Umm, what???

JSMcustoms

JSMcustoms

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Feb 2, 2012
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I just got told something that I've no idea how to react to. Picture being handed quite a few kitchen knives that need to be sharpened (belonging to a family member that lives in the same house). Her instructions were "to sharpen them", but here's the catch, she "doesn't want them sharp enough to cut her". So I'm just left standing there with a bunch of kitchen knives and one very puzzled expression. :confused:
 
Run them back and forth at a 90 degree angle to a brick and that should about do it. Or just do what you can to get them sharp but quit way before you think they are sharp. A lot of kitchen knife users really don't care if it slices meat or anything else with minimal effort, they would rather split apart crisp vegetables like potatoes or celery which don't have to be done with a sharp edge. Knife skills and appreciation are not a prerequisite for working in a kitchen in most homes.
 
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Sharpen like normal, then run the edge against a piece of glass or take a couple of slices through a green compound.
The edge (geometry) is there, but the apex will be gone.

But yeah, most household kitchen knife user can't tell if there's a good edge on a knife or not.
 
Just give em to me and ill free hand em. Key being I suck at free handing...
 
I.N.F.K said:
Either just sharpen like you would normally do or don't and say you did:D
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This is exactly what I did, just sharpened them up like normal and didn't say a word. Seems to have worked out just fine.

Jastab said:
Just give em to me and ill free hand em. Key being I suck at free handing...
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I'm fairly good at free handing. And my waterstones produce a beautiful edge too.
 
Many folks refuse to believe that a sharp knife is actually safer... as long as you pay attention to what you're doing, of course.

My wife has finally gotten used to using a sharp knife. Her mom and my aunts still won't let me near their kitchen knives... they say my knives are "scary". :rolleyes:
 
Omknj said:
Get some new family members.
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This is a good option to consider or you could sharpen the knives like normal and then go back and sand/grind the edges down to where they are not sharp. So you did sharpen them for when she asks, but now they are not sharp enough to cut her.
 
Sharpen one knife up to your standards and present it to her for trial use. I don't know of anyone that doesn't 'see the light' when a blade falls cleanly through a tomato or makes short work of a tough cut of meat. Serrated blades are popular with women by virtue of becoming a saw and maybe that's the way to go for future knife purchases.
I boarded with an older woman many years ago and one day decided to surprise her by sharpening her extremely dull kitchen knives. I never told her and she cursed me a blue streak when she initially discovered what I'd done. She had badly cut herself across the palm of her hand from using the typical amount of pressure in trying to cut through an orange. After that though she quickly came to appreciate her now-sharp knives and just before I moved out she asked me to teach her how to do that herself.
 
JSMcustoms said:
I just got told something that I've no idea how to react to. Picture being handed quite a few kitchen knives that need to be sharpened (belonging to a family member that lives in the same house). Her instructions were "to sharpen them", but here's the catch, she "doesn't want them sharp enough to cut her". So I'm just left standing there with a bunch of kitchen knives and one very puzzled expression. :confused:
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This sounds all-too-familiar to me. My mother and sister both use the same set of knives in the kitchen, and neither wants them sharp enough to actually cut themselves with them. I grit my teeth in restraining myself from 'properly' sharpening them. The last time I actually touched up one of them, I did as previously suggested, and restored the edge bevels to good geometry, apexed the edge, and then very gently rubbed the edge into something hard (don't remember what I used, at the time). Just enough to take the bite out of the apex. The included honing steel with the set would've worked for this, or the ceramic tile countertop, or the spine of another blade, or whatever.

As has been mentioned, the thin geometry of a typical kitchen knife does most of the work anyway, with most tasks in the kitchen; the apex isn't that important (it hurts me to say this). Excepting tomatoes, of course. It makes sense to me, that I'm the only one in the house who regularly eats tomatoes, as I slice them with one of my own pocketknives. Nothing else in the kitchen will do it. :rolleyes:


David
 
JSMcustoms said:
Her instructions were "to sharpen them", but here's the catch, she "doesn't want them sharp enough to cut her".
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- Sharpen them like you normally would and then have her use these...

img14o.jpg
 
I have finally convinced my wife that sharper knives are better, and keep the kitchen knives properly kept. It took me just doing it and her seeing and using them but all is well now!
 
Generally I'll just sharpen them up on a coarse grit and not finish strop even with plain paper. As long as the geometry is thin it will chop OK, and cut with a pull very well. Could still cut herself, but will have a bit more warning.
 
Sharp knives are better, I agree. However, I *have* slipped, not from pressure, my hand slipped up the blade, and once with a Bali that I was practicing with. The first thing I think of when that happens is, thank God it wasn't as sharp as, say, my Opinel or slipjoints. Had they been scalpel sharp, with acute geometry, I'd have been at the hospital instead of at home with some super glue and bandages.

In the kitchen is won't use a dull-ish blade. Drives me nuts tearing at food.
 
I'd probably give them a few strokes on a kitchen steel and let her test them out. I keep a few knives in our kitchen knife block that are for the wife and boys to use that I consider fairly "safe" for them as I do most of the cooking around here.
 
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