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Can you sharpen a knife?

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I think some of you are confusing sharpening with aligning the edge of the knife.

Also the modern kitchen knife predates electricity, so you don't need any fancy gadgets to sharpen even the most expensive knives (but if it costs that much, just take it to a pro).


I don't cook for a living, but was taught by a few professional French chefs and they don't use super expensive knives, because they beat the crap out of them.

I imagine other styles of cooking could benefit from an expensive set, as I've heard the stories about Japanese chefs.
 
Yes but only after I re-profile it to convex, never got stone sharpening down.

I use a mouse pad and fine grit sand paper (400-1000) to get edge on a new knife. Then move on to stropping compound and a leather strop. It's pretty forgiving and gives razor sharp edge.

I collect knives but only do this with my EDC knife and a couple others. Knives I collect lose value if you sharpen them.
 
Howard said:
If you're starving for food as much as you are for attention, I'll buy you dinner if you suck my dick. That's a win-win right there for you.
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Still projecting. I didn't ask an entire forum to stroke my ego over a knife purchase and then throw a hissy fit at anyone who disagreed. Then run out of money and have to beg for someone to buy you something.

Tell me again how I'm a disappointment. If you say it enough times maybe even you will believe it. After all it doesn't take much to sucker you into anything does it, sucker? Your parent's must be real proud. I know I am. I am disappoint.
 
disappoint said:
Still projecting. I didn't ask an entire forum to stroke my ego over a knife purchase and then throw a hissy fit at anyone who disagreed. Then run out of money and have to beg for someone to buy you something.

Tell me again how I'm a disappointment. If you say it enough times maybe even you will believe it. After all it doesn't take much to sucker you into anything does it, sucker? Your parent's must be real proud. I know I am. I am disappoint.
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You haven't proven any of your baseless claims, but keep trying to have fun at my expense.
 
gotsmack said:
I don't cook for a living, but was taught by a few professional French chefs and they don't use super expensive knives, because they beat the crap out of them.
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And those expensive stainless steel knives, still don't sharpen up as nice as plain old high carbon steel.
 
Boy, it didn't take the edge elitists long to jack this thread. Almost as much sanctimony as you find on the knife forums. Oh, and I use the steel that came with my set, if it matters.
 
jhansman said:
Boy, it didn't take the edge elitists long to jack this thread. Almost as much sanctimony as you find on the knife forums. Oh, and I use the steel that came with my set, if it matters.
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For all that matters, I use a small stone on a cheap set of knives and to date I haven't come across anything that they can't slice.
 
disappoint said:
<snip>
Your parent's must be real proud. I know I am. I am disappoint.
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His parent's what? Which parent are you referring to?

(adding an apostrophe after parent indicates that you're referring to something that belongs to a single parent.)



jhansman said:
Boy, it didn't take the edge elitists long to jack this thread. Almost as much sanctimony as you find on the knife forums. Oh, and I use the steel that came with my set, if it matters.
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There's nothing wrong with using a steel. It doesn't "sharpen" a knife so much as it aligns the blade edge. The term "sharpening steel" is a misnomer. It SHOULD be called a "honing steel."


Honing steels are used by placing the near edge of the blade against the top of the steel, then drawing the blade backwards along the steel while moving it down &#8211; the blade moves diagonally, while the steel remains stationary. This should be done at the angle of the edge, usually 20&#176;, and then repeated on the opposite side with the same angle. This is repeated five to ten times.[1]

Honing
Honing is often recommended to be performed immediately before or after using a knife,[2] and can be done daily.[1] By contrast, knives are generally sharpened much less frequently. Honing steels are of no use if the edge is blunt, because it removes no material. Instead it fixes the micro-serrations along the edge of the blade. It is not known exactly how the honing process works; some experts believe honing straightens the serrations while others believe it re-creates them.[1]
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BoomerD said:
His parent's what? Which parent are you referring to?

(adding an apostrophe after parent indicates that you're referring to something that belongs to a single parent.)





There's nothing wrong with using a steel. It doesn't "sharpen" a knife so much as it aligns the blade edge. The term "sharpening steel" is a misnomer. It SHOULD be called a "honing steel."
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I didn't know honing was not a well-understood process. It straightens out the folded edge...? An edge sharpened to a very high grit will have no "serrations".
 
THen you have types of steel. I hate how so many brands use stainless. dunno if its me or the steel but i could never get stainless as sharp as i'd like. but obviously i'm not gonna pay triple digits for a good knife either. maybe if i was jack the ripper, i'd invest in one.
 
bobdole369 said:
Who the fuck doesn't know how to sharpen a knife?
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You ever work piece work in a packing plant . There are sharp knives and than there are sharp knives that make the sharpener real money , Ah the good old days were a man was reward for his efforts compared today were the men have to carry the boys who just can't cut it.
 
I can sharpen knives really well, but I don't usually need to. I have a good friend who's really into knives and stuff like that, and I'll invite him over and cook dinner for him. He takes a glance at my knives and say "those need to be sharper" and he'll be happy to give his expensive knife-sharpening setup some use.

I sew a lot and have scissors that need to be sharp, and I sharpen those myself. Cutting expensive delicate fabrics isn't as easy as you might think. Sharp knife is important.
 
DrPizza said:
I have to be able to sharpen a knife. When I got a sample of the granite I used for the kitchen, I had to pay a $10 deposit on the 18"x18" piece. Unfortunately, I got paint on the back of it, so I figured I couldn't return it. Besides, it's a 35-40 minute drive each way to the place I got it.

So, I now have a granite cutting board. Works great as a cutting board - easy to sanitize. Easy to clean. Hell on the edges of knives. So, every time I use a knife on the cutting board, I sharpen it.
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should just use it for pastry
 
I have a vanadium steel knife. The blade is fairly tough, but also tough to sharpen, and it still doesn't get as sharp as ordinary high carbon steel. It's either going to be brittle or they reduce the hardness. Stainless itself is more brittle and has less flex.

Spyderco and Kershaw did make some vanadium steel knives S60V or CPM 440V, but i don't think they do anymore. The benefits weren't worth the cost and disadvantages.

Edit - Looks like that has been replaced by CPM S30V. Go ahead and try one, and tell us what you think of them.
 
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what kind of steel would be considered most ideal for a knife?
i need something that could stay sharp for a while, i use knives a lot at work, of course the screw that holds the blade in usually comes loose and gets lost before i wear a blade out from sharpening so much.
one things for sure, whatever material is used to make "muletape" pulling rope, will dull any stainless knife with only a few cuts to the point it wont cut it anymore. usually about 5-8 cuts and its dull as can be.
 
System_Mechanic said:
what kind of steel would be considered most ideal for a knife?
i need something that could stay sharp for a while, i use knives a lot at work, of course the screw that holds the blade in usually comes loose and gets lost before i wear a blade out from sharpening so much.
one things for sure, whatever material is used to make "muletape" pulling rope, will dull any stainless knife with only a few cuts to the point it wont cut it anymore. usually about 5-8 cuts and its dull as can be.
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What do you do with your knives? It really depends. I'm not a person that handles knives every day, but I've NEVER had the screw come out before.
 
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