A Friend Has Dull Knives

[Jim Koepke]

A friend of mine in California has dull kitchen knives.

So a few of my excess water stones and some that are not excess are packed and in the truck to go teach him the art of sharpening.

If he learns well he may become the owner of a couple water stones.

While down there it may be good to drop in on a brother or two. It has been a few years since seeing any of them.

May also stop off at an old favorite restaurant or two and bring home a Zachary's Pizza or some Top Dogs.

Shouldn't be gone more than two weeks.

jtk

[James Pallas]

Have a safe and enjoyable trip Jim. I wouldn’t count on giving lessons on sharpening however. Once you make the knives sharp you will get packages in the mail for redoing. People learn quickly to hate the process and will go to great lengths to avoid it. They think because you can do it that you actually enjoy it.🙂

[Scott Winners]

Fair winds and following seas kind sir.

[Don Peters]

Oh God, Zachary's Pizza :p And you'll get to watch a big slice of Berkeley mosey past as you chew. Enjoy.

[David Bassett]

... May also stop off at an old favorite restaurant or two and bring home a Zachary's Pizza or some Top Dogs. ...

Enjoyed Top Dog when I was up there, but can't say I miss it now. But oh do I miss Zachary's Pizza. Our daughter lived just up the street her first two years of college and we used to grab one on the way back to the freeway when we'd visit.

(Then she moved across campus a couple blocks from Chez Panisse. They're too fancy for our style and we never took advantage. Also seldom got back to Zachary's because Berkeley & North Oakland traffic & narrow streets suck!)

Enjoy your trip! (Hope all the fires stay away from your route!)

[Eric Rathhaus]

Hey Jim - sounds like you're visiting the East Bay. When was the last time you were down here?

[Jim Koepke]

Hey Jim - sounds like you're visiting the East Bay. When was the last time you were down here?

Thanks to all for the kind words.

Eric, It has been about four years. Didn't spend much time there then. It was mostly to sell our old home.

Right now trying to use my friend's MS Surface. If this is the future of computing there is no future in it for me.

My friend lives in Nevada County, CA. The smoke has been horrific today. His place is more rural than mine but seems more populated.

jtk

[Clifford McGuire]

A friend of mine in California has dull kitchen knives.

So a few of my excess water stones and some that are not excess are packed and in the truck to go teach him the art of sharpening.
jtk


What a good friend you are.

Safe travels.

[lowell holmes]

This is what I use.

https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=E211US739G0&p=diamond+hone+knife+sharpener

[Gary Herrmann]

Several times per year, a neighbor will wander by with a couple kitchen knives and a six pack or something. They don't seem to want to learn to sharpen. Eh, keeps me in beer.

[Mike Allen1010]

For me, knives are the most difficult tool to sharpen. For some reason I struggle getting a consistent bevel. Seems like a job that would be ideal for power sharpening, if you are able to reverse the direction of the wheel so that you could sharpen both sides. I wonder what the knife pros use?

[David Bassett]

For me, knives are the most difficult tool to sharpen. ...

Certainly true for me too! I think it's the compound curve found on most kitchen knives and my difficulty adjusting to it as I work along the edge. (Straight edges, e.g. chisels, are easy! :) )


... I wonder what the knife pros use?

It depends. From what I've seen "pro" only means they get paid and quality can be all over the map. (Of course they also have to deal with a much wider range of knives and of knife condition.) I've seen "pros" run knives thru (high end) off the shelf sharpeners, use coarse belts on belt grinders (sometimes with no additional refinement), and on the other end hand sharpen and polish on Japanese natural stones. While I'm slower than all of them, and I do struggle, I think I can achieve better edges than the quick crank out the job guys. The folk who surpass my efforts all seem to hand sharpen on stones for most normal sharpening, though many have grinders of some sort for the big chips etc, often traditional large diameter slow (relatively speaking) Japanese grindstones.

Vincent at Korin NYC used to post a lot of quick videos showing traditional Japanese sharpen methods on his Instagram. (Store was shut for COVID and he wasn't posting for awhile.) And Jon at Japanese Knife Imports (JKI) has an extensive library of knife sharpening videos with wonderful explanations of his techniques and methods. (He travels to Japan each year to study with his suppliers and keep his skills up to date.)