# Can You Sharpen at Work?



## Dave Martell

This is a question for the pros here on the board; can you sharpen your knives at work, and if so what's your set up like? Just curious


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## K-Fed

I can If I've got the free time to do it. What usually ends up happening is I do one of my knives if it needs it and 5 or 6 of my co-workers. I usually keep a few stones in the truck for emergency purposes. The naniwa akamon big red brick, because I like it, and I can put a damp towel over it and use it as a stand for the other stones, gesshin 400, and king 6k, natural blue aoto, and I usually keep my little-ish nakayama karasu in my knife bag along with a small piece of the felt you sent me( for de-burring ) for touch-ups even if I don't have any other stones with me at the time. I leave a loaded leather strop in the office as well.


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## TheDispossessed

it's expected of me to sharpen at the end of my shift, everyone does it. but i'm in a japanese (kaiseki) kitchen.


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## TheDispossessed

oh and i found a shapton 1500 laying around there so i just throw it on my station and go with that


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## Jmadams13

Sometimes I do on Mondays. The bistro is closed, but I go in ad bake while I have the kitchen to myself. Normally its just the house knives though. I like to sharpen my own at home. The setup is normally a 1/3 pan with water and a towel down under the stone.


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## NO ChoP!

Yes, if work/ cleaning is caught up. To me, tool maintenance should be an acceptable part of the job.

I usually use the upside-down rectangular metal pan with towels, ala Salty. I also usually just do touch ups at work, with quick splash and go Naniwa SS 3k or 5k....


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## Gravy Power

I haven't at where I stage, but all the cooks do. Introduced them to a diamond flattening plate and now they won't let me have it back.


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## Dusty

In my current job, in the middle of split shifts, the rest of kitchen disappear and I have some peace and quiet. Alternatively, after my shift with a pint.

My setup is just a stone on a bench with some towels, the stones I currently have at work are the JNS 800 and a Takashima Awasedo - I paired these two together for the first time last week and was super happy with the results.


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## greasedbullet

I do under the same circumstances as nochop, mostly because he is my boss :doublethumbsup:. When there is nothing else to prep, and everything is clean. I use a naniwa green brick 2-4k and that is it. When I am at home I use the full spread.


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## ChuckTheButcher

I do when I have the time and space. Which isn't as often as I would like. I also end up sharpening all my cooks knives. They don't even ask me. I just get so fed up with them using such dull knives. I never understood why any one would spend the money on expensive knives and not learn or care to sharpen them. I like what TheDispossessed said about the Japanese kitchens. It should be part of the job. I spend at least an hour a day sharpening.


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## greasedbullet

ChuckTheButcher said:


> I like what TheDispossessed said about the Japanese kitchens. It should be part of the job.



You could make it part of the job. Couldn't you? I would be ok with getting paid to sharpen my kit at work.


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## Chuckles

I don't currently. When I did it was a Salty clone w/ third pan and towels. I would absolutley let the cooks do it if they cared to. Looks like I should by a stone for the restaurant. I usually sharpen employee knives DMT XC to green brick. I wouldn't trust them with that. I should probably get them a king combo. (thought I had a pic of the set up but can't find it)


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## franzb69

I can't. and I should be able to. Like most of the folks on here, only when we have the time. Overly busy kitchen.


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## JBroida

I used to show up before work to sharpen sometimes, or after work. Every once in a while, after a lot of prep, i would sharpen before dinner service (instead of sitting down to family meal). I had a few stones at work, usually a stone holder, and a 1/3 pan to hold the stones and water. I only had a couple of bosses give me crap for sharpening... the rest were happy i was doing it, as were my co-workers.


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## slowtyper

ChuckTheButcher said:


> I do when I have the time and space. Which isn't as often as I would like. I also end up sharpening all my cooks knives. They don't even ask me. I just get so fed up with them using such dull knives. I never understood why any one would spend the money on expensive knives and not learn or care to sharpen them. I like what TheDispossessed said about the Japanese kitchens. It should be part of the job. I spend at least an hour a day sharpening.



You don't have as much time as you like, but you still have an hour a day to sharpen? I don't get why its taking so long, how many knives are you sharpening each day?


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## berko

at the beginning of the thread i was wondering what you guys were using pans for in this occasion. now i realized that you call your gastro norm "pans" over there. i had some weired pictures in my mind until then 

i have a couple of stones at work and also end up sharpening my cow orkers knives every time i get em out.

btw. dispossessed. how do you like that shapton pro 1500? i like mine pretty much and its by far my most used stone at work.


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## bieniek

I have Tormek 7 at work. 

That being said, my knives only at home. From august Im trying to organize sharpening group, two other folks with own stones and me trying to show them how to do it. Every tuesday after work. In Norwegian reality thats actually way too often :stinker:, unfortunately. Never heard of a place where someone would do that. 

But when/if it works, then 1/2 deep hotelpans, damp paper towels and some cooling liquid is all we need. 
Im supplying plasters, diamond plate and strop.

Stones? One has JCK 1/4K combo, the other JNS 3 stone set and me? JNS 1K and binsui, all I ever needed.


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## Miles

I always have my honing kit in my work bag. I pull that out now and then. Occasionally, I'll bring in a couple stones to accompany the hone. No one ever makes noise about it. Mostly they enjoy checking out the results of my honing sessions. There is a (I think) roughly 1K King waterstone in the knife cabinet which some previous @$^%*~ used as an oilstone. BTW, it is possible to reverse the damage by soaking for a week in straight Simple Green and rinsing for twenty minutes or so. Since then, it's been usable as a waterstone. Every once in a very great while when the hone isn't giving the results I need, I'll pull that stone out for an emergency session followed by a finishing session on the hone so I can get through the shift. I think I've had to resort to that twice in the last three years. Generally, if I'm going to hone or do any sharpening, I'll take care of it at the very beginning of a shift or around meal time. I'm pretty conscientious about it. I usually only take care of maintenance when we're finished and prepped for the evening or if there's an urgent need.


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## TheDispossessed

berko said:


> btw. dispossessed. how do you like that shapton pro 1500? i like mine pretty much and its by far my most used stone at work.



you know i'm digging it. i have gesshin 400, 2k, 4k at home and love those. purely out of convenience i've used just the shapton 1500 after my shift and it's fairly quick and pleasant to work with, the results are totally acceptable for me on a gyuto and petty. 
the stone seems pretty wear resistant because when i brought in a diamond plate (150x) to true it up, it was surprisingly tough. 
this is the first splash and go i've used, so far, so good.

also, as a side, i used to think it'd be fun (but probably somewhat impractical) to cut a soaking stone or combo stone in half so it could fit in a 9 pan for easier stashing in your mise so it'd be ready to pull out for a quick touch-up anytime.


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## TheDispossessed

it drives me absolutely nuts to have seen young cooks claim 'they have no time' to sharpen their knives (because they never do it, so it takes them friggin ten minutes) and then continually slam their blade on a honing rod every two minutes during prep.
thankfully, i don't have to witness this abuse anymore..


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## stopbarking

Depends on prep for the day. Most of the time no. If I know I'll have time I'll bring my kit in but it's easier to sharpen at home. I usually don't need a knife for much of service but if I do it either is what it is after prep or I always have a backup.

Setup is a wet towel, a 3k or 5k, and a cork.


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## TheDispossessed

whoa, i'm hogging this thread, sorry but i keep thinking of things.
from what i understand, traditional japanese kitchens have a much better system for this. the young cooks wash dishes and sharpen everyone's knives for a while before they move up (or so i'm told).


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## stevenStefano

TheDispossessed said:


> it drives me absolutely nuts to have seen young cooks claim 'they have no time' to sharpen their knives (because they never do it, so it takes them friggin ten minutes) and then continually slam their blade on a honing rod every two minutes during prep.
> thankfully, i don't have to witness this abuse anymore..



I don't understand this. I haven't had a day off for 4 weeks so the little free time I have is spent doing a variety of things other than sharpening. I use a honing rod and it prolongs my edges a bit, I know it's not ideal but it's still a pretty good stopgap measure until I actually get out my stones and sharpen my knives again, what's the issue?

But to answer the question, no I don't sharpen my knives in work. I might actually stay behind and do it some time though, I don't have a lot of space in my house


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## hambone.johnson

yep, the last 2 kitchens ive worked in are very positive to sharpening on shift. At Tru we could sharpen before butchering and then the protein station cooks would touch up slicers during set up, most guys have a splash and go stone tucked away somewhere, a Shapton glass stone was common to get you through the day. At the hotel I work at now the chefs will do touch up before butchering or when needed and most of my staff will use a red brick or something in the 1k/4k combo stone style and set up just before or just after shift. Now, as a manager, I feel that if your responsible enough to take care of your tools and it doesn't interrupt your work, I wont stop you from doing so.


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## ChuckTheButcher

greasedbullet said:


> You could make it part of the job. Couldn't you? I would be ok with getting paid to sharpen my kit at work.



It's a family run restaurant. I still have people I need to answer to. Also the sad thing is I think most people don't even want to learn.


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## jgraeff

Yes i sometimes sharpen at work, usually others people knives. but i keep the gesshin 2k at work in a bucket and i keep a strop there loaded with .5 micron diamond. 

i just use a 1/4 or 1/3 pan turn upside down and put a wet down on there to keep stone from slipping. works very well.


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## ChuckTheButcher

slowtyper said:


> You don't have as much time as you like, but you still have an hour a day to sharpen? I don't get why its taking so long, how many knives are you sharpening each day?



I'll usually grab quite a few of the guys knives to sharpen at home as well as my own. I tend to take my time when I'm at home. I find it relaxing. I'd say 10-20 a night. I meant time at work before service. I think more people have time to sharpen their knives then they claim. Too many people don't have time to do basic maintenance yet go to the bar every night.


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## brianlsx

I am able to sharpen my knives during service hours when business is slow, which does not happen over at the place I'm working lol. I usually turn up 2hrs earlier or go home later.


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## eaglerock

Yes i do when it is slow, we got 1 stone at work for every one to use.


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## TheDispossessed

i wish i had pictures of the stones at my old place. some really crazy ass shapes


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## knyfeknerd

I wish I had the time at work. There is always so much work to be done. 
I would like to hold a sharpening "clinic/class" at work one day, but as a hotel, we're literally open 24/7/365, so it's tough to find any downtime.


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## Gravy Power

As far as sharpening stations where I stage. It consists of a combo stone, a towel and a deep nine pan full of water.


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## EdipisReks

knyfeknerd said:


> I wish I had the time at work. There is always so much work to be done.
> I would like to hold a sharpening "clinic/class" at work one day, but as a hotel, we're literally open 24/7/365, so it's tough to find any downtime.



I've toured a couple hotel kitchens, I can't imagine finding a space where people are hustling through with pans full of food, to do such a thing in!


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## TheDispossessed

stevenStefano said:


> I don't understand this. I haven't had a day off for 4 weeks so the little free time I have is spent doing a variety of things other than sharpening. I use a honing rod and it prolongs my edges a bit, I know it's not ideal but it's still a pretty good stopgap measure until I actually get out my stones and sharpen my knives again, what's the issue?



there's no issue with your knife maintenance necessarily, i was referring to people i used to work with who:
a. didn't know how to even use a honing rod properly, and 
b. were using it so much they could have certainly had time to properly sharpen with a stone.

i will say, with a great deal of confidence, that with no more than one minute on a splash and go medium grit stone i can bring my knife back into excellent working order and not have to worry about it for the rest of the day (should the need have arrived in the first place). there's just no way one visit with a honing rod is going to get a knife through the bulk of a day. 
therefore i contend that using stones takes far less time, assuming your technique is solid, than using honing rods. every time. 
this idea that they save time is absolutely a misconception in my mind.


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## eaglerock

TheDispossessed said:


> i wish i had pictures of the stones at my old place. some really crazy ass shapes



Ours was before I made it flat


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## panda

i only sharpen at work after i close up shop off the clock. i always rush though because i just want to leave and grab a beer!

btw, where is that wooden sink bridge from dave? i would love to get one!


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## stevenStefano

knyfeknerd said:


> I wish I had the time at work. There is always so much work to be done.
> I would like to hold a sharpening "clinic/class" at work one day, but as a hotel, we're literally open 24/7/365, so it's tough to find any downtime.



I'm in the same boat. Not that it's always busy, but I suspect I'd get moaned at if I sharpened in work. I'm basically the only person that has good knives and maintains them but it wouldn't matter. I might stay after work some time, but I usually finish pretty late


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## eshua

My boss makes fun of us for sharpening too much and wasting time. My compromise with him is that if you want to sharpen on the clock, its before or after your shift, and flatten the stone each time. Before we would have guys stop to touch up during service, and turn it into a half pipe.


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## JohnnyChance

I could but I usually don't. Few times a year I will bring in my stones and do my kit plus some others in the kitchen.

Now I just use an 8K DMT I got from Marko for touchups. Takes about as long as using a steel and I don't have to go back it to constantly so overall actually uses up less time. Never taken any grief for using it nor would I if someone tried to.


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## lanel

If I have time at work no one will object, usually just 4k-8k if I'm just touching up sometimes start at 1k if I have lots of time.


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## Rjgogue

We usually do before we start our shift, and most of us are in 30-45 mins early, and some line cooks actually show up an hour to an hour and a half early to prep and get ready for line checks. Set up is usually a 1/3 Pan with water and a towel with a universal stone holder. However the house stones are NO BUENO!!! Most of us bring our own stones. And I'm eagerly awaiting my 8000 grit Kitayama from Korin that's supposed to be here Wednesday.


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## turbochef422

Im lucky bc in my office I keep a diamond plate, beston500 king800,1200,6000 and a blue aoto. I sharpen after the day is done and everyone has left. Now more and more people are hanging around to see the process and I let them try it out for themselves with the little guidance that I can give. Almost every person I work with bring their own knives and they all take care of them and show an interest if its a shun(a lot of those) or something on the higher end.


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## Dave Martell

panda said:


> btw, where is that wooden sink bridge from dave? i would love to get one!




I don't know, it's probably home made.


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## Dave Martell

This has been a great thread for me to read, thanks to everyone who has posted.


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## labor of love

i try not to sharpen at work, atleast on the clock. were under pressure to stay productive and knock out our prep lists asap. the pressure to hurry up and sharpen my knives causes me to make mistakes at times, nothing major, just uneven bevels and sharpening scratches. i would rather sharpen at my own pace.


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## aser

I leave my stones at home, I rarely sharpen my own stuff at work. On the other hand, I often find myself sharpening at work, mostly showing/helping my coworkers how to do it.

I'm a tournant now so I'm roving around a lot, rarely have the free time. Even if I finish all my prep, it's very much expected I lend a hand to a fellow cook in the juice.

I did touch up one of my knives on a coworkers shapton 4000 glass stone last week. Just wanted to try it out, plus I had to mise out a few L's of scallions. We use way too much scallions at work, it's comical. We throw it on everything.

I was surprised at how fast cutting the glass stone was. It's the first truly splash and go stone I've tried that lives up to that claim. Most splash and go traditional waterstones still benefit from a 10 min soak imo. Glass stones do feel kinda dead when you're sharpening, that's the one complaint.

btw Dispossessed, where do you work? Kyo ya? Kajitsu? Sugiyama?


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## apicius9

Sharpen at the Health Department? Aeehh, no. 

Stefan


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## TheDispossessed

aser said:


> btw Dispossessed, where do you work? Kyo ya? Kajitsu? Sugiyama?



Kajitsu


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## aaamax

I consider this the best indicator of the seriousness of my coworkers. No ****, I have two cooks on my shift that have their complete sets of Porsche and the other Global and consider themselves above the rest because they don't use the house knives. Yet they sharpen them once a season!!! by leaving them in to the local knife killer. I show up to my shift with my beatup 280 Watanabe and old Chinese cleaver and use the house paring knifes (lost too many over the years). I'm doing touch ups throughout the day. I swear the rest of the kitchen thinks I'm an ax murderer lol.


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## berko

those porsche knifes have really crappy edge retetntion. i couldnt survive a single day without sharpening them.


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## aaamax

ExPensive and craaaap... Did I mention that they are xpnsv??


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## Chutotoro

I stay at work after my shift once or twice a week and sharpen. On the clock there is almost always something else to do, even thought that happens every once in a while. Almost all the other chefs use a chefs choise machine. Some of them dont even have their own knives with them, which is even more sad than not using stones :/ Im doing my best to convert them though, haha.


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## panda

i have since changed everything since my last post on this thread. all new stones and began only sharpening at home now. total opposite of what i was doing. i might leave the finishing stone at work for quick touch ups, but i probably won't use it as i like to go as long as possible between sharpening and by that point the knives need a full routine.


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## Geo87

I can if there is absolutely nothing else to do. Which is never  

Solution : I start one hour earlyer than everybody else to do things like sharpen, drink coffee etc. it's tool maintainence but also a bit of a hobby so where do you draw the line? 

Hang on chef I need to check my edge under a microscope just give me a minute


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## theo59

it never fails, every time I go to soak my stones my station gets slamed


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## stopbarking

Update: No. No time. I keep a backup but my Yoshikane SKD has become my favorite. Lasts forever and even when the the small front belly fails (due to lack of sharpening expertise) the giant flat section is awesome.

The knife and I are still fighting the perfect sharpening routine battle but I'm slowly winning. It's a strange knife but I love it.


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## Keith Sinclair

ChuckTheButcher said:


> I'll usually grab quite a few of the guys knives to sharpen at home as well as my own. I tend to take my time when I'm at home. I find it relaxing. I'd say 10-20 a night. I meant time at work before service. I think more people have time to sharpen their knives then they claim. Too many people don't have time to do basic maintenance yet go to the bar every night.



You are a nice guy Chuck.I used to do my sharpening after my shift wt wet towel under stones.After a while those still on site woud drop their knives off & would end up sharpening as many as 15 knives.Then I just did my knives at home,also find it relaxing.

When I see someone wailing away on a honing steel all night,I'll show you a dude wt. a lack of freehand skills.


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## panda

going to the bar is a necessity of life, knife maintenance is low on priority list.


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