tcmeyer

Generally speaking, if you can bend a knife, you ought to be able to bend it back.  Given that it’s hammer forged, I would go the route of using a hammer to straighten it.  I’d lay the blade flat on a wooden surface, ( tip pointing down into the table), then carefully tap it with a series of blows at the bend lines with a brass punch.  At first yo…[Read more]

I doubt that Clay would be comfortable with the severed finger idea, but I would.  If somebody comes up with a good graphic, I’d be delighted to take it to the local T-shirt shop.

Better yet, design several more, but different versions. – all funny of course.  What do you think of a chef with bandages on each of his fingers?  Or “If it ain’t mor…[Read more]

I was going to state that the owner should be queried before abandoning the chisel grind, but someone’s already done that.  Now it would be a major reprofiling to return to a true chisel.  I agree with Marc – go with a 50/50 profile.

Chisel grinds produce a very acute included angle, and this needs to be considered when choosing an angle.  A 20…[Read more]

To elaborate on my micro-adjust knobs, I offer the following , more detailed info:

When the 2017 version of the Gen 3 Pro came out with the concentric jam nut (actually, it’s a screw), I was disappointed, as this arrangement is really just an addition to the micro-adjust screw, it only “jams” to the extent that the two screws are misaligned.  As…[Read more]

I’ve had this happen a couple of times and my attempts at polishing out the new scratches have been far less than successful.  At a microscopic level, the scratches reach down into the grind scratch lines.  This means that the only way to completely remove them requires that you do a regrind.  Without fixtured equipment, any new scratch pattern yo…[Read more]

I’ve done about 12-15 pairs so far, and I’m pretty sure they’ve all been different.  Eight of them have been a batch from a single owner and it did strike me as being odd.  The differences were huge, like from about 55 degrees to a solid 90.  The owner is a doctor and her bandage cutting scissor was the 90 degree job.

BTW, the scissor adapter wo…[Read more]

If they were my knives, I probably wouldn’t be much different from your proposed progression.  If you are going to maintain the original bevel angles, I would start with 400 grit.  With blades as thin as Wuesthoff boning knives, (I’ve got one) it shouldn’t take lower grits to bring ’em to a good edge, considering the use intended.  If you had so…[Read more]

I’d say go with the $2 per inch to start with.  Then evaluate the results to decide whether or not to adjust the number and by how much.  Call it an introductory fee.  That suggests that the standard fee might be increased.

I’ve often thought about going to a gun show and demonstrating what I think are edges sharpened to a level they’ve never se…[Read more]

Sorry, but I can’t think of any process or design problem that would even begin to produce these results – chisel edges excepted.  It seems bizarre to think that something in the steel or in the edge geometry that would cause rolling to one side. It must be how the knife is being used and what material is being cut.  Is there maybe a slight r…[Read more]

Interesting article, Marc.  I would have asked a few more questions regarding their tests and the results thereof.  I think that edge durability is also to tied to the forces the edge is subjected to.  I think it’s commonly accepted that very acute-angle edges require less force to cut through almost any given medium and it seems to me that the re…[Read more]

Jpack:  About twenty years ago, my wife and I were driving home from New Orleans and passed through Bowling Green.  I took her to a Mexican restaurant I knew from a business trip and made some major romance points by asking the Mariachis to play “Sin Ti.”  I wonder if Puerto Vallarte is still there?

The collars are probably hardened and wouldn’t like reaming or drilling, so you might try chucking up in a drill a short rod which has been sawn lengthwise for about an inch.  Then put a short strip of sandpaper in the cut and spin it in the collar’s bore.

I really like the clamp design you’ve picked, but it is quite large in diameter.  I use alum…[Read more]

One of the big reasons I decided to go with the WEPS was the fact that it uses diamond sharpening media.  No lubricant required.

Cost is pretty much driven by how long it takes to sharpen and with any of the non-powered sharpeners is largely dependent on the amount and severity of edge damage.  Kitchen knives actually take less time than the a…[Read more]

You should measure the thickness between the shoulders, not the width of the bevel.  If you look at the grind lines, you’ll see that the blade is thicker at the tip than it is from the heel to the belly.  This is what makes the bevel widths different.

Why the difference?  Obviously, the maker doesn’t actually carry the grind all the way to the ti…[Read more]

I’m not sure how thick it is, but it sure looks like the same stuff.

All good ideas.  I use a single layer of the foil tape used for sealing duct work.  It clamps beautifully, will never move on you and doesn’t tend to leave adhesive on the blade.  It can be a PIA to remove, so I try to leave one corner of the tape folded over to give me something to pull on.

Howard:  Nothing wrong with using the WorkSharp or any of its ilk for their intended purpose.  If I get a batch of knives to sharpen for a friend, the lesser-quality knifes are going to get my “buffing wheel quickie” job.  If my time was more limited (I’m 12 years retired and don’t charge anybody for my work), I’d raise the standard for what’s a…[Read more]

I measure the blade’s verticality by attaching a 1/8″ x 1″ x 3″ long piece of precision-ground steel to one side of the ‘cube.  For those of you thinking “Geez!” I’m sorry, but it’s what I had laying around.  I will then hold that steel edge against whatever part of the blade I can see.  Often, I have to turn the steel to put it on edge.  I tak…[Read more]