# Do Your Skills Translate Elsewhere?



## Seth (Jul 31, 2014)

Just a curiosity. I suspect that those who appreciate artisan skills and take care of their knives are a self-selecting group of people who already bring similar skills from elsewhere. But I was thinking about how I was chopping some of the rounds from the 200 year old tree that the electric company took down and how my splitting axe was sharpened just right because I have the tools and skills to do this. I am now painting the trim on my house and my scrapers have killer burrs on them that work really well: because I can reshape and create the burrs better than correctly.

So just wondering if the skills you have learned sharpening knives, making handles, practicing chopping and slicing with good form, etc. have translated to other areas of your life. I have found that even the discipline to hold correct angles and improve the skill of sharpening have bled over into an attitude of getting things right and doing things right.


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## Zwiefel (Jul 31, 2014)

Could also be vice-versa...having that attitude in other areas helped create an interest and skills in this area. I would that that was my case. I'm in IT and have always been interested in precision and ways of solving logical problems in the simplest, most elegant way I can. 



Seth said:


> Just a curiosity. I suspect that those who appreciate artisan skills and take care of their knives are a self-selecting group of people who already bring similar skills from elsewhere. But I was thinking about how I was chopping some of the rounds from the 200 year old tree that the electric company took down and how my splitting axe was sharpened just right because I have the tools and skills to do this. I am now painting the trim on my house and my scrapers have killer burrs on them that work really well: because I can reshape and create the burrs better than correctly.
> 
> So just wondering if the skills you have learned sharpening knives, making handles, practicing chopping and slicing with good form, etc. have translated to other areas of your life. I have found that even the discipline to hold correct angles and improve the skill of sharpening have bled over into an attitude of getting things right and doing things right.


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## knyfeknerd (Jul 31, 2014)

I think I would be an excellent cereal(sic) killer.


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## ThEoRy (Jul 31, 2014)

Sharpened my lawnmower blade the other day. She sings through the grass now.


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## knyfeknerd (Jul 31, 2014)

ThEoRy said:


> Sharpened my lawnmower blade the other day. She sings through the grass now.


On JNats?


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## Seth (Jul 31, 2014)

knyfeknerd said:


> I think I would be an excellent cereal(sic) killer.



I knew this about you already.


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## ThEoRy (Jul 31, 2014)

knyfeknerd said:


> On JNats?



Belt grinder.


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## knyfeknerd (Jul 31, 2014)

ThEoRy said:


> Belt grinder.


I expected more from you!
I want you working on a video with lawnmower blade vs. Nakayama Suita!


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## ThEoRy (Jul 31, 2014)

Kenny Schwartz I am not.


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## knyfeknerd (Jul 31, 2014)

ThEoRy said:


> Kenny Schwartz I am not.



Yes, then you must butcher leg of lamb with said lawnmower blade. On top of weird table-thingy.


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## cheflarge (Jul 31, 2014)

LMAO!!! :doublethumbsup:


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## ThEoRy (Jul 31, 2014)

knyfeknerd said:


> Yes, then you must butcher leg of lamb with said lawnmower blade. On top of weird table-thingy.



Pics plox?


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## Mucho Bocho (Jul 31, 2014)

That video of Kenneth bloodying a perfectly good leg of lamb on a dilapidated rickety bar stool was funny. We need some more laughs like that.


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## Seth (Jul 31, 2014)

You guys are getting way ot, but any ken s. references are entertaining....for sure. Though I have to admit I used a course stone on the little push mower I use on the dog yard. Getting those blades to hit the bar evenly is a b1tch.


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## ecchef (Jul 31, 2014)

Separate dog yard!? Posh!!


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## apicius9 (Jul 31, 2014)

I wish I had any sharpening skills... But I can glue things together with the best of them 

Stefan


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## jared08 (Jul 31, 2014)

You sharpened the barrel of a reel mower by hand??? 
Get some lapping compound and spin the blades in reverse after tightening the bed blade gap.




Seth said:


> You guys are getting way ot, but any ken s. references are entertaining....for sure. Though I have to admit I used a course stone on the little push mower I use on the dog yard. Getting those blades to hit the bar evenly is a b1tch.


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## Seth (Aug 1, 2014)

jared08 said:


> You sharpened the barrel of a reel mower by hand???
> Get some lapping compound and spin the blades in reverse after tightening the bed blade gap.



I used to put a micro bevel on jointer blades by lowering the outfeed table, raise the infeed, clamp a guide board and slide an Arkansas stone back and forth across the cutter head. I was young and stupid but never got hurt. 

I think I didn't do more than remove oxidation on the mower though I did do the blades with a dremel once. I was too lazy to get the compound...


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## erickso1 (Aug 1, 2014)

I cut my finger on my keyboards at work too.


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## erikz (Aug 1, 2014)

Where is the Ken vs pig video?


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## bahamaroot (Aug 10, 2014)

Ken is the pig and he desecrated a leg of lamb.

[video=youtube;FXspT6YjAYY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXspT6YjAYY&amp;list=UUs9f3v8paL3vc9kV3qrXTuQ[/video]


To get back on topic, I've work in commercial refrigeration and industrial maintenance most of my life so I've always had good hand and mechanical skills. This helped me pick up knife sharpening fairly easy.


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## ThEoRy (Aug 10, 2014)

That's totally sanitary. Totally.


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## Namaxy (Aug 10, 2014)

OMFG! Rick....next time you butcher something can you please say "And now we'll begin the initial dissection"...


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