# Cooks Illustrated guide to slowly destroying your knives



## gic (Apr 13, 2016)

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/bu...tools-that-keep-your-knives-in-tip-top-shape?

Although lets be honest for people not willing to learn to sharpen the high end chef's choice to an OK job...


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## Matus (Apr 13, 2016)

I think when it comes to non-knife person that is actually not quite as bad. Those pull-through sharpeners are supposed to make a decent job on Germany-style knives (I actually bought one for my parents, but do not have knife to test it with - I am not pulling my Billipp through it  )


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## Smurfmacaw (Apr 13, 2016)

I had a chef's choice pull through years ago when I though Zwillig knives were the ultimate. They do provide a reasonable edge but they remove a lot of steel to get it sharp. Also, as they don't thin the edge, you end up using it more and more often in search of better cutting performance and therefore removing more and more metal....knives start looking like toothpicks pretty fast.


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## Keith Sinclair (Apr 14, 2016)

Anyone have technical knowledge of why these pull through do not work over time? I have never used them, had relatives that did & their knives were not very sharp.

My feeling was that people do not clean their knives well before using the pull through was part of the problem. See these things that thin a little first with a more shallow bevel & another slot for a wider final bevel. At least the principle is good. I would think after a while the diamond sharpening pieces do not cut as well & that alone could do more harm than good.

I have seen video's of guys cutting bevels on diamond steels. Those things got popular here all the kitchen supply stores carry them. I have seen cooks who should know better using these things on decent quality gyuto's. Really screw's up the edge.

The pull through are very popular get asked why they are not good. I just tell them there is no substitute for freehand skills. I could be more specific but not sure what to say. The fact is most people are not interested in learning freehand that is why these are so popular.


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## Godslayer (Apr 14, 2016)

My thought on the pull through has always been they would be ok for the first 2-3 times but after that the blade would be too thick behind the edge. I actually have that victorinox blade guard and actually like it for my masakage mizu 75mm petty. Still I don't think you should buy high end knives and not learn how to care for them.


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## spoiledbroth (Apr 14, 2016)

keithsaltydog said:


> Anyone have technical knowledge of why these pull through do not work over time? I have never used them, had relatives that did & their knives were not very sharp.
> 
> My feeling was that people do not clean their knives well before using the pull through was part of the problem. See these things that thin a little first with a more shallow bevel & another slot for a wider final bevel. At least the principle is good. I would think after a while the diamond sharpening pieces do not cut as well & that alone could do more harm than good.
> 
> ...


Pull through similar to stropping. Light touch required. Eventually knife will become thicker behind the edge and begin to wear out the pull through. Most people I have watched use a pull through employ far too much pressure.


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## jbart65 (Apr 14, 2016)

First time poster on this particular forum, but longtime knife lover.

Gotta to defend Chef's Choice and Cooks.

I owned a CC for years before I learned how to hand sharpen. Did a perfectly fine job for German Knives, Vics, Forchners, Dexter Russels. Using the final two settings on the CC didn't take off much metal. None of my knives really got super thick behind the edge (though I probably sharpened far less than I should have).

I recently bought a new Chef's Choice with Asian edge. Why? To sharpen the knives of my family and friends when I travel to visit. They always want me to sharpen and I certainly don't have time in most cases to do it by hand with my Shaptons. 

The new CCs are a huge improvement on the old ones, I might add.

Obviously people on forums like this represent less than 1% of the population. There are about 250 million adults in the US. I'd be shocked if even a million sharpen their own knives by stone or grinder. I've yet to meet a person who does aside from me. If the scarcity of women on these boards is any indication, my estimate might be generous.

Given that reality, a CC is by far the best hope for the vast majority of adults who cook. Fairly easy to use, not super expensive, lasts forever and does a reasonable job.

Most Americans don't even go that far. I live in an affluent neighborhood with people who afford good knives. Some own Wusthof, Henckels or even a few Shuns and Globals. The rest own hoards of brandname knives (Cuisinart, Rachel Ray, Oneida) made in China. Cheap SS and serrated edges are the order of the day.

One of my neighbors uses a steel regularly. Another gets his sharpened regularly at Sur La Table (which uses an industrial Chefs Choice). The rest either don't sharpen at all or use cheap manual pull-throughs.

The are not going to learn to sharpen by hand. That's why I always recommend they get a Chefs Choice, even if it's just the pull through.

Cooks is doing the right thing and recommending the right device for most people.


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## Matus (Apr 14, 2016)

jbart65 - welcome! That is a great first post 

I agree - your experience with Chef's Choice reflects what I read about these. Sometimes we around here forget how 'rare' birds we are


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## Noodle Soup (Apr 14, 2016)

I'm another member here that believes the ChefsChoice machines are a reasonable answer to sharpening knives for the vast number of people that never sharpen at all otherwise. I have used virtually every model the company has made as part of my normal profession. While I hand sharpen most of my knives on benchstones , I still use an "industrial ChefsChoice" machine to thin out edges on my meat cutting knives each year before butchering the season's venison. I have never noticed any excessive blade wear. All sharpening methods grind a blade down over time. So what if the knife only lasts 10 or 15 years instead of 20 or 30. I might add I think the old line about handing knives down to several generations is a total fantasy.


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## psfred (Apr 15, 2016)

There are several different types of pull-through sharpeners, and some of them are not horrible. I saw one being demonstrated that consisted of diamond impregnated flexible flat "fingers" that might actually do a decent job, and the rotary blade ones are OK if the angles are good and the knife doesn't get to fat behind the edge.

The carbide washer ones are horrible, I've had to fix a couple knives they were used on. Believe me, you do NOT get a good edge by scraping with a pair of carbide washers.

The very high end ones actually grind both the side of the knife and the bevel, sometimes even at 15 degrees per side, and are far better than a dull knife. They are as close to sharpening as the vast majority of people will ever get. I won't use them, but lots of other people do, and one that doesn't make a mess of the edge is better than one that does!

Peter


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## Adrian (Apr 15, 2016)

I have the CC that does asian 15 degree angles as well as conventional edges. It works fine. It does not produce a refined edge, but it does deliver a useably sharp edge and is excellent for utility workaday knives that you don't want to put a lot of time into. Also good for family use when they want to sharpie dull blades. I don't use it on my fine knives, many of which are single bevel anyway.


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## jbart65 (Apr 15, 2016)

Matus said:


> jbart65 - welcome! That is a great first post
> 
> I agree - your experience with Chef's Choice reflects what I read about these. Sometimes we around here forget how 'rare' birds we are



Thanks Matus. I participate in another forum and only came across this one recently.

Believe me, I am thankful to be in this 'rarified' air. I am a darn good home cook and I love knives, but I was only dimly aware of how much better Japanese knives perform. Even just six months ago, I was pretty much in the dark.

Fortunately I owned a Mac for 15 years. It was the first knife that clued me in to the Japanese way of making knives. My Mac, since retired, was much lighter, thinner and sharper than my Wustofs et all and held an edge longer too. As such I wasn't entirely taken aback when my foray into Japanese knives began last fall.

That's why I have the perspective that I do on Chefs Choice. It's great for what it does in a world when most people don't care well for their knives. But I am sure glad I have learned to sharpen my own knives on stones - even though I still have a lot to learn.

My wife, on the other hand, thinks I am a bit crazy. But she's not complaining. She is eating better than ever!


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## gic (Apr 15, 2016)

I absolutely agree the high end chef choice electrical machines are actually pretty good for most people: they (if used right) don't really eat much steel up at all. Like all mechanical systems (including the edge pro) eventually a knife sharpened by them for a very very long time will get too thick behind the edge to cut well. But it's quite possible (maybe likely) that a home user will never get to this stage! If you have to sharpen a knife 50 times on an electric CC before it gets so thick behind the edge, a home cook might take years to get to this stage. 

In fact, I also used for a long time a special chef choice "honing" pull through that simply honed the edge on my german knives. That was simply the equivalent of a really good steeling but more accurate and easier. That gadget didn't take really any steel off at all, it was actually quite well designed. (Now I strop on 1 micron diamond sprayed balsa wood and don't use my old german knives at all but then I'm addicted to j-knives...)


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## jbart65 (Apr 15, 2016)

I've used CC to sharpen a lot of knives of family and, more recently, I've been using my stones to sharpen the knives of neighbors.

Most havent seen much metal wear, probably because they are so infrequently sharpened. And whatever is used doesnt really take much metal off.

No one I know understands just how sharp a knife can be until they try one of mine. They think a Wusthof or Cuisinart Chinese knockoff that's been sharpened is really sharp. And they are often afraid of sharp knives!

I did have one neighbor who had an older, rundown Wusthof. It had been sharpened enough to get thick behind the edge, but only after 20 years or so. They just went out and bought a new Henckels Pro line. After I was done with the Wusthof, it was as sharp if not sharper than the Henckels.


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## Keith Sinclair (Apr 15, 2016)

So what I am hearing the Chef Choice are the better pull through. Any model that stands out above the others?

These things are used a lot in the USA all the Chef kitchen stores major & minor carry them. Is this the same for international member's?

I always thought that the Japanese as a culture were more sharpening tuned. I know that the Sushi chefs I have met have much better skills on average than Hawaii and cooks from other places. When I ask regular Japanese nationals here most have no sharpening experience.


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## Nife (Apr 15, 2016)

I don't currently know anyone who sharpens knives by hand. I go to a few dinners a year in a pretty good food club, and I haven't come across anyone who sharpens kitchen knives by hand, and many of the members are into food. Some use food processors to chop up produce. I can't stand the labor of washing those things. My guess is that approximately 153,000 people in the U.S. have sharpened knives by hand on stones, and approximately 45,000 people can get razor sharp edges.


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## Keith Sinclair (Apr 15, 2016)

Around the world some still use straight razors. Ferry around one of my old friends who does not drive anymore, he cannot believe that I still prefer a clutch & stick shift.

Being in the business most of my life, I still believe hands down the best & most efficient way to sharpen a chef knife is freehand skills on a stone. 

Don't know how you took a guess at the numbers, but I agree it is pretty pitiful :angryspin:


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## fujiyama (Apr 15, 2016)

Some knives don't benefit from whetstones. There, I said it. The Chef Choice is actually ideal for knives used (abused) in pro kitchens (Victorinox, Henckel etc). It's a lot faster, easier and the edges actually last longer.

One of our kitchens sends knives to be sharpened by hand every month. The man who sharpens these is very well known not just locally, but world wide by some of you knife nuts. He is skilled and uses many different stones. The knives are dull within a week. It's not his fault.

The thing to remember is although these pull through sharpeners don't thin behind the edge, many people don't thin behind the edge as they sharpen on stones. They wait until it "needs to be thinned", depending on the knife.


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## Nife (Apr 15, 2016)

My Idahone rod works fairly well with Forschners and German knives. Faster to touch up than it is to get out and plug in an electric sharpener. Not bad at sharpening a moderately dull edge either when using the rod similarly to a stone. But as people here have posted, few people want to bother learning how to use it, and the decent electric sharpeners such as the Chef's choice are better than nothing, or using a carbide pull through or electric can opener sharpener. For cheap knives, it has it's place.


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## The Edge (Apr 16, 2016)

The CC does have its downside though. I sharpen roughly 80 knives a week by hand, and most of those tend to be Victorinox. Just using a 1k king stone, it takes me roughly 2 minutes to get an edge back on those knives. When people bring me knives they've been sharpening with CC for years, I usually have to fix a divot near the heel of the knife that it has produced (tends to happen to knives with full bolsters). The only negative feedback I've received from butchers and chefs, is that the knives may be "too sharp," as they aren't used to the kind of edges you can get off the stones.

But to each their own. I'll stick with hand sharpening, as it's relatively cheap, and opens up a world of options. Yes, it's a skill, but well worth it in my opinion. The only knives I won't bring to the stones, are ones hardened to less than 54 hrc, as the steel starts to get gummy at that point, and sharpening on stones with those is akin to putting an edge on a piece of bread.


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## Keith Sinclair (Apr 16, 2016)

Exactly:doublethumbsup: Sharpened plenty Forschner's over the years & still do. I knock off the V grind thin a little at a lower angle raise the spine kick in the final bevel. Take off the burr with a one second lateral sweep. One of the chef instructors at the school gives me his two 10" chef knives, boning, & a couple paring knives Forschners & Victorinox. They are all trained because I do his sharpening on a regular basis. After finished couple sweeps on newsprint for any residual burr. The edges are sharp enough to sail through the paper. His 5 knives take me less than 10 minutes total to finish. Using Gesshin 1K extra large.

Will they dull fast if used a lot you bet. any knife dulls after a while. I had to use bone cleavers at work mostly for platters of cold Ginger Chicken for banquets. I would always put a fresh edge on my Kau Kong Chopper before it's duties. Going through chix thigh bones clean cuts no splintering. Depending on size of banquet 4-8 platters two birds on each. It would only take me a few minutes to sharpen it. It is actually fun wailing through chickens with a sharp cleaver. I have seen guys using dull cleavers & making a mess just because the do not know how to sharpen them.

Free Hand gives you the freedom to customize your bevels for different types of blades. Fixed systems cannot do that.:soapbox:


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## jbart65 (Apr 16, 2016)

keithsaltydog said:


> So what I am hearing the Chef Choice are the better pull through. Any model that stands out above the others?
> 
> These things are used a lot in the USA all the Chef kitchen stores major & minor carry them. Is this the same for international member's?
> 
> I always thought that the Japanese as a culture were more sharpening tuned. I know that the Sushi chefs I have met have much better skills on average than Hawaii and cooks from other places. When I ask regular Japanese nationals here most have no sharpening experience.



Chef's Choice makes perhaps the best manual pull through sharpener. Among the electrics the CC Trizor (Asian 15 degree angle) and the EdgeSelect (20 and 15 degree angles) are best. CC actually forms a nice burr IF used correctly. Not hard to use but does take ... 10 minutes to read the directions carefully.

CCs can't thin a knife, though, and they do cause problems as one posted noted at the heel, especially with fullly bolstered knives.

Obviously it's best for people on forums like this to hand sharpen. But most people would be well served even with the cheapest Chef's Choice manual or electric. By the time their knives need to be thinned, they'll be 20 years older and can afford to buy something new. (-:


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## fujiyama (Apr 16, 2016)

I'd never run one of my knives through a Chef Choice. However, I still think it's ideal for a high volume kitchen with cheap knives. I know you and I can do a better job on a whetstone, and it doesn't take much time, but can the average cook?

It really comes down to cost. It's more expensive for my restaurant to pay someone to do it by hand then it is to buy a CC. Especially if the knives were sharpened weekly, like they require. Instead they're sharpened (if lucky) once a month. Remember, he charges $8-15 per knife. Average cost for an 8" blade is $10. There's two or three dozen blades in a professional kitchen. 

The knives only cost $40 off the shelf..


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## Keith Sinclair (Apr 16, 2016)

I'm sure if you do not know how to sharpen a CC is better than nothing. Thanks jbart65 for the information.

Paying someone 10.00 a knife is nuts, a Victorinox if used all day on plastic boards will lose it's edge quickly. When I first started in the business early 1970's Forschner's were the most used knives in Hawaii. I think Victorinox still has a large following. No heel bolster so you can sharpen the whole blade. In the Hotels cooks used stones to sharpen own knives. Bought my first stone a king 1K for my first job. Had a Filipino co worker teach me how to sharpen my Forschners.

When you are in front of a cutting board all day prepping for banquets you have to keep your knives sharp cannot afford to be at the mercy of someone else sharpening your knife. It is true some cooks do not know how to sharpen but they learn if they want to survive in a high volume kitchen. In my experience most take pretty good care of their knives. Majority of my cook friends are Filipino, Japanese, Chinese many are mixed race typical Hawaii.

When learned Japanese style sharpening never had to use a dull knife again. Gyuto, boning, suji's, petty, cleavers. Single Bevel Yanagiba's and polishing stones are made for each other.

Just as I was taught, have passed it on to many cooks over the years after service on the job. When they master it they teach others. 

Miyabi maybe you should put a stone on a wet rag & give a demonstration your co workers would be well served by it.


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## spoiledbroth (Apr 16, 2016)

I almost never meet people who sharpen their own knives at work. It's strange they don't teach this in culinary arts. Then again the local college just cut butchery entirely from their culinary curriculum... -_-


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## Keith Sinclair (Apr 16, 2016)

spoiledbroth said:


> I almost never meet people who sharpen their own knives at work. It's strange they don't teach this in culinary arts. Then again the local college just cut butchery entirely from their culinary curriculum... -_-



Sorry for yacking so much on this thread. So how did you learn to freehand? You have the knowledge just teach them. I used to sharpen my 5 or 6 knives after service at work trouble was people would ask me to sharpen their knives too. I would teach them how to sharpen & get their own stone. After a while started sharpening at home, would have several Gyuto's if one gets semi dull grab a sharp one out of the drawer at my work station.

Now I advocate to culinary students using a small portable S&G like Shapton Pro 2K as a touch up stone at work. They get the Shapton's here at cherry co. at a student discount.

I do one on one with students on their own time either before or after their classes. The only requirement I have is that they buy a stone. I have found once they get that stone in their hand they want to learn sharpening. I added last year that when I teach a few students to bring their knife & a charged up smartphone. I have a short demo where I show exactly what I am doing at a slowed down pace. Than speed it up to fast time to show how quickly they can put an edge on a knife.

Doing pass around with really sharp knives wakes them up too. I started out few years ago once a week at the school which is walking distance from my house. Now I give my time 3 days a week for different class levels. 

So for you cooks out there let your cook buddies take a few cuts with a fresh sharpened blade, they will see the light. Then be firm tell them you will not be a sharpening service, but if they buy a stone you will teach them. A smart phone is a great learning tool they can go back to.


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## fujiyama (Apr 16, 2016)

No need to apologize Keith, we appreciate your passion. 

I'm guilty as charged. I could have shared more knowledge. My fellow cooks didn't share the same passion or work ethic, and I've since moved on. A couple of the chefs did invest in decent quality knives (not necessarily ones that suit them, but non the less). One owns a Chosera 1000, another uses a Shapton 1000 (freebie). They just need practice. Problem is they're more interested in the knives then the stones, and don't properly care for either. 

I had a combination stone in the kitchen for a while and showed a couple people technique. After one young cook got a hold of the stone, it was severely dished (and some of the new knives scratched, no big deal, it's a learning curve). I flattened it and the two layers later separated from one another and the side that dished, cracked. I considered bringing another stone in, but not from my line, it wasn't worth the sacrifice..

Even with whetstones available, they still send their knives to be sharpened. I shook my head every time the production chef asked if I needed my knives sharpened. Why would I pay someone for that? I informed him he shouldn't either. After all, he has two stones and I have a few.


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## Keith Sinclair (Apr 17, 2016)

Thanks miyabi. You can get a King Deluxe 1200 for about 20.00. Do not waste your own stones on them let them get their own. The Chosera & Shapton are good stones. I never could stand using even semi dull knives always been that way. To use a dull knife because won't take the time to learn freehand Just do not understand that at all.


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## fujiyama (Apr 17, 2016)

Once you feel sharp, there's no going back! Restaurant owners know this and should care more about the product they pay for. Dull knives bruise veg and tear protein. They're uncomfortable and dangerous. 

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink"

Unfortunately in Canada everything is more expensive. The King 1200 goes for $37.50 + HST ($45 stone for me). It's worth it when you have decent co workers.


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## mark76 (Apr 17, 2016)

jbart65 said:


> First time poster on this particular forum, but longtime knife lover.
> 
> Gotta to defend Chef's Choice and Cooks.
> 
> [...]



Thanks! As many ppl appreciated, that's a great first post. Something to ponder on for us sharpening crazies


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## spoiledbroth (Apr 17, 2016)

keithsaltydog said:


> Sorry for yacking so much on this thread. So how did you learn to freehand? You have the knowledge just teach them. I used to sharpen my 5 or 6 knives after service at work trouble was people would ask me to sharpen their knives too. I would teach them how to sharpen & get their own stone. After a while started sharpening at home, would have several Gyuto's if one gets semi dull grab a sharp one out of the drawer at my work station.
> 
> ...
> 
> So for you cooks out there let your cook buddies take a few cuts with a fresh sharpened blade, they will see the light. Then be firm tell them you will not be a sharpening service, but if they buy a stone you will teach them. A smart phone is a great learning tool they can go back to.


No problem I always enjoy your posts keith.

I learned to freehand around the same time I got interested in japanese knives... ~2 years ago I started researching on the internet to replace an old henckel 4 star I had been using. That's the one with the moulded black handle. I ended up getting a tojiro dp as a gift and realized very quickly taking it to the local knife sharpening guy (don't fret he's actually really talented, knows his single bevel knives and everything) wasn't going to be economically viable on a line cook's salary. So I joined a different forum got a few king stones and did a 1200/4000 progression with that tojiro dp every day for like five months before buying my next knife. Many years prior I had admired some mac pro knives a coworker had... I think if I had done a bit of research then I'd probably be much better off in my career as getting interested in my equipment eventually motivated me to take cooking quite a bit more seriously. More recently I have been learning the asian method of sharpening instead of the whole blade in one pass method. Anyway now I'm rambling. Essentially I learned from JKI videos and reading fora here and there. 

I have showed a few people "my technique" (the people who deserve to be taught something, anyway) though I always caveat it with ... do what works for you. If someone else shows you a technique that works better don't be afraid to use it. Nothing I teach you should be set in stone. I had a exec chef ask me to teach him to sharpen his knives. That was the beginning of the end for me in that kitchen, needless to say I did not come in and show him on my time how to sharpen his knives.

Now I working in a japanese restaurant and while there are relatively few actual japanese there, I'm the only white guy itk. Everyone can freehand a better edge than me, so if anything I'll be learning from them :wink: house knives are two ss kikuichi sujihiki (I think, or else severely sharpened down gyutos). This one older dude can julienne ~10L of veggies sub .5mm in about ten minutes flat on the worst of days. It's alot of fun.


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## aboynamedsuita (Apr 17, 2016)

spoiledbroth said:


> the local knife sharpening guy (don't fret he's actually really talented, knows his single bevel knives and everything).



Do you mean Francesco? He's the only commercial sharpener in WPG I know of who I'd let touch any of my knives. I see now that he's closed until further notice hope everything's okay.

Even DA Niels told me that they use the CC or equivalent (it's probably okay for >95% of the knives they sell). Additionally the average cook seem to think of knives as just a means to an end in the kitchen, so they are often overlooked. Hell I remember when I graduated and bought my Henckels 10 piece set for <$200CAD from Costco, thought I was livin' large lol. I still keep them on the counter but in a smaller knife block, handy for when I want a beater or a knife I can just put in the sink if I'm too lazy to wash it.


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## Keith Sinclair (Apr 17, 2016)

Sounds like your new job has a stoned culture:dancecool: That's the way it should be. I've taught Executive Chef free hand, also had them borrow my knives.


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## Furminati (Apr 17, 2016)

I actually bought a cc trizor out of pocket and left it at a kitchen I worked at. I thought it put a respectable edge quickly on everything that I didn't care about. I had a tonne of beaters from the learning curve of quality knives. (Henckels,shuns). For people that knew no care for their knives, other than poor technique with a steel, it was a welcome addition. A working edge in 10 seconds. I've used so many gadgets in my shun/henckels period. 
The shun electric sharpener being the worst, it's actually insanity. You pull through and the most aggressive grinding just eats the knife, particles flying.
I was also surprised there was no attention to knives in cooking school, a brief run down on western knife types and a quick steel demonstration. Maybe this is purposeful, as this hobby now consumes way to much of my life, lol.


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## spoiledbroth (Apr 18, 2016)

tjangula said:


> Do you mean Francesco? He's the only commercial sharpener in WPG I know of who I'd let touch any of my knives. I see now that he's closed until further notice hope everything's okay.
> 
> Even DA Niels told me that they use the CC or equivalent (it's probably okay for >95% of the knives they sell). Additionally the average cook seem to think of knives as just a means to an end in the kitchen, so they are often overlooked. Hell I remember when I graduated and bought my Henckels 10 piece set for <$200CAD from Costco, thought I was livin' large lol. I still keep them on the counter but in a smaller knife block, handy for when I want a beater or a knife I can just put in the sink if I'm too lazy to wash it.



yeah francesco... didnt know he was shuttered at the moment. that sucks I had a knife I wanted to bring to him for thinning.. hope he's okay.

@keith: stoned culture indeed  It wasn't so much this guy's position as the way he held the position that made my decision for me with regard to teaching him how to sharpen. R-E-S-P you know the rest. Much happier at the new place.


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## Keith Sinclair (Apr 18, 2016)

I read some years back that Chiharu Sugai from Korin was teaching sharpening at the Culinary Institute of America in NYC. I just happen to live right across the street from the Culinary school here. I have worked with several of the Chef Instructors at one time or another in the Hotels.

We would use the students slave labor around busy holiday season so they could see what it is like in the real world. Almost all had no free hand skills just wailing away on steel rods.

First class I taught was too technical did not know how to put together a class yet. Thought about it, they only need to learn freehand the rest will fall in place. When I first went there they were sharpening on these rotating stones on a black plastic case, bottom of cases were for oil or water. Some had both put in at diff. times. The stones were dished and dirty. They had one in each kitchen.

I am starting to make a difference over there. This is my 3rd year. Really enjoy it keeps an old fart busy.


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## jbart65 (Apr 18, 2016)

An addendum: 

My wife laughs when she sees me sharpening. She says:

Why do you like knives so sharp?
How much sharper does a knife really have to be?
Why are you suddenly so obsessed about knives and sharpening?
It must be about thrusting action. You like to thrust (guilty) 
Your new knives look ... scary.
I'm afraid to use the new paring knife because it's so sharp!

But she doesn't mind so long as it means good dinners et al and a happier husband. irate1:

As an expiriment a few months ago, I sharpened some beatup Global knives both by hand and with CC. The CC edges were just as good initially, as I was a beginning sharpener. But I have now gotten my wife's Global Santuko beater noticeably sharper than CC.

I doubt I will use CC on any of my own knives anymore, but the German or nonJapenese ones seem to benefit much more.


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