Knife sharpeners

[Snowgoose-1]

Funny I know the style you speak of. In fact I have (or had) one inherited from my granny so probably 70 years old. I have used it but I currently use an oil or wet stone I just feel gives a better ege. But of course difficult to hold the blade at a constant angle (about 30 degrees) ol'will

Yes, holding the knife blade at a constant angle is my problem.

My Stanley gismo works fine keeping plane blades at an constant angle .

 

[WoodyP]

Once a knife is sharp a few strokes on a steel will keep it that way for ages.

 

[lustyd]

Once a knife is sharp a few strokes on a steel will keep it that way for ages.

But a steel will gradually degrade the blade. Modern ceramic sharpeners don’t do this so no longer require the knife edge be reinstated occasionally as used to be the case. I remember a man in van doing rounds for exactly this reason many years ago.

 

[WoodyP]

But a steel will gradually degrade the blade. Modern ceramic sharpeners don’t do this so no longer require the knife edge be reinstated occasionally as used to be the case. I remember a man in van doing rounds for exactly this reason many years ago.

Rubbish.

 

[seeSimon]

.... I remember a man in van doing rounds for exactly this reason many years ago.

We still have a man in a van, very popular he is too....

No connection, obviously.

 

[lustyd]

Rubbish.

Be more specific. Even pro chefs (when they used steels, they don’t now) had their knives re-edged regularly by a knife guy. It’s impossible to free hand the angle well enough not to round off the blade.
Ceramic ones have a fixed angle so acoid the issue.

If you disagree, use more than one word

 

[Ammonite]

I'm no expert but its my understanding from what I've read that traditional steels don't sharpen, they hone. Ceramic sharpeners, especially the pull through variety, are much more abrasive and do the job the man in a van used to do, i.e. re-establish the edge, so regular use will actually degrade the blade more than a steel.

 

[stranded]

I'm no expert but its my understanding from what I've read that traditional steels don't sharpen, they hone. Ceramic sharpeners, especially the pull through variety, are much more abrasive and do the job the man in a van used to do, i.e. re-establish the edge, so regular use will actually degrade the blade more than a steel.

I think the ceramic thing is only part of the story. Lusty doesn’t go into how exactly the ceramic maintains the right angle, which long term is everything. It’s that which might be the game changer, but he doesn’t say. I’ve got ceramic; its job is to take off the burr left by the diamond. The angle is everything. The fact that it is ceramic doing the honing does not to my knowledge negate the need to sharpen from time to time - but I’d love to be corrected.

 

[lustyd]

so regular use will actually degrade the blade more than a steel

It removes more material but the blade maintains a consistent angle (sharper). That isn’t degradation it’s maintenance.
With a steel, the blade is gradually destroyed through the action buggering up the angle which through necessity then has to be ground back to a consistent angle. That’s degradation as eventually the steel will lead to a knife that isn’t sharp while a ceramic will always leave a sharp knife that needs no additional work. Overall they both lead to the same metal being removed, but one stays more consistently sharp.

 

[lustyd]

I think the ceramic thing is only part of the story. Lusty doesn’t go into how exactly the ceramic maintains the right angle, which long term is everything. It’s that which might be the game changer, but he doesn’t say. I’ve got ceramic; its job is to take off the burr left by the diamond. The angle is everything. The fact that it is ceramic doing the honing does not to my knowledge negate the need to sharpen from time to time - but I’d love to be corrected.

I’m talking ceramic sharpeners as many lf us linked to, the whole device is designed to keep the knife at the right angle.
Obviously there are ceramic and diamond stones which suffer the same issue as a steel as users cannot maintain consistent angles without additional tooling.

 

[Hadenough]

PBO ???

 

[mogmog2]

One of my sons is a bit of a gadget freak, and he seems to be turning into a foodie, so I had a chance to play with one of these over Christmas.

Ooh - I want one. And they're rated the best sharpener on BBC Good Food Guide.

Then I saw the price,

So I bought one of these

Amazon wants a tenner, but I found it for £4 on eBay, and our knives had never been sharper. Not that that's saying much, but I don't need to shave with them. At that price, I doubt it'll last very long, but I can buy an awful lot of replacements for the price of the top one.

+1 for Anysharp.
My cousin had a trout fishery and the Anysharp is what they used to fettle their knives and AIUI they needed sharp knives. We've recently inherited the one they gave to my father and it seems to work well (although I'm not interested enough to critique it but it makes our Sabatiers better)

 

[WoodyP]

Be more specific. Even pro chefs (when they used steels, they don’t now) had their knives re-edged regularly by a knife guy. It’s impossible to free hand the angle well enough not to round off the blade.
Ceramic ones have a fixed angle so acoid the issue.

If you disagree, use more than one word

No.

 

[penberth3]

I'm no expert but its my understanding from what I've read that traditional steels don't sharpen, they hone. Ceramic sharpeners, especially the pull through variety, are much more abrasive and do the job the man in a van used to do, i.e. re-establish the edge, so regular use will actually degrade the blade more than a steel.

Correct.