Rob Babcock
Head Chef
Ha haaaa haa haaaaaa. Oh man I hear you. Even the less expensive lines from Wustof, Henckels, and Forschner will fairly well handle a 15* edge, so if the friend's/neighbor's knife is going to be used strictly for veggies and boneless meats, that's what I give it.
I know for a fact that Anthony & his wife don't really know much about sharpening or maintainance, so I left the bevel around 22-23* per side, and no crazy polishing. I figured a sturdy, somewhat toothy edge would probably serve them better. I'll probably give him a quick lesson in the care & feeding of a knife but who knows what his wife will do with 'em, so I don't wanna push the metal to the limit.
The first time I do one of these for them I go (after reprofiling) EP 800 stone, 10k Naniwa, .5 micron CrO. When they get the knife back I first do a paper push cut demo and then give them a little lecture about knife handling, paying attention, etc.... You know the drill.
They all cut themselves within two days. No exceptions.
I love it.
I'm probably gonna get a 700 Bester and maybe a Naniwa before long, but I'm starting to get desperate enough to buy a Shapton GlassStone and take it up the the school and see if the Machine Tool guys can figure out how to cut it. I keep dropping hints at KF but nothing's come of it so far!
Yeah, I'll definately make sure to have him tell his wife to keep fingers & toes out from in front of my new edges. They're not screaming sharp compared to my personal knives (well, one of 'em wouldn't be out of place in my roll) but they're sharp enough that they'd better show them some respect!