Knife Sharpening

[Cobra]

Delicate foods like tomatoes are much more easily sliced thinly with an edge that has a micro saw finish,

I use a bread knife on soft fruits works a treat
But I do like to keep a keen edge on a smaller knife for boning out chickens etc.
Kept in trim with a diamond "stone" and a steel.

 

[Sky]

I'm sure Cordon Bleu or whatever his name is, that bloke off the telly, the bald one who swears a lot and is from Essex and licks chocolate off spoons, that one.; would argue with that. Someone with talent can achieve great results with the most basic resources.

I rest my case.

 

[AZ6]

I rest my case.

SILENCE! CONTEMPT OF COURT!

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

i have eight Kitchen knives of various sizes and shapes that I use regularly and a few more that I do not in the back of a draw. The youngest is perhaps 20+ years old The oldest is perhaps a late victorian straight bladed Kitchen Knife (like an old fashioned dinner knife) that My late mother in law repurposed as a pastry knife. and I have again repurposed as a sandwich knife come butter spreader, tomato and cucumber slicer. It is my always at hand do it all knife and used every day.
The relatively broad parallel and easy to sharpen blade is Ideal for most simple jobs. Most of my knives have been obtained second hand and are a mixture of Carbon and stainless steel.
I no longer own any of the ultra hard kitchen devil sort of blade they are almost unsharpenable and all though they stay relatively sharp a long time, they spend most of that time dull, in comparison to any softer steel knife. They can not be sharpened with a steel.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I use a bread knife on soft fruits works a treat
But I do like to keep a keen edge on a smaller knife for boning out chickens etc.
Kept in trim with a diamond "stone" and a steel.

I have a longish narrow boning knife that keeps razor sharp with a steel. I have never resharpened it on a stone it since I bought it in the 70's
I have a Smithfield 12" ham come bread/ cake knife with serrated edge that I have sharpened a couple of times with a round diamond file, Tedious but easy enough to do.

 

[Cobra]

I have never resharpened it on a stone it since I bought it in the 70's

2 things,
Maybe you don't keep hitting / scuffing the bones? ( )
Maybe the quality was better 40 plus years ago?

BTW mine is a Richardson Sheffield V Sabatier set
That I bought about 5 years ago and keep in a wooden block,
around the £100 mark iirc.

 

[snaggletooth]

It's a kitchen knife. Not a precise surgical instrument. Don't get anal about it.

This ^. On the other hand if it's a straight razor then by all means got to town with the multiple grit hones, pastes and whatnot.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

2 things,
Maybe you don't keep hitting / scuffing the bones? ( )
Maybe the quality was better 40 plus years ago?

BTW mine is a Richardson Sheffield V Sabatier set
That I bought about 5 years ago and keep in a wooden block,
around the £100 mark iirc.

Mine is ancient, could be Victorian, wooden handle with large copper rivets and a carbon steel blade that keeps a lovely edge. Not a name on it.
Not sure how yours can be French and English at the same time Sabatier is a French protected regional name. Even more famous than Sheffield for blades, though their modern stainless blades are not a patch on their old Carbon steel ones.

 

[Cobra]

Not sure how yours can be French and English at the same time Sabatier is a French protected regional name

No idea Its THIS ONE
Its even got Sabatier "written" on the blades.

 

[Nod]

Sabatier is a French protected regional name.

WIKI seems to disagree with you. AFAIK, Sabatier is (now) more a style of fully forged blade whose tang is a major part of the handle.

 

[Cobra]

WIKI seems to disagree with you.

I assume that its like the name "Champagne" ( although I think that is now protected / registered ?)
referring to any expensive bubbling wine

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

No idea Its THIS ONE
Its even got Sabatier "written" on the blades.

Found this which explains a lot...
"Richardson Sheffield is a major supplier of kitchen knives and scissors to the UK market. It is owned by the Dutch Amefa group. Their knives used to be made in England (I have a set of Richardson kitchen knives that were made in England) but production is now in the Far East."


As your blades are made from martensitic stainless steel, they may be too hard to sharpen easily with a steel. But if so they will stay sort of sharp for quite a long time, but will be more difficult to just touch up.

 

[Tori_T]

Looks like Richardson are owned by a company that also owns one of the original Sabatier companies.

 

[Cobra]

Looks like Richardson are owned by a company that also owns one of the original Sabatier companies.

Who'd have thought that knives were such complicated fellows eh?

 

[Nod]

I assume that its like the name "Champagne" ( although I think that is now protected / registered ?)
referring to any expensive bubbling wine

Summat like that, yes. IIRC, the way round the fizzy plonk barrier is to refer to the stuff as "methode Champenoise". Can't stand the stuff myself - much rather have a glass of the local poison for 1/10th the price!

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I assume that its like the name "Champagne" ( although I think that is now protected / registered ?)
referring to any expensive bubbling wine

I also found the following.....

"Sabatier brands have been sold by many companies over the years. The following list is an attempt to link the present day owners to the brands." ........ among that list was....." Amefa Couzon Cuisinox and Richardson Sheffield - In December 2005 Dutch company Amefa bought France's second-largest cutlery company Couzon, the owner of Cuisinox. In 2007 Amefa purchased the British knife maker Richardson Sheffield. They own the Sabatier Trompette (trumpet) and V Sabatier ranges.

It seems that while you can still get genuine fully forged Sabatier Knives made in Thiers. However many Sabatier "branded" knives are mass produced mainly in the far east.

However I have a very wide bladed Sambonet oriental style Cooks knife made in China that I doubt is forged but works very well and is sharpenable on a steel.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

When buying an old carbon steel knife or chisel. I look for one where the steel has a blackish hue and little if any rust. You will usually find that such a blade takes an excellent edge. In the normal way the residual oils and greases used in cooking keeps the blades from rusting, but not from staining. I rarely if ever need to adjust the hardness and temper of the steel, it is not that critical. Chisels will usually be far harder than kitchen knives, even when they are the same grade of steel.
what is often called pre atomic steel ( steel made before the end of WW2) almost always has less impurities than newer steels, as today all sorts of other metals find their way into steel production, as a proportion is always from recycled waste. Very little steel is produced from virgin iron. though if you want to spend enough, crucible made steel is still produced.

Japan still produces its finest wood working tool blades, from the steel recovered from the anchor chains of old sunken ships. Though old wrought iron plates would be an excellent raw material for making new steel. The steels used for making British, American and Canadian Plane irons are very sophisticated and keep their edges well, but are almost impossible to sharpen to the wire edge necessary for the finest finish. There should be no need to sand after planing. the surface should have an over all shine to it from the blade alone.

 

[Nod]

what is often called pre atomic steel ( steel made before the end of WW2)

Is Scapa Flow still "mined" for steel? IIRC, it used to be highly prized by manufacturers of things like Geiger counters which need materials with very low background radiation levels.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Don't know but they would Either have to get it from deeper mines or use old stuff.
Even the silver used in photo emulsions has to be freshly mined. Not reclaimed. Or it easily
fogs.