In alt.food.barbecue, Brick > wrote:

> I won't tolerate a dull knife in my
> kitchen. My poorest knives easily slice newsprint without tearing and
> it goes without saying, they don't hesitate on tomato skin.

What is your sharpening technique? I have a Lansky, which I use too
seldomly, but it will work well if I put in the effort.


--
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so
certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.
-- Bertrand Russel

wrote:
> In alt.food.barbecue, Brick > wrote:
>
>> I won't tolerate a dull knife in my
>> kitchen. My poorest knives easily slice newsprint without tearing and
>> it goes without saying, they don't hesitate on tomato skin.
>
> What is your sharpening technique? I have a Lansky, which I use too
> seldomly, but it will work well if I put in the effort.
>
>

I Googled Lansky. Wow! That looks like a mighty amount of effort!

--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

On 20-Dec-2008, wrote:

> In alt.food.barbecue, Brick > wrote:
>
> > I won't tolerate a dull knife in my
> > kitchen. My poorest knives easily slice newsprint without tearing and
> > it goes without saying, they don't hesitate on tomato skin.
>
> What is your sharpening technique? I have a Lansky, which I use too
> seldomly, but it will work well if I put in the effort.

No magic to my sharpening technique. I use the slicing motion freehand
against the diamond "steel" at the lowest angle I can handle. Every other
year or so, I reshape some of my knives with a vertical belt sander with
grits down to 800. They all wear a very long time before they need
reshaping.

--
Brick(Youth is wasted on young people)

Brick wrote:
>
> No magic to my sharpening technique. I use the slicing motion freehand
> against the diamond "steel" at the lowest angle I can handle. Every other
> year or so, I reshape some of my knives with a vertical belt sander with
> grits down to 800. They all wear a very long time before they need
> reshaping.
>

A number of years ago, I bought three diamond sharpening "stones" of
different grit. They each measure about 2-1/2" wide and 7" or so long,
with plastic backing. Grits are approximately 200, 600 and 1200. These
were then glued separately to a single board, about 6" apart, with
enough board left over so I could clamp it to the bench. I use this
triple stone set for everything from knives to chisels, planes, planer
blades and garden tools. The three stones were fairly cheap, as I
recall, around $10 or so each, and I vaguely recall getting them at
Harbor Freight or a similar type of place. If they were lost or stolen,
I'd pay up to $100 for them, I like and use them so much.

For a steel, Lowe's was selling a 2000 or so grit diamond sharpening
steel a year or so back. It's so fine that you can't feel the diamonds.
You use it like a regular steel, "cutting" it with the knife to remove
the flash. The difference is that it also has a very, very mild
sharpening action as well and the knife keeps sharp a lot longer. I
rinse mine off occasionally, but that's about it.

I've tried cheap steels and they just don't work for me. Before getting
the diamond one at Lowe's, I had a Henkels from my knife set and it was
fine. I use it for touch-up before using a knife, but grab the diamond
version out of the drawer for a better job.

As I said about ceramic blades, they can be sharpened very well with any
grit of diamond stone, but you sharpen them backwards- pulling the blade
away, rather than as if cutting the stone or steel.

I've tried the Lansky system and find that it's too much work getting
thing set up. I always end up with the knife coming loose, a rod
bending etc. Likewise, I don't have any particular love for the crossed
ceramic sticks, since they fill up too quickly. For coarse shaping of
gardening knives or other cutting edges that I'm not going to try
shaving with <grin> I admit to liking the carbide "V"-shaped gizmo. I
use it for a coarse shaping, then follow up with the three stones
mentioned above.


--
Nonnymus-

Suppose you were an idiot.
And suppose you were a member of Congress....
But then I repeat myself.

-Mark Twain

> I Googled Lansky. Wow! That looks like a mighty amount of effort!

Yep. The good part about it, though, is that you can put a perfect edge
on a knife without needing skill.

--
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so
certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.
-- Bertrand Russel