazon delivery, chopped up a dozen cardboard boxes or

2. sliced something straight off the work surface or a plate (my absolute top pet hate)

3. Chopped a tomato (and why oh why do tomatoes blunt knives on such an epic, industrial and wholesale scale?)

and all of which render the laborious 10 minute 1 knife stone sharpening exercise totally pointless.

Get a power sharpener for reforming a super dull blade or for an annual do over and then get one of the ‘clicker’ honing devices like the Warthog or the Dicke to quickly put an edge on the blade each time you use it. Simples.

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