How Are Your Knife Sharpening Skills???

Quality bread knives that are only used on bread should last a lifetime without sharpening when used in conjunction with a cutting board. When living at home, mom had a Robeson bread knife that had a edge that was straight and then about every inch or so had about a 3/4" portion that had very shallow notches not quite like a hacksaw blade. Was never ever sharpened. There was three bakeries in town and all we ever bought was unsliced fresh bread.

Our dedicated bread knife is Zwilling J.A. Henckels Professional "S" ice hardened 8" serrated blade. Never been sharpened since we purchased it over twenty years ago. If it ever need it, my DMT diamond hone Aligner kit has a tapered diamond rod which I have used before on serrated pocket knives.

Not particularly fond of serrated blades on pocket knives. However, when I worked in the factory, I always had one in my coveralls pocket. They are the Cat's Meow, making short work of rubber air & coolant hoses.
 
Winelover said:
Not particularly fond of serrated blades on pocket knives. However, when I worked in the factory, I always had one in my coveralls pocket. They are the Cat's Meow, making short work of rubber air & coolant hoses.
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I'm with you there.
I don't have much love for pocket knives with serrated blades but on rare occasions, it's the right tool for the job. It's a pretty coarse tool with limited use, so it's never my primary knife. I think I may have one....somewhere.....
 
I have one DMT stone and four Atoma diamond plates. I've found the Atoma plates to be a bit better. They are 8+ inches by 3 inches and come in 140, 400, 600 and 1200 grit plates. Also use the Atoma plates for flattening my Naniwa Chosera ceramic stones.
 
The DMT Aligner is a whetstone guided sharpener, similar to the Loray/Lansky system, except for the diamond whetstones. I purchased the original Loray system at a Detroit area gun show back in the early 70's. They were replaced with the cheaper Lansky version. The fly in the ointment was the whetstones. They would wear/develop a belly quickly.............hence the acquisition of the DMT.

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smokeywolf said:
Our bread knife is made by F. Dick (yes, a real company). Have had it for nearly 10 years. It's still pretty sharp.
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StrawHat said:
Possibly, the #1 brand in Germany.
Your in-laws must really like you!
Kevin
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L Ross said:
Friedrich Dick cutlery. My in laws gifted us a F. Dick chefs knife many years ago when they traveled to Germany. We use it daily and named it Lorena.
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You guys are a bunch of enablers. I had to look to ebay for Friedrich Dick cutlery. There was an old 12" bread knife for $4 + $10 ship. I offered $2 and now it's on it's way to Glencoe. Photos were poor quality, but it looked to not have been molested with a grinder or other hamfisted sharpening attempt, original blade markings very faint, but there.
>and I hardly ever buy bread, LOL.
 
I have a work sharp belt sander I bought a few years back but retired it when I realized I'd have to overcome that convex edge if I needed to sharpen in the field. Today my neighbor asked me to sharpen her kitchen knives (farberware). Hmmm, maybe I do have a use for it since they don't leave the house. Anyway, the worksharp made short work of that task and a few trips across the strop and she's happy.
 
I have a four sided strop block. If the knife isn’t too dull it makes pretty quick work of a blade in no time.
 
Tom said:
Anyway, the worksharp made short work of that task and a few trips across the strop and she's happy.
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I guess that I`m old fashioned.
I was taught to sharpen on stones by an old butcher friend of mine.
I never was impressed with the job the Worksharp did.
I suppose if you can`t get the edge that you want with stones, it will get you by.
 
dale2242 said:
I guess that I`m old fashioned.
I was taught to sharpen on stones by an old butcher friend of mine.
I never was impressed with the job the Worksharp did.
I suppose if you can`t get the edge that you want with stones, it will get you by.
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I used to be a stone user but now I use diamond. Yeah, the worksharp is inferior but I didn't want to spend a lot of time on the dozen knives they have. I'm thinking I should redo them without stropping so they'll start through the skin of things like tomatos, etc. easier.
 
Tom said:
SNIP>>>
Anyway, the worksharp made short work of that task and a few trips across the strop and she's happy.
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I may have mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again.
When I moved into my house in 1993, there were several items left behind in the detached garage. In the attic of the detached garage, there was some kind of wide leather belt/strap hanging from a rafter, I had no idea what it was. Years later, I seen somewhere the mention of a strop with a photo. I thought, OH!!! that's the same thing that is hanging in my rafters. I imagine it's wide for use with straight razors? Anyway, It's still there, I have never touched it. Also, knowing some of the history of the previous owners of the house, I'd suspect that strop has been untouched since the 1970s.
 
My skills have taken a downturn, lol. I bought a cheap microscope out of curiosity and took a closer look at my work. It's like going from using a tape to a caliper to measure group size. Oh gee that's not a 1/4" group, it's a .252" group, I guess I'm no good at this!
 
Tom said:
My skills have taken a downturn, lol. I bought a cheap microscope out of curiosity and took a closer look at my work. It's like going from using a tape to a caliper to measure group size. Oh gee that's not a 1/4" group, it's a .252" group, I guess I'm no good at this!
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How do your blades cut? When I am filleting fish I give my old Rapala a few licks with a well worn Buck diamond hone. Zip zip zip, though about a dozen fish, touch it up, put it away.
Kitchen knives. same thing. Come out of the dish water, rinse, dry, a few swipes on the upstairs Buck diamond hone. Tomato cutting sharp is good enough.
I hate dull knives but I'm not shaving with a straight razor anymore either.
 
L Ross said:
How do your blades cut? When I am filleting fish I give my old Rapala a few licks with a well worn Buck diamond hone. Zip zip zip, though about a dozen fish, touch it up, put it away.
Kitchen knives. same thing. Come out of the dish water, rinse, dry, a few swipes on the upstairs Buck diamond hone. Tomato cutting sharp is good enough.
I hate dull knives but I'm not shaving with a straight razor anymore either.
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They cut very well. I think some of the sharpening guys are into bragging rights. I understand shaving sharp but hair-whittling sharp??
I've learned a bunch from Strawhat (Thank you, Sir!) as well as reading over at bladeforums. One thing I found useful is a knife not properly sharpened will try to self-steer no matter how sharp it is. I did a cheap chef's knife for a friend and he was amazed how thin and evenly he could slice cheese with it. Hopefully I can repeat that consistently.
As far as the microscope thing goes, I really see no need for a perfect mirror finish on the bevel.
 
Sharping knives is a art. In my opinion. A knife sharp enough for kitchen work is not a huge challenge. But using one for a living 5days a week. You want a razor blade edge. Why you ask, to help you from getting so tired. Your hands hurt and muscles get sore fast. Also use the correct knife for the job. Small knives are not always the best option. A long blade gives more leverage. Plus more contact area to apply to what your cutting.
 
My dad RIP could really sharpen knives with his wet stone. However, I can not do it. The right side of knife did good, the left side.....well...I ah....couldn't cut soft butter. I tried but I quit doing it years ago.
 
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