Realized I've been sharpening my boning knives wrong for a decade

Tbh, I always just used a steel and thought it was fine. A guy at the trade show in Kansas City last month watched me do it and said 'You're just polishing a dull edge, man.' He showed me the proper angle on a whetstone and the difference is night and day. Anyone else have a basic skill they were totally messing up?

2 comments

2 Comments

bailey.xena6d ago

My uncle was a butcher for forty years and he drilled it into my head that a steel is just for upkeep between real sharpenings. He said if you let the edge go too far, running it over a rod is like trying to fix a flat tire with an air freshener. It might seem okay for a second, but you haven't fixed the real problem. The stone is what actually grinds a new edge, and getting that angle right changes everything. It's one of those things you don't know you're doing wrong until someone shows you the right way.

miles_roberts226d ago

My woodworking teacher said the same thing about chisels. The real trick is learning to feel the burr on the stone before you even touch the steel. That feedback changes your whole timing.