Are you good at sharpening knives?

[Charliefretz329]

What do you use? I use a file, and then stones, followed by a leather strop or a edge dressing tool.

[_Maya_]

Wuuuhaaaat? You've asked this question for reals? That shit pictured is so old school. I've got my round stone on an electric wheel for max efficiency. Chop chop little guy. It won't take that long. I can sharpen a mower blade on my shit. Neighbors hate the noise. Sounds like someone sawing through chainlink but oh well. They don't bother me because they know what I'm doing.

[Charliefretz329]

A lady who sharpens her own mower blades 😮? Wowza!

I do use stones for my precision blades like the ones I use for butchering.

Are you talking about a bench grinder? Those just won’t cut it for butcher knife…

And you know I’m ready for you to show off those skills you keep teasing about lol.

But I’ve seen the automatic knife sharpeners but I’m a skeptic

[_Maya_]

www.amazon.com/.../ref=sxin_22_pa_sp_phone_search_thematic_sspa

[_Maya_]

My girl and I are laughing cleaning up dinner and she whips my honing steel outta my wood block (yeah I do gotta honing still) and taps it on the counter. 😆

[Charliefretz329]

Love love love you two !!! 🤣🥰

[Charliefretz329]

Honing is essential, and a leather strop does wonders too.

[_Maya_]

Movie time. Watching slingblade 😆😆😆

[Charliefretz329]

Omg 😆 quit teasing and send me your address already. Let’s do this.

[Charliefretz329]

I can’t get that link to open 😑

[_Maya_]

🙄

[Charliefretz329]

Cool!

[Charliefretz329]

Who would have the guts to bother a girl sharpening knives who has a special jar under her bar?

[_Maya_]

Lol and thanks for the most helpful opinion!

[Charliefretz329]

😊 luv ya 💕

[jennifer_bloom]

We don't sharpen our knives, cause we live in the city and knives and forks are so cheap that sharpening them feels like a waste of time. Also we are not expert cooks that need high quality knives. If you are a highly skilled cook or you do speciality construction work, sharpening a knife might make more sense.

[Charliefretz329]

Nothing beats the ease of a finely honed edge. Knives, scissors, saws…

I am both a skilled laborer and a hobby farmer so I definitely appreciate this skill. I’ll stop to sharpen mid job

[jennifer_bloom]

Our only home planted vegetables are in our small backyard but I brag to everybody about our kale. I feel so special to get home planted kale every summer. We have other plants too but I only care about our tomatoes and kale and zucchinis.

[Charliefretz329]

I have a nice orchard but I need to work on my gardening. Tomatoes are one of the best parts of fresh eating!!!

[genericname85]

just using diamond plates. they don't work as well as stones but you never have to worry about leveling them.

[Charliefretz329]

Diamond plates? I don’t think I’m familiar with those

[genericname85]

www.amazon.com/.../ref=sr_1_6

these. it's buy them once, use them for basically a lifetime. maybe my skills lack but with these i can't ever finish a grind as well as with wet stones. i never strop cause that's too much of a hassle for an effect that's gone after pretty much the first cut. i mostly sharpen for cooking purposes.

[Charliefretz329]

Sweet! Thanks for sharing! While butchering i strop often for precise cuts

[genericname85]

yeah that's really a work safety question in butchering i guess. it's also great for cutting onions cause a sharp blade won't make your eyes tear up as much.

[Charliefretz329]

It’s a carpal tunnel issue! 😂

Ease is a necessity

I didn’t know that about onions. They don’t bother me

[genericname85]

probably cause you work with sharp knifes anyway :D

[Charliefretz329]

Too true! Lol

[Staximus]

You should only use a file on an axe or machete in a pinch or if you need to restore the edge

[Charliefretz329]

I have an assortment of metal files including jewelers files that are great for fixing imperfections or divots or putting a decent edge on tools.

So I definitely agree.

The stone and honing tools are key

[Charliefretz329]

Being a metalsmith by trade I feel confident using files when they are called for

[matchrestore]

I'm ok at it. I don't do it as often as I should. I have a set that holds the knife at a specific angle with a magnet to make sure the edge is at the optimal angle, so maybe that's cheating a bit.

I prefer to use serrated knives for a lot of kitchen tasks though, so I only have a few knives that I can actually sharpen. Luckily the knives I have have held a pretty good edge- especially considering the bulk of them are 15 years old at this point.

[Charliefretz329]

Any way that works is good!

I have a tool for sharpening serated edges but it’s a pain

[matchrestore]

I've seen those, but I haven't had the need for them yet. And honestly, even though the knives in this set that I use most often are just barely starting to dull to a noticeable point, its been 15 years, they've had a good life, and I should just buy another one, and keep these around as a backup or for when I don't want to clean and sanitize a knife between cutting different meats/produce.

[Charliefretz329]

You can’t have too many good kitchen tools

[WhiteSandyBeach]

No, so I have to use a gizmo like this.

[exitseven]

I have a grinding wheel in my basement. I do lawn mower blades, knives, machete, and some garden tools. I use a hand file for touch ups.

[Charliefretz329]

Does it have a smooth stone?

[exitseven]

yes. it has a rough stone on one side and a smooth on the other.

[Charliefretz329]

I have a bench grinder that works well in lawnmower blades but poorly on knives. But I’ve seen the models that run slower and have actual stones. Looks useful. But I have a hand stone for my super sharp knives

[Guitarweirdo]

I use a smith belt sharpener. It's basically a small belt sander with an edge guide. It does a perfect 20 or 22 degree edge every time.

[Charliefretz329]

I’ll have to look into that. I’m a fan of my stone for sure

[Charliefretz329]

I probably don’t get the perfect angle but razor sharp and close enough

[Guitarweirdo]

I love stones, but this thing is so fast. I can touch up every knife in my kitchen in half an hour, switch guides and sharpen all of the scissors too.

[Guitarweirdo]

I got it on a whim one day, but I love the thing now. I'm a pitmaster and specialize in brisket, I trim 300 pounds of brisket every day and this tool keeps my knives running

[Charliefretz329]

I use mine for cooking mostly but I also process my own animals. So I definitely understand the need for absolute sharpness!!!

[Robertjo16]

Yes I am

[Charliefretz329]

What do you use?

[Robertjo16]

A blade sharpener

[Charliefretz329]

Like the v shaped ones?

[Robertjo16]

Yes those ones

[Charliefretz329]

Those just don’t seem to give me the perfect edge I want. But maybe I haven’t used the right one.