The great thing about sharpening your knife

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

vilasman

Senior Cook
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
323
I was slicing onions this morning and shaved some skin off without cutting myself.

Also... I could slice the onion really thinly and then when chopping it I only had to chop a given piece once. I was cut the first time

Also, I knew where the knife was sharpest cause I knew how I had sharpened it. I know that the next time I sharpen I can get the knife sharpest where I like to chop or cut with it the most.

Also... with the knife being sharp, you begin to see how the size and the design of the knife, whether it has some rock to it or whether it is a straight blade effects how you perform a particular cutting task. If you can find the right combination of deathly sharpness with a size and design and weight of knife that best fits what you are trying to do... you will in fact speed up.
Because it will feel comfortable and natural to you.

I hope I am making sense
 
Also, I knew where the knife was sharpest cause I knew how I had sharpened it. I know that the next time I sharpen I can get the knife sharpest where I like to chop or cut with it the most.
Why wouldn't you go for an even sharpness over the entire blade? When I sharpen my knives every part is as sharp as every other part.
 
cause if you have a relatively long blade or a blade that has a bit of a curve in it or at the very tip of it, you have to be careful to sharpen those areas as well as you do the other areas.
 
I understand that vilasman, but from your post it sounded like your aim was to sharpen different parts to different sharpness's.
 
Like GB, I want my knife to have a uniform edge from tip to bolster (though my knife doesn't have a bolster:LOL:)./ That allows me to use the part of the blade I need and know that it will make the job easier. If, for instance, I'm dicing a carrot, the blade heel is where most of the work is done. But If I'm slicing through a water mellon, then the entire blade is used. The same is true if I'm slicing a roast, the entire blade is used. If I'm doing detail work with my 10" Chef's knife, the tip comes into play (I know, I'm supposed to break out a paring or hawk's bill blade, but hey, it works for me). All parts of my knives are used and so all parts are as sharp as I can get them.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
The great thing about sharpening your knife...is that look on people's faces when you carefully hand them your knife!:ROFLMAO: It's a cross of awe and fear that I never get tired of seeing.

For you EP fans, I got some custom stones a while back that I've been trying. I bought a Naniwa Choseras 400 and Shapton Professional Stones in 1k, 2k, 5k & 8k. I've also got two more Choseras on order, the 800 & the 2k. Just building the bevel with 400 I get an edge that will cleaning shave. By the time the knife comes off the 8,000 grit Shapton it's toasty indeed, almost spooky.:cool:
 
I got my 800 & 2k Choceras; the 15k Shapton is in the mail. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

You'll love this idea. In one of my science fiction novels, a character uses a kitchen knife made from carbon nanotubes with an edge thicknes of 1 molecule, and harder than diamond, but more resilient and much tougher than steel. Now that would be a knife.:)

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
You'll love this idea. In one of my science fiction novels, a character uses a kitchen knife made from carbon nanotubes with an edge thicknes of 1 molecule, and harder than diamond, but more resilient and much tougher than steel. Now that would be a knife.:)

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


I'll take on in 240mm, please!:ROFLMAO: Now, what will I use for a cutting board!:wacko::-p
 
I'll take on in 240mm, please!:ROFLMAO: Now, what will I use for a cutting board!:wacko::-p

Wow! Now I have to come up with a super material for the cutting board. Hmmmmm.:ermm: Maybe a board made of osmium. It's super hard and is the arguably the most dense of all elements, or maby a super ceramic cutting board made of carbon nano-tubes oriented in straight strands, like wood fibers. That way it can mimick a wood cutting block made from end-grain ceramic "boards". I hate having to re-write my re-writes.:LOL:

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
The great thing about sharpening your knife...is that look on people's faces when you carefully hand them your knife!:ROFLMAO: It's a cross of awe and fear that I never get tired of seeing.

Another chef borrowed my sab a few weeks ago. He was in a bit of a hurry when he was wiping down the bench and didn't realise that he'd bumped into my knife until he felt the top of it pressing against his thumb bone and looked down to see 3/4s of an inch of my knife in him.

Fortunately he didn't chip the tip of the knife.:angel:
 
Another chef borrowed my sab a few weeks ago. He was in a bit of a hurry when he was wiping down the bench and didn't realise that he'd bumped into my knife until he felt the top of it pressing against his thumb bone and looked down to see 3/4s of an inch of my knife in him.

Fortunately he didn't chip the tip of the knife.:angel:

The authorities aren't going to make you quarantine the knife while they do rabies checks and make sure the knife isn't viscous are they?
 
You'll love this idea. In one of my science fiction novels, a character uses a kitchen knife made from carbon nanotubes with an edge thicknes of 1 molecule, and harder than diamond, but more resilient and much tougher than steel. Now that would be a knife.:)

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

Isn't that Alan Dean Foster?
 
Isn't that Alan Dean Foster?

Who's Alan Dean Foster? I haven't read SciFi in many years. Too busy trying to write it. And one of the tricks to keeping a novel honest is to not read other work of the same genre. That way you don't accidentally plagerize someone else's work from idea that you may read.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
The authorities aren't going to make you quarantine the knife while they do rabies checks and make sure the knife isn't viscous are they?

Nah, the head chef's alright. If it was one of the dishpigs ...

Anyways, the knife has been named, and not by me, "blood drinker". It's bitten almost everybody in the kitchen at least once.
 
Anyways, the knife has been named, and not by me, "blood drinker". It's bitten almost everybody in the kitchen at least once.

My 240mm Tojiro is like that. At my previous job nearly everyone in the kitchen cut themselves on it, one bad enough to need some stitches.
 
Nah, the head chef's alright. If it was one of the dishpigs ...

Anyways, the knife has been named, and not by me, "blood drinker". It's bitten almost everybody in the kitchen at least once.

That's impressive! Sounds like the sword from the fantasy series "Elric of Melnibone". He had a sword of power that would occasionally reach out and take the life of a friend or family member, all of its own volition.

Don't think I'd like a tool that did that.:ohmy:

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
That's impressive! Sounds like the sword from the fantasy series "Elric of Melnibone". He had a sword of power that would occasionally reach out and take the life of a friend or family member, all of its own volition.

Don't think I'd like a tool that did that.:ohmy:

That's basically the rep that it's got. :chef:

It's a very old school sab with a narrow belly and low point, so it takes a lot of getting used to especially if you're accustomed to a German or Japanese design with a wide belly and high point. It's a very efficient knife, but it is so very easy to get your fingers in harms way if you're being less than 100% attentive to it.
 
A month ago or so the Exec asked to see one of my knives, a 240 mm Akifusa. He went to chop something and recoiled like he'd been shocked- seems he grazed himself and didn't even feel it. He got a little wide eyed at how sharp it was.

I've been sharpening his knives every since...
:ROFLMAO:
 
A month ago or so the Exec asked to see one of my knives, a 240 mm Akifusa. He went to chop something and recoiled like he'd been shocked- seems he grazed himself and didn't even feel it. He got a little wide eyed at how sharp it was.

I've been sharpening his knives every since...
:ROFLMAO:

For a fee I hope.
 
Back
Top Bottom