You've taken the plunge, forked out your good money to get those old knives sharpened, in some cases spent more to get them sharpened than you paid for them. They hold a special place in your heart though so why not.
How long will they stay sharp?
Well there are some standard answers to that and those standard responses need to be remembered, such as :
- depends on the steel, how hard is it?
-what are you cutting with it, how do you store it, is it put in the dishwasher?
Ok, you treat the knives like gold and they are all the beloved Grohmann, Henckels, Wusthof, Global or Shun.
The key thing to remember is that the dulling process starts immediately, the day you bring the knife home and with new knives.....I give it a month or two before you notice the difference. I had a gentleman call me and tell me his knife was still sharp after 10 years. Well his definition of sharpness and mine are completely different.
To be honest, most people have never seen/used a truly sharp knife unless you have purchased a MAC, or Tojiro or Shun. Those knives have a good out of the box edge but not all of them do. I am definitely not saying that your new Wusthof is not sharp, it is, but they can get sharper.
Back to the question:
How long will these stay sharp under normal household conditions and treated with care, i.e. in a block or better yet, on a magnetic bar?
If you measure the hardness on a scale from 1-10 with a 10 being the day I sharpened it or the day you brought it home...let's just use this scale for the sake of ease.
On week 4 that knife will be at an 8 at best and 3 months in will be at a 6-7. The knife will still perform of course but it just needs a touch up. It is when you let the knife get back down to a 1 or 2 that it requires the full treatment.
Remember that my knives will come back to you nice and sharp, you will find yourself using them more because it is enjoyable to cook again. So this extra use will expedite the dulling process.
Get them sharpened by me or another sharpener who uses water stones at least twice a year.
ALSO......Every knife you buy will get dull, whether it is a 30 dollar or 500 dollar knife, it just may take a little longer for that expensive knife to get dull but again, you will be using that one more so it will balance out.
The edge is thin it is fragile and it is the nature of the steel to become fatigued, so give the edge a rest and get it re-sharpened. I do my own knives once a month and it takes me 3 minutes to get them back up to snuff.
So if you go to a store and buy a 50 dollars Henckels and the salesperson says it will stay sharp for a year......she is telling the truth if you don't use the knife for than once a month.
I am not criticizing any knives, I love Grohmann, Henckels and Wusthof, in fact, of all the brands I sharpen, those ones never come to be chipped or damaged, just dull. I cannot say that about many of the other fancy brands.
So 3 months is my answer.
After that, get them touched up.
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