[OP]
Contributor
Thanks, George; it was based on your previous reports that I purchased the Spyderco stone. I am looking forward to seeing how it works for me.
Just out of curiosity what are you doing with all of those Harbor Freight ceramic knives? About the only thing I buy at HF any more are the blue metal F-clamps, and the ten packs of CA glue, for the school shop.
Member
They are kitchen knives. We use them in conjunction with our regular steel knives.
Member
George, I have to thank you for leading me to the spyderco stones. I bought an UF from woodcraft that I checked flat one one of their fancy milled table saw tops.
If sharpens even junk steel.
Dave, It depends on your blade steel, but generally a 1000-1200 grit is ideal. Most Cantonese chefs use a cheap 2 sided carborundum (60-300 grit, If I remember right). My Japanese sushi chef friend loves his diamond stone for his stainless clad vg-10. Personally, I like ceramic for stainless. I like natural stones for carbon, semistainless, etc.
Personally, I've been switching to semistainless steel the last few years. My Heiji gyuto is sharper than any stainless knife that I've ever handled, and is easy to sharpen. I got disenchanted with carbon when I was using a crappy sabatier on a tomato--and the tomato started turning black! Most carbon is fairly good stuff though.
Oh, unrelated, but I highly recommend the Lee Valley Peasant chef knife in o1 steel. It's way better than most western knives, and is tougher than most japanese knives--especially for womanfolk that are scared of big pointy things in the kitchen--yet aren't afraid to Whack! on a plastic/marble cuttingboard/plate.
I have used the Spyderco triangle stones for around 30 years, the same set. Like George mentions the edge they make may be over kill. The last I checked there was a diamond steel available which fits in the set too, although they may be pricey. I just have the brown, medium, and white ,fine, stone. I have round and eliptical diamond sharpening rods I bought to sharpen green woodworking tools with curved blades. The triangle stones work well on curved blades too and even do a good job of sharpening most serrated knives.
Member
Ditto on George's comments for Spyderco. I've been using them for many years. As an aside, in a pinch, you can sharpen kitchen knives on the back of any ceramic dinnerware that doesn't have a fired base edge- bottom of plates or cups. They will bring up the sharpness of somewhat dull knives just fine, and maybe hit them with the steel a few licks. I've tried that at vacation homes that had dull knives and no sharpener. That can save the day!
Contributor
My kitchen stone is an extra fine diamond stone that has been epoxied to a piece of wood.
If the knives get real bad, they get a quick trip to the shop. They get nicks and other edge problems tended to on my shop stones. Most of the time they can go a year or more between being carried to the shop.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Member
Must say i've more or less given up on sharpening kitchen knives unless i'm doing something myself.
I've seen 'herself' plugging away for heaven knows how long with a blunt knife. Offers of sharpening get turned down. Repeated offer of sharpening gets interpreted as criticism and gets rrrrrrred at - following by the above to prove the knife is just fine.
What do i know?
Contributor
My wife was a little upset onetime after the most used knives were sharpened. At first she was frightened and said it was too sharp. Since she has just wanted a warning. When told there was mention of the knives being sharpened, she responded about not knowing that they were actually going to be "that sharp."Originally Posted by ian maybury
If she is afraid of sharp knives, then there may be no way around it. If the condition is from something else, maybe the way is to "find" a knife at a yard sale or whatever and introduce it in to the knife rotation.
Slicing tomatoes is where a sharp knife comes in handy.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
We've used one of these for as long as I can remember. Zero complaints. Fast and effective.
Sharp solves all manner of problems.
Member
#1,Sabatiers are junk. VERY soft steel,highly over priced. I bought some years ago and can't even remember what happened to them. Turning tomatos black? That sounds pretty bizarre! I wouldn't EAT them!!!
#2,those electric sharpeners are dangerous,as mentioned. They can leave burrs on the edges of your knives. Burrs that will get wiped off into the food you are eating. Stainless steel burrs,anyone? Please look carefully at the edge your electric sharpener is making.
Contributor
Stainless Steel burrs do not sound very good. That said, I've never had an issue with them. The last stage of my sharpener is basically a strop that puts a micro bevel on the edge and knocks the burr off. In addition, I make it a point to clean the edge after sharpening using the end grain of a cutting board or something similar.
Sharp solves all manner of problems.
Member
An Eze-Lap Fine - 600 is pretty awesome for knife maintenance, Spyderco Medium and Superfine if I feel like being obsessive, but an eze-lap 600 leaves a good enough edge.
Contributor
All this work and expense!
You need two things. A cheap Chef's Choice non-electric diamond hone (or another brand), plus a steel or super-fine hone, such as the one made by DMT.
I am assuming your knives already have some kind of edge on them.
It will take you ten to fifteen seconds to put a shaving edge on a knife, and if that's not good enough, put in another ten seconds with the finer hone.
I do this, and when I do it right, my knives are like razors. I have a $10 Chinese cleaver from The Wok Shop, and after I sharpen it, I can hold a folded paper towel out and sweep through it in one motion. If that's not sharp enough for you, you must be an eye surgeon.
http://www.amazon.com/Chefs-Choice-1...7s+choice+hone
Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of bench.
I was socially distant before it was cool.
A little authority corrupts a lot.
Contributor
Also, I advise real cooks to stay away from Japanese knives. They are way too fragile. You can't even put them in the dishwasher. I gave away two Shuns for this reason. Someone put one in the dishwasher, and it came out with a big chip in the blade. They are junk.
My favorite knives are my Chinese cleavers and a Forschner chef's knife. I also use Mundial knives. All of these knives sharpen up fast, they're tough and cheap, the handles are nonslip...you just can't go wrong with these. The most expensive one was about $14.
I have a $200+ Masamoto cleaver. Looks real nice sitting in a drawer, but I would never use it. I consider it useless because of the risk of damaging it.
I will probably be burned at the stake now.
Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of bench.
I was socially distant before it was cool.
A little authority corrupts a lot.
Contributor
I was told to never put my sharp knives in the dishwasher because it dulls them. Something about two hours of hot water and detergent isn't great for maintaining a knife's sharpness. This is ignoring things like what happens if the knife is knocked into other things that may dull it or it may damage other things (like the plastic racks). Also, it is pretty easy to cut yourself while reaching in to get the knife (same I reason I never toss a sharp knife into a tub of dish water.... easy to reach around in that water and be cut).
I have many other things that I also never run through the dishwasher after I had the dishwasher strip the finish off a wood handle. It was very good at getting things clean, but it seems that they can be harsh.
Wish I could remember who told me to not use the dishwasher for the knives.
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