sharpening knives

bonkey

Never liked Sabatier. Dunno why. I know a lot of ppl rave about them, and they are apparently quite good, but they never did it for me.

As for a good place to buy good knives...hmm...hard to say. The internet may well be the cheapest option, but I'd never buy a decent knife without first hefting it in my hand. So you'll still need to find a shop stocking decent knives. There is (or was) a couple in Dublin, but I'm damned if I can remember the name of the street....Chatham Street, maybe?

The likes of BT may also be worth checking out.

Thing to remember is that good knives will last you a lifetime (unless, as mentioned before, someone uses them as screwdrivers etc.) so its worth taking the time to find what is the right stuff for you.

Shabadu

Sweeney O'Rourke's on Pearse street is yer only man. They'll sort you out. I used to have a 25% discount there!

TKK

bonkey wrote:

You should check different makes and sizes of blades. It could also be the way you hold the knife (I dunno about anyone else, but I tend to hold it with my hand right up against the blade, holding it half by the handle, half by the blade).

<edit> Fairly good representation of how to hold it "properly" here which is pretty much how I do it.</edit>

Well now it seems that I've been gravitating towards using knives the way described in your link purely for the stability aspect.

I find it's the knuckle on my third finger that catches the board. The blades just don't seem high enough. I did find a knife that worked quite well for me a few years ago but it was part of a chef's set (make unknown) and I've never seen a knife that big in the shops.

Alun

bonkey wrote:

There is (or was) a couple in Dublin, but I'm damned if I can remember the name of the street....Chatham Street, maybe?

That'd be Kitchen Compliments in Chatham Street http://www.kitchencomplements.ie .

There's another shop on the other side of the street that does lots of WMF stuff, not sure whether they do knives or not, and if you walk further down Chatham Street there's another shop, who's name escapes me, on the other side of a crossroads. They do all kinds of household stuff but have quite an extensive kitchen section round the back.

TKK

Thanks for the ideas on where to go. I'm gonna be in town this evening so I'll check out the recommendations above.

TKK

Shabadu wrote:

Sweeney O'Rourke's on Pearse street is yer only man. They'll sort you out. I used to have a 25% discount there!

Do they sell to the general public or is it trade only?

Shabadu

They sell to the public, and the staff are really really helpful & knowlegeable. I could stay in there for hours.

TKK

Thanks for your help. They're in for a visit so.

TKK

Anyone have any opinions on Zwillings/Henckel knives?

Fabarm Guy

I bought a Sharpening Gismo at the Game Fair in EMO at the weekend, it,s absolutely deadly, it,s comprised of 2 Carbon Steel Blocks at an angle to each other,in a Vee, Run any blade along the Vee 3 times and no matter how blunt, it will split a hair.No joking, small enough to fit on a key ring.I,m sharpening every thing from Axes to Razor Blades

cian8

Fabarm Guy wrote:

I bought a Sharpening Gismo at the Game Fair in EMO at the weekend, it,s absolutely deadly, it,s comprised of 2 Carbon Steel Blocks at an angle to each other,in a Vee, Run any blade along the Vee 3 times and no matter how blunt, it will split a hair.No joking, small enough to fit on a key ring.I,m sharpening every thing from Axes to Razor Blades

does anyone know what this is called? or where they can be got on the world wide interweb?

replytohere2004

Alton Brown of Good Eats on Knife Sharpening:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hKXQHGwzAw

Musashi

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/products.html

Sharpening

Sabatier can be made by many companies, some good some atrocious. Victorinox are well regarded for cheap but good knives especially the paring knives.

Western knives tend to be heavier and softer than Japanese, no big deal unless your job is food prep all day and your hands are being ruined by repetitive stress injuries. I'm looking at knives for the kitchen again and the JCK Specials on the site above look good, not laminated damascus Cowry X good, but very adequate for me!