Knives

[ssmith1627]

As I said in my original post -- it very well could be my lack of ability to sharpen a knife. Just never been taught so I'm trying to figure it out.

I bought this sharpener but didn't see much of a result with it. How does it compare to what you're proposing ?

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...&filter=knives

Steve

[Tom Slick]

The style of sharpener you bought doesn't hone the blade correctly, it sort of scrapes at it. it is more of a quick and dirty touch up for folks who don't know how to sharpen. it also gives the edge the wrong shape, similar to a hollow grind, that will not hold the sharpness very long.
The style I recommend is a true hone which "polishes" or finely grinds the blade to the proper angles to keep its sharpness.the problem with either style is that if you don't use it enough the first time you never get the blade to the same angle as the sharpener is sharpening it too.
if you think of the edge as a "V" you want the part at the bottom of the "V" to be as thin as possible. if your sharpener is honing the edge to a different angle it could be working up on the sholder (where the " " marks are on the "V") without ever honing the bottom part. you are removing material but not in the correct spot...yet. you have to use the sharpener long enough to make the edge of the blade (the "V" angle) the same as the sharpener.

an extremly dull knife should take at least 1/2 hour of sharpening with either system.

I hope that makes sense.

[LCHIEN]

we have some good german knives, henkels or Wusthof or something.

but the key is to give it a couple of swipes with the sharpeneing steel each time you use them.
Now I have to give them 4-10 swipes before I use it. At least that's what I do. My wife, she never sharpens them and she does most of the cooking, that's why. If you are the only user or all users are in the habit, then they probably only need a couple of swipes each time you use them.

Can't stand to use dull knives and sharp knives are such a pleaure to use.

[ssmith1627]

Thanks guys. This really does help to get me to the proper understanding of what is going on here. I make things hard but I don't ever feel I can do something properly until I understand what the heck it is I'm actually trying to do.

The knives we have are dull, no doubt about that. You have to work them back and forth to slice a potato. Clearly I'm not spending enough time in the initial effort to get them sharp. I understand exactly what was said above -- if the V this new sharpener is trying to create doesn't match the existing V, I'm taking away material but further up front the edge of the blade and I've got to continue that process to work my way down the shoulder to the edge.

I'll continue my efforts.

Steve

[Tom Slick]

you got it exactly!

[vaking]

My wife cooks. Knife collection is a mismatch - different brands, colors, styles. A large block bought separately (17 slots I think) - all full and every knife is different. I have made several tries to give her a set of knives. She returned them all and finally explained:
"A knife is a tool. It has to work well, not look good. Select every knife individually for comfort and function - set of knives will match in appearance, not in function. Ignore names and color of handles. You do not buy a screwdriver because its handle has same color as your pliers. Why should my slicer have same handle and brand as chef's knife?
When selecting a knife - consider the type of steel. Carbon steel holds edge better than stainless. Most of my knives are stainless but 3 are carbon steel. For some knives edge is more important than anything else. My boning knife is carbon steel. It is discolored (carbon steel will always lose color) but it is very sharp. You cannot get stainless to same level.
Consider the style of handle - molded handle is for bigger hands, smaller hands prefer riveted handle. I have small hands - all my handles are riveted.
Start with Chef's knife. There are 2 European styles - German and French. German chef's knife used in rocking motion, french has less rock - blade is almost straight. Try and select the style first. Santoku is another design to try for Chef's knife. About the size - beginner chef uses 8" chef knife. With experience he moves to 10", sometimes 12". Chef's knife smaller than 8" is useless. 7" santoku is about equal to 8" chef. Chef's knife is the biggest knife but it is used mostly for chopping, not slicing meats.
Paring knife is a mini-chef, used often and is a good way to try a brand quality - it is usually cheap and you can never have too many paring knives. I have 4.
Slicer and carver are used often. People often confuse them - slicer is for raw meat, carver is for cooked meat."

It is a different phylosophy. I agreed - the french style carver and slicer do good job, so does a pair of german chef's knives - 8" and 10". 7" santoku is the only oriental knife in collection but for some tasks it works well. White Mica handles on french knives, walnut handles on chef's knives, black handle on Dick's 10" flexible fillet slicer and sharpening steel - kitchen is her workshop.
Sharpening steel is part of a block and she uses it almost daily for honing. Once every 3 -6 months she asks me to sharpen the knives and I get my waterstones out.

[messmaker]

A good knife, once sharp, will stay usable with only a bit of work for a long time if you don't abuse it. I think I have actually honed my favorite knife one time in about 3 years.