# sharpening frequency for pros



## aser (Nov 22, 2012)

How often do you sharpen your knives?

I know this is a very subjective question, highly dependent on the tasks at hand.

I work meat so I tend to have to slice a lot of raw fish, and cooked meats w/ plenty of crusts (grill/plancha). We have sani-tuff boards at work so that saves on my gyuto but the slicer is abused for the aforementioned reasons. I find I need to touch up my gyuto weekly and my slicer twice a week.

My go to work knives are around the 60hrc range, they're beaters as I don't trust ultra expensive knives at work. Bent tips are a common reality w/ tight spaces.

Yoshihiro 270mm stainless gyuto
Kanemasa e-series 300mm sk-4 suji
Ichimonji TKC 150mm petty

I know there are plenty of positive reviews for the kanemasa but I'm disappointed at its sharpening performance compared to other carbons I own (white 2 & blue 2). The tool steel just doesn't seem to want to take a razor sharp edge, duration of sharpness could be better.

I can't complain too much though, it's cheap and stands up to abuse of a hectic line. Would be nice to have an upgrade...


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## JKerr (Nov 22, 2012)

Previously I would probably sharpen once a week tops, possibly stretching to every 2 weeks if I was feeling lazy. 

My current job requires a lot more knife work than any previous job I've held, everything is cut/chopped/minced on boards not a robo coupe or vita prep in sight. I'm using various chinese cleavers for pretty much everything (petty and honesuki on the side, but they don't see much action). 4 cleavers in use (Mizuno stainless, Rodrigue mid tech, Sugimoto #6 and Konosuke #6), which probably hit the stones 1-2 times a week. I could certainly get by doing them once every 2 weeks, but with the amount of prep it just gets annoying once they've lost that "fresh off the stones" feeling.

The carbons lose the edge fairly fast, Mizuno is reliable and tends to be my line knife and Rodrigue definitely has the best edge retention (cpm-154 I think); loses the initial edge at a pretty standard rate, but settles nicely with a somewhat toothy edge and holds it for ages.

Don't know what I'll try next. Would like to give Aogami super a shot, Moritaka and Takeda don't particularly excite me. 

Cheers,
Josh


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## Chuckles (Nov 22, 2012)

Once a week. Now don't get to cut as much as I used to. Still once a week. Before it was one gyuto for prep and one for service. Now just one knife, whatever I'm into. Having trouble getting away from my misono dragon 240. By now it is almost a suji. My knerdom is washing up a couple of blades every week to sharpen or fix too. Funny, I put everybody's knives on the green brick but never my own.


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## franzb69 (Nov 22, 2012)

once week sounds about right. back when i was in a professional kitchen, the worst was around twice a week. but that's with my crap china made atlantic chef knives, made with german steel. can't compare how often i have to sharpen my j-knives since i haven't been in a professional kitchen over a year. lol.


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## NO ChoP! (Nov 22, 2012)

Well, I went in yesterday with a freshly sharpened 150 petty and a 300 suji, had the fun task of breaking down 150 turkeys completely of the carcass, down to sliced breast meat, and picked dark. Needless to say, they weren't very sharp at the end of the shift. The petty is r2, and the suji is AS.....


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## Chefdog (Nov 22, 2012)

I've been teaching for a little over a year now, so the volume of my work has decreased significantly. I usually touch up my gyuto once a week to keep it fresh, everything else gets to the stones every other week on average. 

When I was still running a restaurant kitchen my sharpening schedule was about once a week for everything, with an extra quickie here and there for my gyuto and slicer. We did a lot of raw seafood and tasting dishes off expo with fairly fine garnishes, so they needed to be kept a little fresher than the rest.


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## Vertigo (Nov 22, 2012)

Twice a month or so, but I don't prep nearly as much as I used to. I also abuse the hell out of my Mac Ceramic to procrastinate as long as possible.


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## ajhuff (Nov 22, 2012)

Once a month, maybe every 6 weeks. I try to avoid it as long as possible.

-AJ


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## Dardeau (Nov 22, 2012)

I'm right about in line with the rest of y'all. Depending on the menu that we have it can go from every two to three weeks to twice a week if there is something that requires a blazing sharp knife, or is a ruiner of blades.


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## kalaeb (Nov 22, 2012)

Every two weeks or so with touchups on a mid range stone in between.


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## turbochef422 (Nov 22, 2012)

My beaters are every week with a light touch up maybe in the middle of the week and everything else every two weeks. I can definitely see now I'm a much better sharpener and they stay sharp longer. Plus the more knives I throw into the rotation the less often I'm having to sharpen.


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## Miles (Nov 22, 2012)

I teach now, so while I do prep every day, it isn't the volume that a lot of folks handle. I've become pretty skilled at extending the life of an edge by stropping every couple days and I'll lightly touch up during the shift with a Mac ceramic. Even then, I can usually just hit the higher grit stones a couple times before I have to do a proper sharpening session. So, for full sharpening, every few weeks.


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## tk59 (Nov 22, 2012)

Vertigo said:


> Twice a month or so, but I don't prep nearly as much as I used to. I also abuse the hell out of my Mac Ceramic to procrastinate as long as possible.


How is that rod holding up?


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## JBroida (Nov 22, 2012)

wow... now i really feel crazy. I used to sharpen at the end of each day. Loved that super crazy sharp feeling every morning. The edges lasted much longer if i let them go, but they didnt have that awesome fresh off the stones feeling which i had become addicted to.


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## DevinT (Nov 22, 2012)

As needed.


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## Vertigo (Nov 22, 2012)

tk59 said:


> How is that rod holding up?



It's battered and tattered, used and abused. Most of the rubber at the tip of the rod has been scratched off, and the damn thing has seen more than a few trips through the dishwasher. Been at work full-time for ages and is used by almost everyone. Not as effective as it was when you shipped it, but I still pull fat burrs with it on soft carbon when I'm not careful.

Hands down one of the most important items in my kit. Good trade IMO.


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## la2tokyo (Nov 22, 2012)

Depending on workload at least three times a week. This week I skipped a couple days and was then given a bucket of chestnuts to carve with an usuba, which is really hard on edges, and then a bunch of really delicate stuff all day afterwards that didn't turn out as perfectly as it could have. Chef was not happy, so I will probably sharpen my usuba every day while I'm here. There are a lot of jobs in the restauran't I'm working in right now that aren't really possible to do without a freshly sharpened knife.


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## shankster (Nov 22, 2012)

Depending on my workload,anywhere from once a week to once every 2 weeks with light touch ups in between..(gyuto,petty,boner and suji)


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## stevenStefano (Nov 22, 2012)

I'd say somewhere between once every 2 and 4 weeks, sometimes longer. The knives I use all have pretty nice edge retention, and I am also sometimes lazy about sharpening. I have the Mac black rod but I never ever use it now, I think it does more harm than good to be honest


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## Keith Sinclair (Nov 22, 2012)

JBroida said:


> wow... now i really feel crazy. I used to sharpen at the end of each day. Loved that super crazy sharp feeling every morning. The edges lasted much longer if i let them go, but they didnt have that awesome fresh off the stones feeling which i had become addicted to.



I understand your addiction,I would rotate between two 240 Carbon Masa's & a 270 when I wanted a larger blade.Sharpen Cleavers & Gyuto about once a week.

Yanagi I would touch up after heavy fish days mostly weekends.Used a polishing stone Japan single bevel about 3 times a week.


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## Crothcipt (Nov 22, 2012)

I am using a 270 Mizuno, and a DT Itk 270 as my main go to's between pass a rounds. I also have 3 petty's that I rotate which ever I seem to want to use that day. At the moment it has been about once a month. During summer it was 2x a mo.


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## NO ChoP! (Nov 22, 2012)

Now that I'm not working for myself, and sharpening is done on my own time, sharpening has become a hassle. I too, lean on my black Mac a tad much. I will sharpen all my knives at once, and then rotate them until I have no choice but to sharpen again...

I do miss my ritual of keeping my kit uber-keen during down time....


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## Sack of lemons (Nov 23, 2012)

I use my ohira renge suita every day to touch up my knives (all shigefusa) and then go through the progression of stones every month or two when they need it. Once you use sharp knives all day at work you can't turn back, and I think it is part of the responsibility of respecting the makers work.


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## Sarge (Nov 23, 2012)

JBroida said:


> wow... now i really feel crazy. I used to sharpen at the end of each day. Loved that super crazy sharp feeling every morning. The edges lasted much longer if i let them go, but they didnt have that awesome fresh off the stones feeling which i had become addicted to.



Almost this much I used to when at a higher volume spot but now I hit the stones every other day basically even if it is just a quick run on my highest grit. Speaking of higher grits Jon I'll have to have a chat with you about the Gesshin 6k/8ks and the Kitayama


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## knyfeknerd (Nov 23, 2012)

I also lean on the ceramic rod way too much. I only use it on my double bevel knives. I would like to sharpen once every week, but depending on how busy work/life is, once a month is realistic. I also am obsessed with rehandling and refurbishing now, so that consumes a majority of the time I used to dedicate to sharpening.
I really do enjoy sharpening and it sometimes takes me a few to get in "the zone". I do find it a little on the meditative side once I get going. It is very gratifying to be able to sharpen your knives the way you like.


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## TamanegiKin (Nov 24, 2012)

Once every couple weeks on average. Touch up on either Gesshin 6k, takashima or Rika before every work shift if possible. I usually have a few gyutos on rotation so sometimes I can stretch it a bit longer.


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## allumirati (Nov 25, 2012)

JBroida said:


> wow... now i really feel crazy. I used to sharpen at the end of each day. Loved that super crazy sharp feeling every morning. The edges lasted much longer if i let them go, but they didnt have that awesome fresh off the stones feeling which i had become addicted to.



No they're just lazy. :saythat:


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## Marko Tsourkan (Nov 25, 2012)

Once a month and use 8K diamond plate and 1M diamond loaded strop in between for maintenance.


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## tweyland (Nov 25, 2012)

Generally about once a week, but I like to touch up before leaving for catering gigs so that the edges are gleaming, the cuts are super clean, and the cutting looks effortless. I'm a nerd.

~Tad


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## Vertigo (Nov 25, 2012)

allumirati said:


> No they're just lazy. :saythat:


:lol2:


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## WiscoNole (Nov 26, 2012)

Nowadays about twice a week...when I worked at Jean-Georges I never walked into work with anything below a fresh 10k edge.


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