Non-motoring > Getting an edge Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Iffy Replies: 31
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 Sun 6 Feb 11 20:38 
 Getting an edge - Iffy
Any recommendations for a knife sharpener?

I have a small hand one which uses a couple of steels at a pre-set angle.

It sometimes does a good job, but other times seems to do nothing.

Part of the problem, I think, is I have a couple of kitchen knives made of super-hard steel which are not meant to need sharpening.

But they do, so I need a device to do it.

Something foolproof is preferable because I have never been much good at manual tasks which need skill and dexterity.

Any ideas?

Last edited by: Iffy on Sun 6 Feb 11 at 20:39
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 Sun 6 Feb 11 20:54 
 Getting an edge - Old Navy
I would recommend one of these, it uses an offset ceramic wheel to sharpen. They are available in shops other than IKEA.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/57145296
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 6 Feb 11 at 20:56
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 Sun 6 Feb 11 22:21 
 Getting an edge - CGNorwich
I'd go along with that ON - Had one for years. Efficient and cheap
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 Sun 6 Feb 11 21:02 
 Getting an edge - -
We bought one of these a few years ago, it puts a dangerously razor sharp edge to the knives, and should hopefully last us a lifetime.

Edgemaster 120 was the model.

www.chefschoice.com/page2a.html

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 Sun 6 Feb 11 21:05 
 Getting an edge - Netsur
Iffy, I have the item you have but simply use the outside of the crossed steels to sharpen the blades. Effectively I use them as you would a traditional steel but its a lot smaller. I get a good edge, particularly on smaller knives.
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 Sun 6 Feb 11 21:06 
 Getting an edge - R.P.
Espada I'm about to mail you to your registered account.
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 Sun 6 Feb 11 21:10 
 Getting an edge - Iffy
...Espada I'm about to mail you to your registered account...

He wants you to value that building in Llanberis. :)


...I use the outside of the steels...

Thanks, I see where you are coming from because I suspect the inside edges of my little steels are now worn smooth.

Will give it a try.

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 Sun 6 Feb 11 21:14 
 Getting an edge - R.P.
He wants you to value that building in Llanberis. :)

Nothing as crass !
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 Sun 6 Feb 11 21:18 
 Getting an edge - Iffy
...Nothing as crass !...

You could do worse, I reckon Espada would go through that place like a dose of salts, or he'd know a man that could.

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 Sun 6 Feb 11 23:41 
 Getting an edge - Netsur
Well I must be doing something right; our professional indemnity insurance has dropped this year when most surveyors premiums are rising. Of course I could get that letter through the mail tomorrow - Oh Lord I hope not!

I have recently picked up a fair bit of work as one local firm was allegedly refused insurance and promptly dumped of the valuation panels of various banks. There but for the grace of God most of us are saying. So far our skeletons have yet to be found, but we all have them, whether we know about them or not. Its just a matter of time.

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 Mon 7 Feb 11 01:06 
 Getting an edge - Iffy
...our professional indemnity insurance has dropped this year when most surveyors premiums are rising...

I won't pretend I understand precisely why that's a good thing, but I'm glad for you it's so.

And I'm curious how a previously insurable firm might be 'refused insurance', although I can understand how such a firm would then find it hard to operate.

Looks like the banks are an important source of work.

My banking brother was once involved in handing cases of companies in financial difficulty to insolvency practitioners/accountants.

He was courted by some accountancy firms with others of hospitality, often quite extravagant, but nearly all turned down.

The bank's policy was to hand the work to firms on the panel on a strict 'next cab off the rank' basis.

Last edited by: Iffy on Mon 7 Feb 11 at 01:07
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 10:40 
 Getting an edge - Netsur
"...our professional indemnity insurance has dropped this year when most surveyors premiums are rising...

I won't pretend I understand precisely why that's a good thing, but I'm glad for you it's so."

Thanks. Basically my insurance premiums are lower than other firms because to date we have a good claims record. We don't have no claims discounts, but its the same idea. The other firm must have suffered a lot of claims for negligent valuations or similar and insurers were obviously refusing to provide a level of cover which the banks thought was acceptable.

In our industry we used to tout for work to the local bank managers, but these days we apply and are vetted to join a panel and thereafter its the bank internal systems and our quotations on a job by job basis that get us work.
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 09:36 
 Getting an edge - R.P.
In response to Espada -

You're clearly "getting an edge" in an altogether different sense...!
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 Sun 6 Feb 11 21:11 
 Getting an edge - Bellboy
we had a carving knife as a kid with a bone handle my dad had sharpened it so often the edge went in and out like a bowie knife
modern knifes are rubbish
we have some special green painted non sharpening knifes and after 3 months they fail my cutting a tomato test into slivers so ive gone back to the basic knives into the the basic knife sharpener as you describe iffy then wash the slavers of steel off into the sink
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 Sun 6 Feb 11 22:35 
 Getting an edge - PhilW
When it comes down to knife sharpening, when all else fails, you can't beat a good old fashioned whetstone.
www.procook.co.uk/shop/Knives/Blocks,-Sharpeners-%26-Accessories/ProCook-Knife-Sharpener/d35/sd219?code=2776

Never actually bought one myself - I "inherited" one from Grandad about 50 years ago and has since kept penknives, kitchen knives, scissors, Stanley knives (never need a new blade!), etc a sharp as a razor.
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 Sun 6 Feb 11 22:39 
 Getting an edge - R.P.
Whilst checking my bijou Leatherman Micra the other day, I discovered that it didn't need sharpening at all....:-(
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 00:53 
 Getting an edge - VxFan
Bought a knife sharpener from Tesco recently. It was on their bargain basement last resort reduced price shelf for 20p.

Looks like this - thedirectwholesale.com/images/SKSHARP_400px_72dpi.jpg

Seen an identical one since for £4.99 in a shop just down the road from where I paid 20p for it.

Does the job just fine. In fact I bought a 2nd one the following week and have put it aside as a spare.
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 04:34 
 Getting an edge - Pat
My Dad, when I was very young ( he died when I was 11) taught me to sharpen the carving knife on the back door step.
I've always done it this way until we moved here where we haven't got a doorstep.

I haven't had a shrp knife since.

Pat
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 08:29 
 Getting an edge - Cliff Pope
You need an old-fashioned sharpener and an old-fashioned blade made of decent non-stainless steel.
Shiny modern knives are meant only to be bought, not sharpened.
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 08:54 
 Getting an edge - CGNorwich
Not really true. A carbon steel knife may take a slightly better edge that a stainless steel blade but for practical reasons most people will find stainless far superior and more than adequate for their use in the kitchen. The secret of sharpening is to do it little and often. The knife sharpener identified by ON works fine on my stainless kitchen knives and my carbon steel grafting knife.
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 09:00 
 Getting an edge - Clk Sec
>>I'd go along with that ON - Had one for years. Efficient and cheap

Same here - it works very well indeed. Got ours from Amazon a few years ago.
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 09:20 
 Getting an edge - -
The days of sharpening the bakelite handled blackened over the years bladed kitchen knife are over, these modern stainless knives will not respond to it....my Mum had one of those for as long as i can remember, sharpened on the outside step too.

I used to have a wall mounted relatively cheap sharpener similar to the ones being discussed hear, they do not work with modern blades, the blade digs in gets a rough edge and this is exacebated with each subsequent sharpening, it in effect becomes a fine saw.

A whetstone is the only cheap solution, but it needs practice and a steady hand to maintain and alter the angle as you get down to the edge, that's what i used untill

The one i listed above will take any reasonable blade and within a minutes hone it to a smooth and durable razor edge, i probably re-edge all the knives once a year.

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 Mon 7 Feb 11 09:46 
 Getting an edge - VxFan
Anyone else still get the man in a van coming round to offer to sharpen your knives? You know the ones, who also offer to tarmac your drive or give your tree a trim.
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 09:50 
 Getting an edge - Fenlander
One stop shop in the fens.

Same guy will cut your hair, sharpen your knives and empty the cesspit. We always make sure he does the cesspit last.

This is the set you need for a good edge...

ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.97468266.jpg
Last edited by: Fenlander on Mon 7 Feb 11 at 09:54
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 15:38 
 Getting an edge - sherlock47
>>>Same guy will cut your hair, sharpen your knives and empty the cesspit. We always make sure he does the cesspit last.<<<<



The problem with that is his last call may have asked him to do the things in the same order!

Although I suppose it is the Fens..............


:)
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 09:52 
 Getting an edge - henry k
>> Anyone else still get the man in a van coming round to offer to sharpen your knives?
>>
To my surprise a van does call once a year - sharpening only service.
Not the sort of caller expected in our area :-)

We have a tree in the front garden so " Trim your Tree sur?" is a regular event.
It is a self seeded cherry plum tree and of course they have no idea a) what it is and therefore b) when is the correct time to "prune" it.
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 10:35 
 Getting an edge - Clk Sec
>>You know the ones, who also offer to tarmac your drive...

I had such an offer back in the nineties, and I can still remember the chap saying "We'll be putting half an inch on the top".

I politely declined.
Last edited by: Clk Sec on Mon 7 Feb 11 at 10:36
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 13:09 
 Getting an edge - Cliff Pope
A proper edge would take a man's head off without his noticing.

I don't believe it - it's still here.




Try turning round! :)
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 13:24 
 Getting an edge - Bellboy
or bend down to do his galoshes up
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 13:45 
 Getting an edge - FotheringtonTomas
>> When it comes down to knife sharpening, when all else fails, you can't beat a
>> good old fashioned whetstone.

You can also use wet'n'dry. If you use it on a piece of (plate) glass, you can use it for "interesting" sharpening, flatting and trueing
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 14:45 
 Getting an edge - Pat
Perhaps Dog has seen the Knife sharpener man on a bicycle that used to travel around Cornwall in the summer and camp at the roadside?

Pat
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 Mon 7 Feb 11 15:51 
 Getting an edge - vitesse
I have used one of these on our Global knives plus a random selection of other kitchen knives, swiss army knives etc

www.amazon.co.uk/MinoSharp-Plus-Ceramic-Sharpener-Black/dp/B000WZFBOS/ref=sr_1_9?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1297093741&sr=1-9

Works very well

vitesse
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