Sharpening...please don't kick me off the forum

I'd recommend somethign a little different! A small belt sander and a rod system like the Sharpmaker. Train two or more people to use the small belt sander (like a small Delta 1x30) to put on thin edge bevels. After the belt sander, you use the sahrpmaker or other rod system to put on a microbevel. Everyone can be taught to use the shaepmaker to touch up their microbevel, maybe doing that once before starting their shift (gee, there goes 20 seconds!). Also, everyone should have steels for keeping things sharp all day. I'd stay away from ceramic "steels" in a commercial kitchen. I worked at a hog plant for two summers and I was told by some of the meat cutters that sometimes people would bring in a ceramic steel and they loved it, but it wasn't long before it got broken.

A belt sander in a back room or whatever would be fast. A person could put fresh edge bevels on 30 kitchen blades in 10 minutes. Also, this step need not be done all of the time. And the sharpmaker is foolproof.

Something to think about!
 
For a few years I've gone down to the local soup kitchen and sharpened all their knives every couple of months. With that infrequent a cycle of sharpening I have to hog off a lot of material to thin the edges down to good performance. I use a belt sander for that process. It takes up a lot of space and throws off a lot of metal and abrasive debris. It would also rate as highly dangerous for amateurs to use. I don't see a routine place for one anywhere close to a commercial kitchen. I always work in another room and have a significant clean up process. I've been using various sanders to sharpen knives for over 35 years and I still have knives catch unexpectedly now and then.

As to the proper grit for knife sharpening I have found over the years it is best to use the coarsest grit that can work reasonably and just use a lot fewer strokes. Life is short and you only generate extra heat when you use a fine hone for removing any appreciable amount of material. Knives in a busy kitchen are commonly abused. They typically get used on plates and bones. They accidentally run into forks or tongs while carving. A few swipes on the coarse hones will get you started faster than the india stone (though I love india stones). Most significantly the coarse hone quickly eliminates the worst flat spots on the edge which often don't recover when attacked with a fine hone by someone in a hurry. That flat spot is probably right in the location that gets used the most by the chef. In addition any flat spots are dangerous. Accidents happen when someone starts applying extra force on a blade while starting a cut on a flat spot only to have the blade go zinging through the material (out of control) when their slice reaches a sharp spot. I recommend a full progression through the grits (or at least using the medium and fine grits) when working with heavily used knives.
 
I have no experience with this system, but supposedly Benchmade is using them for final sharpening before their knives leave the factory. I recently handled a new Benchmade that actually had a decent edge on it. Here's the link. http://www.catra.org/products/prod_sharpening.htm

Might be a bit expensive though, barring that I would try a big V rod system. Most people can get the hand of those pretty quick.
 
If moneys no object call or email Tru Hone, I've heard some good things about them from the kitchen staff at the County Nursing Home.Tru Hone
 
I don't know about you folks, but I'm still working on "people who don't know their butt from a jug of cider".
Them is some dumb folk!!!!
:)
Lenny
 
My vote goes to the tru-hone...

I got mine from the deli I worked for when I was in college... they went out of business and could not pay us so the boss said to take a "reasonable" amount of stuff from the store... I ran straight for the tru-hone. It takes about 10 minutes to train someone how to use it, the instructions are printed right on the machine... once they've used it five or six times, they should be able to run it expertly.
You set it up once and tell your employees not to turn the knobs beyond your specifications and you're set... They run about 800 or 900 dollars, but if you run a medium to large operation, the thing would pay itself off in a matter of a few years. I've had mine for close to 7 years and it was in service everyday for about 5 years before I got it.

You have to be careful not to get metal dust in your food area though. I use an electromagnet tape eraser wrapped in a papertowel to clean up the dust. You pick it all up and then roll the papertowel in a ball and discard.
 
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