[kokopuffs]

Certain manual skills have been lost in these modern days, including knife sharpening.

[Flash]

Hey Crane,

As mentioned in another post of mine, I use (almost exclusivly) Mundial and/or Dexter-Russel blades (cheapies, i know). However, it took me far longer than i am willing to admit to realize that it is more important to invest in a great sharpener than buy high-end cutlery. About 8 years ago, I happened upon a most brilliant knife sharpening device: Edge-Pro. Now listen, I DO NOT go round advocating products of any kind, but this one saved me LOTS of many--though you will pay through the nose for it. As I said, I use cheapies. I have bought no knives for eight years, almost nine now. In the past 9 years I have worked in 5 diff. high-end DEMANDING kitchens. Needless to say, my knives have been run through the ringer. Many cooks laugh, and brandish a new Sabatier, Global, what have you. I laugh when they lose, it breaks, gets stolen, melts, dropped (not very nice of me huh?). I buy (or used to) the cheapest blades I can find, and keep a good edge on them. Here's the web-site for Edge-Pro:
http://business.gorge.net/edgepro/#

With this machine, you can sharpen any knife (save bread knives) to a wicked edge. Also, it is excellent for sharpening those blades in plastic Japanese mandolins. AWESOME!



........and another thing. An English cook friend of mind told me once that in Europe, they often buy cake spatulas and sharpen one side for a brand new slicer. I've tried it, MAN O MAN.

Hmmmm...Slicer $40 vs. Cake Spat. $10...............CAKE SPAT.



Flash

[crane]

Looks like a very intersting device. I am still curious about a couple of things. First, do you need to rotate the knife as it gets closer to the tip? I would think that if you don't, the edge would be uneven. Second, I already have some nice knives so there is no point for me to start to neglect them now. Does the knife get scratched when it is being sharpened? From what I can tell you are supposed to move the knife and the stone at the same time. Is this correct?
Regardless, I am going to look into it a little more, because it looks like a very precise product...as it should be for the money. Did you get the APEX?

[Flash]

crane wassup,

better than ME tell you how the thing works, ask them to send you a videotape demo of how their gadget works. If your gonna spend a fortune, they owe you that much. IF THEY WONT, I WILL. i have a tape that came with mine that I no longer need.


That's the beauty of this thing, knives don't get SCRATCHed! Like they do on regular two (or three) sided stones. The stone in this machine only touches that part that is to be sharpened, also, it takes off the MINIMUM of metal. very cool. but again, expensive.

Yes, knife and stone move at the same time, but it is easier than you think. ask for a video. basically, you really don't need to move the knife but once (sharpen one half, then the other).

What did i get? I guess it was the APEX (it was a long time ago). I got the macine, two stones, a video, and a couple other side things like a water bottle to squirt water on your stone. I have never bought replacment stones, or parts of any kind. What I bought eight years ago I still have today in working order.

[chefboy2160]

This is one of the reasons I use Forschner knives . High Carbon and stainless steel . You have to sharpen a little more than the tougher steels but what an edge . And knife sharpening is just basic geometry . On the rough stone a beveled edge , on the fine stone you bring that edge to a fine point . Then you keep clean on a steel until you need to repeat the process . And this knife will cut like a razor with just a couple of passes on the steel for a long time . Also the prices are pretty good . As far as a farm goes momerog I think he was implying to just basic country sense on how to keep things sharp . Of course thats just my opinion ......