I'm Back

I just got home from an all inclusive in the Dominican Republic, literally just walked in the door 15 min ago and came right to my Blog.
Being at one of these resorts provides you with a lot of opportunities to just think, among other things but I really had a lot of time to think about my Blog and how I could improve it. I think folks enjoy videos a lot, regardless of the fact that they may not look professional and believe me, I'm working on that.

There was a professional Videographer there and he gave me some ideas about my videos, he was using his camera and mostly a GO PRO for the week.  However, he did tell me that an iPhone 6 does some great video as well and that is what I used the last time.

I really thought a lot about knife edge maintenance and how to shoot a video on that so that will be coming up soon.

Please have a little more patience as I get my next video put together.

Sharpening thought provoking fluid.

Knife Edge Maintenance

Hi,
I am going to do another video on what I consider the best way to maintain your knife, there are a few and I'll go over them.

It's all fine and dandy to get your knives sharpened but how do we keep them sharp other than bringing them back once a month.?

I am sure most know this but you need to understand what is making the knife dull, this knowledge will help you appreciate what is required to rectify that and restore the edge.

The edge of a knife when sharpened or honed is a beautiful thing, the Apex, the edge of the edge, the sharp part is subjected to force, it's doing the work so that edge fails. Even though it may be composed of very hard steel, it can only take so much. If you are just cutting lettuce and being very careful that the edge doesn't impact the cutting board (that is not an easy thing to do), naturally the edge is not getting hit as hard as others. Most folks use the chef knife to cut everything and despite best efforts the edge is going to take a hit. It folds over, it crumbles so to speak and that is what makes it dull. Now it can happen slowly, little parts of the edge at a time but eventually, the entire edge is out of alignment. This is not an indication of abuse or anything, it is normal.

I have had very expensive knives in my hands that were just terribly dull so don't think you can avoid the problem by going out and buying a 500 dollar knife. In fact, that knife will probably get duller quicker because it will used more than others.

How do we fix it:

1. Have it resharpened, that fatigued metal has to go and it just takes a little while and the knife can me made razor sharp over and over and over.

2. Use a Hone like the ceramic hone in the picture, I prefer ceramic hones but a good steel hone will suffice and the Black MAC I have heard is an excellent Hone. When used properly as in the picture below it has the ability to push that fatigued metal back into place and thereby giving it some more life, more time before the metal has to be removed.

(My problem with this method is that it is only a short fix, that steel or ceramic is pushing fatigued metal back and forth. Now if is removing that fatigued metal that is good but still, it is not sharpening the knife, it is maintaining it. The issues arise when people continue this process for too long and stubbornly believe that they are sharpening the knife)

3. The best way to maintain a knife edge is on a water stone, a 1,000 - 5,000 grit stone, think of it as a  rectangular steel. This method takes a little skill but is easily done and effective as it removes that fatigued metal instead of just pushing it around.

This is the video I will work on and it is just a matter of using some light trailing strokes on a very frequent scale. Every day that could be done and I guarantee that edge will stay sharp longer than any other maintenance method.


Peter

Linder knives

I have not seen these knives before but luckily the owner contacted me and before I knew it i was in my happy place again.  Awesome knives out of Solingen Germany, the one on the bottom is composed of the super steel M390. Now these had been subjected to another sharpening service prior to me getting them, on that uses grinders, although very expensive grinders, the owner was not happy.

I hope he will be now.

I sharpened them on the Edge Pro with stones ranging from 400 to 15,000 grit. For the one on the bottom, the part that is now polished was all scratched up so I had to create a Relief on the blade at 17 degrees to cover up the ugliness. I sharpened the edge at 23 deg to give it strength.

Very nice knives, the handle on one even has a little spot for some glow stick liquid in case you drop it at night, you can see the glowing through the little bubble. Cool idea.

Peter

Japanese Knives revisited - disappointment

First of all, I am not disappointed in Japanese knives, I am with the owners.

This applies to the folks that I run into only, not everyone of course but there is a  pattern and to be honest it really pisses me off.

I am aware of people who have these beautiful knives that do have a lot to offer to their owner. These people are proud of them, they are eager to display them and show them off but they let them get dull.
Then, they let them STAY dull and that is what I just don't understand.

They do the research, search online and spend good money on a hand made Japanese knife and in a month it is no better than a 50 dollar Henckels that is sharp, seriously.  I actually find it offensive to the makers of the knife.

These knives are very easy to sharpen too, that is the strange thing about them. Just yesterday I ran into someone who owns a knife that I can only dream of having and it was dull. I know what he spent on the knife and it just blows me away.

Either learn to sharpen it or give me the freaking knife to take care of. I think cooks are becoming lazy in terms of their care for their knives, they see the Steel as the answer and mistakenly believe that that is all they need to do. It makes them feel good about themselves, they got that sharpening crap out of the way.

I have a lot of respect for cooks and chefs, they work so hard and it is often the case that they just don't have the time.

Sharpening their knives should be part of their daily chores, set aside 3 minutes before the shift, take out that 2k stone from soaking and use some trailing strokes on the edge to maintain it. Then have it sharpened every now and then, you hone then your sharpen, hone -sharpen -hone-sharpen.

I just don't get it.

Having said that, some of this goes back to the fact that knife owners don't trust folks like me to touch their knives.

Now if I was in their shoes, and a guy came in with a business card and said "I sharpen knives" and knowing I had a dull knife with no idea how to sharpen it. I would at the very least check the person out, ask around, does he have a website, any testimonials?

And Yes......that is a glass of Scotch in the picture above, Ardbeg, my fav.

:)

You folks make my day,,,,,,,,,every day.
Thank you.

Extremely respectfully
Peter Nowlan
sharpenerpeter@gmail.com

Slow Motion Sharpening Video

Folks, this is a little different and the purpose is to just try to help anyone interested in seeing how I sharpen, again. I think it helps a little being in slo motion.

The purpose of the video was to explain Burr Formation but the audio didn't work.

I will make another video on the Burr as I mentioned it being one of my grey areas in terms of knife sharpening.

If you watched this, thank you.

Peter

More to follow soon.

More grey area

Hi,
This is a big one for me: Steeling.

Picture from the book An Edge In the Kitchen. (Awesome book)

Now the way the steel is being used in the picture above is NOT the way most cooks do it at work. They use the ol Gordon Ramsay style, the way you see them do it on cooking shows on TV.

My issue is this:

Let's say I have sharpened a knife and after 15 minutes the edge is nice and clean and the bevels are set at 20 degrees and the knife is ready to go to work, it's very sharp.

Now the cook picks up that same knife and slaps the steel against the edge, in a way that from the COOKS perspective is keeping the edge in line and maintaining that sharp edge because that is what has been drilled into them.
From MY perspective the edge is being knocked off, it is making the knife duller.


I have run some tests in various kitchens where I sharpened the knives using my coarse stone regiment, very strong edge and with a 2k finish. I then gave the knives to the busy cooks and asked them NOT to steel them.  In every case, after a few weeks, the knives that were not Steeled were much sharper than the ones that were, the edge retention improved in the ones that I only maintained on water stones.

Now test of course is not entirely conclusive, what is the cooks used the method in the illustration and what if they used a ceramic hone?

Ceramic Hone (steel)

Also, I am not chef so I don't really have the qualifications to say that steeling doesn't work do I?

I just have a hard time "picturing" it make an improvement, I always considered the Steel as a means to get the knife through a shift, not to keep it sharp for months. I have heard a cook tell me that once I sharpen it, he can keep it sharp for a year. Now maybe what he considers sharp is different than what I consider sharp. I am a bit an edge snob in reality.

Good topic eh?

thanks for reading