Some lessons learned from getting the Edge on Up tester. NOTE: this is just my perspective at this time.
1. Incredibly useful tool! The ability to objectively evaluate the sharpening process has transformed the way I sharpen. I now can consistently get excellent results. Prior to getting this tool, I was using methods of sharpness testing that were fine for what they were (e.g., paper cutting and rolling paper cutting). This tool provides more precise information. It allows testing that is objective. It has been a game changer for me as I continue on my sharpening journey.
BTW: I had agonized over this purchase for months. I just wasn't comfortable spending the money. In hindsight, that was foolish. If you want to improve your sharpening skills, you need to get objective data. This tool helps to define what works and what doesn't. There's no more guessing. It's a measurable thing.
2. I need recognize who I am as a person. I'm a bit OCD. Having a tool that provides objective data means I'm going to obsess over the numerical results. I'm going to spend a great deal of time and energy trying to figure out how to drive those values lower and lower. It becomes part game, part challenge. And, that's all fine, up to a point. What is that point? I don't know. I'm obsessive. I tend to go overboard on things that I get into.
3. At some point, it doesn't matter, at least to me (and I'm guessing, to most people). What do I mean? I've been obsessing about technique and process and practicing a great deal on my own knives. Yesterday, I was able to get a very nice score on a Mercer that is one of my go to knives for food prep. After seeing a score of 77, I was thrilled to experience what cutting with that knife would be like. This morning, I broke down some very fresh and delicate strawberries. How did the knife perform? To me, it performed exactly the same way that it had performed last week when I was using it to cut similarly ripe and delicate strawberries when it's BESS score was 120. At the end of the day, the job of a knife is to cut. This knife cuts. Beautifully! Is it cutting"better" than it was last week? Not in any way that I can detect.
For most people that are not doing very specific cutting tasks or huge volumes of cutting tasks (meaning, nearly all home cooks), it feels like there is a diminishing returns process happening. Once you get to a particular sharpness value, chasing ever lower numbers feels mainly like an ego exercise.
Do your carrots really react differently when being broken down by a knife with a BESS score of 150 compared to a knife with a BESS score of 80? Donno. Perhaps if someone is working in a restaurant and they're constantly breaking down (say) 50 lbs of potatoes and 30 lbs of carrots a day, that sharpness could result in less effort being needed per lb of produce processed, and ultimately lead to improved physical comfort at the end of the shift.
I'm still early in this process. I don't yet have the experience to understand how a particular knife with a particular BESS score will work in practice. What I can say is that once my own knives got below a certain BESS score threshold, they became more of a joy to use.
The second point I listed above still is present. I AM still obsessing over the scores! I'm still thinking about what things I can try to get those scores to improve and to be more consistent. I'm working on processes to achieve outstanding results in an efficient manner. And, I'm going to try to tame that obsessive feeling with my experience this morning with the strawberries.
Bruce
1. Incredibly useful tool! The ability to objectively evaluate the sharpening process has transformed the way I sharpen. I now can consistently get excellent results. Prior to getting this tool, I was using methods of sharpness testing that were fine for what they were (e.g., paper cutting and rolling paper cutting). This tool provides more precise information. It allows testing that is objective. It has been a game changer for me as I continue on my sharpening journey.
BTW: I had agonized over this purchase for months. I just wasn't comfortable spending the money. In hindsight, that was foolish. If you want to improve your sharpening skills, you need to get objective data. This tool helps to define what works and what doesn't. There's no more guessing. It's a measurable thing.
2. I need recognize who I am as a person. I'm a bit OCD. Having a tool that provides objective data means I'm going to obsess over the numerical results. I'm going to spend a great deal of time and energy trying to figure out how to drive those values lower and lower. It becomes part game, part challenge. And, that's all fine, up to a point. What is that point? I don't know. I'm obsessive. I tend to go overboard on things that I get into.
3. At some point, it doesn't matter, at least to me (and I'm guessing, to most people). What do I mean? I've been obsessing about technique and process and practicing a great deal on my own knives. Yesterday, I was able to get a very nice score on a Mercer that is one of my go to knives for food prep. After seeing a score of 77, I was thrilled to experience what cutting with that knife would be like. This morning, I broke down some very fresh and delicate strawberries. How did the knife perform? To me, it performed exactly the same way that it had performed last week when I was using it to cut similarly ripe and delicate strawberries when it's BESS score was 120. At the end of the day, the job of a knife is to cut. This knife cuts. Beautifully! Is it cutting"better" than it was last week? Not in any way that I can detect.
For most people that are not doing very specific cutting tasks or huge volumes of cutting tasks (meaning, nearly all home cooks), it feels like there is a diminishing returns process happening. Once you get to a particular sharpness value, chasing ever lower numbers feels mainly like an ego exercise.
Do your carrots really react differently when being broken down by a knife with a BESS score of 150 compared to a knife with a BESS score of 80? Donno. Perhaps if someone is working in a restaurant and they're constantly breaking down (say) 50 lbs of potatoes and 30 lbs of carrots a day, that sharpness could result in less effort being needed per lb of produce processed, and ultimately lead to improved physical comfort at the end of the shift.
I'm still early in this process. I don't yet have the experience to understand how a particular knife with a particular BESS score will work in practice. What I can say is that once my own knives got below a certain BESS score threshold, they became more of a joy to use.
The second point I listed above still is present. I AM still obsessing over the scores! I'm still thinking about what things I can try to get those scores to improve and to be more consistent. I'm working on processes to achieve outstanding results in an efficient manner. And, I'm going to try to tame that obsessive feeling with my experience this morning with the strawberries.
Bruce
