Living with knife-ignorant people

Thorgrim

Thorgrim

Joined
Jul 31, 2022
Messages
158
"Ignorant" is a harsh word, but it's the right one. My BIL and I are the only people in the house who can put a good edge on a knife. His daughter and grandson use a knife like it's a cheap hatchet. I can sharpen every knife in the drawer, and two days later they're all dull (grrrrr, the damned diamond steel is right in the drawer with the kitchen knives).

How do you deal with this, buy a bunch of serrated blades? I even gave the grandson my decent Japanese-styled knives, and they've been replaced with cheap white handled stainless blades - that stay dull, too. Nothing wrong with those knives, but he threw away better knives because he once worked for Tyson and that's what they used. When I was a fur trapper I used the same brand in a different configuration, but I did that because they were dirt cheap, hard metal so the edge didn't roll if I accidentally touched a bone while skinning, but mostly because on days I had no traps in the ground/water, I could relax in my recliner, sharpening a dozen or two knives to use when I put a new trapline down and didn't have time to sharpen. Sorry, I tend to ramble. I can sharpen and use the knives at hand and they're still fairly sharp when I'm done using them, but I would only abuse a knife in an emergency - slicing potatoes isn't an emergency (at least, it's never been in my life).

Has anyone found a solution to the knife-ignorance/edge-destroyer problem? I though I'd found an answer and bought a ceramic knife and someone tossed it away. I don't know where to turn next. Maybe I just need a nap.
 
I totally understand because I have a few friends and family who are the same way.

"Ignorant" is not a harsh word at all..... not even close. It simply means lacking the knowledge or wisdom.

With that, the best way to approach it is by teaching them how to properly sharpen a knife, and it's best done when they are young, as I was, growing up on the farm in Illinois. Regardless of age, education is the best tool. Take the time to teach.

For someone who doesn't know what they're doing, it's best that they do not have access to a sharpening stone, because they will ruin the knife.

By the way, I ran a trap line for many years!
 
Cutting fiberglass will destroy any edge. I use serrated kitchen knives for that task. It also seems ceramic maybe will help . Amazon used to have inexpensive sets? Or teach them how to use knives even better.
 
Thorgrim said:
Has anyone found a solution to the knife-ignorance/edge-destroyer problem?
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What specifically is the problem? Are they coming over to your house and abusing your knives? Just ask them not to use your good knives, and tell them which knives they CAN use.

Are they abusing their own knives? To be 100% honest, that's none of your business. Let them be.

Is the problem that they're abusing their own knives that you sharpened? Once again, they're not your knives. If you feel they don't adequately respect your skill and time, just don't sharpen their knives. It's not as if they even give a śħįț.

Best of luck to you!
 
My own parents were habituated for decades in using their kitchen knives with what most of us would call very dull edges. I learned, there's a real risk in suddenly presenting to them a very sharp knife, though. My mother's habit, when handling knives in the kitchen, was to sort of absent-mindedly rub her thumb along the edge of the blade near the handle. It wasn't an issue though, because it was never actually sharp enough to cut her. The first time I sharpened one of them to my own liking, within a day or two, she'd managed to cut her thumb with it. And once my father noticed I was interested in sharpening them, he asked me to put a better edge on the paring knife he used to section apples for his lunch. But he had a habit of doing that against the ceramic tile countertop in the kitchen. So, there was always a segment in the belly of the edge that would get immediately flattened (mushroomed) in the first cut through the apple.

Since the knives they used were their own kitchen set, I eventually concluded it wasn't worth trying to get them to change their habits with the kitchen knives and they were safer using the dull blades. By the time I'd taken closer note of their habits, both of them were in their 80s. And changing habits doesn't generally come easily, that late in life. It's usually accepted among most of us that a sharp knife is safer than a dull one. And so long as one is conscientious enough and fully aware of just how sharp their knife is when using it, usually it is safer. But habits formed over the course of decades don't just change overnight, if at all. And bad, ingrained habits with a sharp knife can be much more dangerous sometimes.
 
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RustyIron said:
What specifically is the problem? Are they coming over to your house and abusing your knives? Just ask them not to use your good knives, and tell them which knives they CAN use.

Are they abusing their own knives? To be 100% honest, that's none of your business. Let them be.

Is the problem that they're abusing their own knives that you sharpened? Once again, they're not your knives. If you feel they don't adequately respect your skill and time, just don't sharpen their knives. It's not as if they even give a śħįț.

Best of luck to you!
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This 100%.
 
As others have mentioned, a big question is what THEIR use preferences are. Do they enjoy using properly sharp knives, or do they have bad habits that will make the knives more of a detriment than a benefit? If the former, get yourself a good coarse stone and use it for making the sharpening fast and easy, and consider the work an act of love without expectation that it be appreciated beyond the fact that you restored their baseline function. My family has gradually learned over the years that certain materials damage edges, so they take less damage than they used to, but also I told them not to worry about it too much 'cause I don't want the improved state to be an annoyance rather than a pleasant gift. If they dull, I just sharpen 'em up again when I notice it. Be sure to only gift blades you aren't gonna' be upset about getting beaten up, and be happy when you see them dull because it means they were being used.
 
We have good friends for whom I would sharpen their knives occasionally, and they appreciated it. About a year ago, the husband got a titanium cutting board since they are supposed to be the safest, according to some idiots on the internet. I spent about 1 minute trying to educate him about his choice in cutting boards. It was quickly apparent I was not going to sway him about it so I stopped. He is very educated and loves learning anything, so I was surprised I could not educate him on this. Needless to say I don't offer to sharpen their knives anymore.

My wife and I have our own knives, hers are sharpened with a much higher angle due to her preferences on knife use. Keep in mind, I have a very negative view of anyone who uses a wood or rubber cutting board, ever since I made a tool rack with a piece of oak from a pallet on a milling machine. What the wood did to my high speed end mill was an eye opener, it is very abrasive. I use polypropylene cutting boards or matts only, as that plastic is not abrasive at all. We all have our pet peeves.
 
A ceramic knife would not have been a good solution anyway. They chip really easily. Serrated knives can really mess with your cutting board if misused, make horrible wounds if people cut themselves with them, and are a real pain to sharpen.

I go with the decoy knife approach. The good knives are in the drawer, and the ones I want everyone else to use are in a conspicuous knife block on the counter. They are all soft stainless, maybe 56-59 hardness, but not garbage. Still, I would not have a moment of sadness if any of them were ruined. I sharpen them with a 400 grit diamond stone, which doesn't take long.

The good part is that the people who don't pay attention to caring for knives are also the most easily caught by the decoy knife block. When I had a friend over who knew knives, he looked over the knife block, then looked at me and asked "where are the good knives?"
 
Diemaker said:
We have good friends for whom I would sharpen their knives occasionally, and they appreciated it. About a year ago, the husband got a titanium cutting board since they are supposed to be the safest, according to some idiots on the internet. I spent about 1 minute trying to educate him about his choice in cutting boards. It was quickly apparent I was not going to sway him about it so I stopped. He is very educated and loves learning anything, so I was surprised I could not educate him on this. Needless to say I don't offer to sharpen their knives anymore.

My wife and I have our own knives, hers are sharpened with a much higher angle due to her preferences on knife use. Keep in mind, I have a very negative view of anyone who uses a wood or rubber cutting board, ever since I made a tool rack with a piece of oak from a pallet on a milling machine. What the wood did to my high speed end mill was an eye opener, it is very abrasive. I use polypropylene cutting boards or matts only, as that plastic is not abrasive at all. We all have our pet peeves.
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I'd note that pallet wood is likely to be full of dirt and metal particles (aluminum, and therefore aluminum oxide, from shipping container/truck floors) ground into them. Commercially available boards or those self-made from clean wood are unlikely to be that wearing on edges unless they're made from something with a high natural silica content like black locust or teak.
 
As someone said, ignorant is not a harsh word. Or it shouldn't be. It merely means lacking in knowledge. We are ALL ignorant of something. Don't know how to fly a plane? You're ignorant of how to fly a plane. Most people are ignorant of how to operate a nuclear reactor, or drive a manual transmission, or assemble a toaster.

You can try to slowly, and very gradually educate them so they aren't damaging the blades. Or just acknowledge and move on. Accept that you'll need to keep maintaining the knives and that the lifespan of those blades will be shorter than they should be. If the first doesn't work, then the second will at least give you peace if you can just let it go.
 
Diemaker said:
….I use polypropylene cutting boards or matts only, as that plastic is not abrasive at all. We all have our pet peeves.
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Plastic cutting boards can be their special hazard. The industry tested board materials and found plastics to be particularly good at growing bacteria. The micro scratches on the surface tend to retain moisture, which makes for an excellent growing environment.

N2s
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I'd note that pallet wood is likely to be full of dirt and metal particles (aluminum, and therefore aluminum oxide, from shipping container/truck floors) ground into them. Commercially available boards or those self-made from clean wood are unlikely to be that wearing on edges unless they're made from something with a high natural silica content like black locust or teak.
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Once I faced/milled the "skin" off it was clean. Some plastics are quite abrasive too. PVC and ABS will do amazing things to carbide end mills in fairly short order. Carbide end mills last multiple times longer machining 6161 aluminum than those plastics. And yes they are virgin unfilled so nothing but the base plastic is doing this. I am sure it was oak due to the smell, very familiar with that smell.
 
not2sharp said:
Plastic cutting boards can be their special hazard. The industry tested board materials and found plastics to be particularly good at growing bacteria. The micro scratches on the surface tend to retain moisture, which makes for an excellent growing environment.

N2s
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Yep, veggies and meat are kept separate. Meat only touches the mats, which go in the dishwasher to be sanitized in the chemical wash.
 
Diemaker said:
Once I faced/milled the "skin" off it was clean. Some plastics are quite abrasive too. PVC and ABS will do amazing things to carbide end mills in fairly short order. Carbide end mills last multiple times longer machining 6161 aluminum than those plastics. And yes they are virgin unfilled so nothing but the base plastic is doing this. I am sure it was oak due to the smell, very familiar with that smell.
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I'd also wondered about the cleanliness of the wood being an issue. I've always been a bit nervous with oak, in cutting or drilling it with power tools. It does have a tenacious knack for seizing drill bits, and for scorching when ripping lengths of it on a table saw or with a circular saw. I think its extreme hardness is responsible for most of that - it seems much more resistant to cutting or drilling using HSS tools in particular. Carbide-tipped tools handle it better. More than once, I've broken drill bits in oak when drilling pilot holes for screws. Small drill bits will also bend, trying to follow the end grain when drilling into the ends of oak boards. I've also broken screws in oak, if attempting to drive them in without pilot holes, or even with a pilot hole slightly too narrow for the screw. I've speculated that its resistance to being cut, drilled or milled creates excessive heat, which I think could damage HSS bits / blades in particular. Oak's hardness and sheer strength appeal to me, for durability's sake in making projects with it. But the same traits also make it trickier to work with sometimes, using power tools.
 
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