Knives

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Knifeman
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Knives

Post by Knifeman » Wed Jan 24, 2018 20:57

Hello All
I think when someone receives help they should give in return so my take on knives .
I have used knives in the meat industry for 25 + years . I have used and purchased the following stainless steel knives .

Victorinox
F.Dick
and the lesser expensive Swibo

We have the single man Henckles as home kitchen knives and they work well . The twin trademark is the top line I believe .

As far as a butchers steels I have mainly used F.Dick steels mostly the Dickoron line. Also the blue plastic handle line
I have used Victorinox steels and found them good as well.

I like water stones for sharpening . There are many makes available out there they are available from butcher supply companies also Lee Valley offers a large selection .There are also lot's of electric sharpeners out there but the only ones I have experience with using are the Hook Eye and also a Veil belt grinder from Canada.

Much has been written on sharpening knives, so much so that one can get lost in the subject for sure. You Tube has a plethora of instructional videos on there. A quick tip. If you hold your thumbnail towards the floor on a 45 degree angle and gently with care let you knife edge come down at a 90 degree angle to your thumbnail and that knife edge stick well and hangs up on your nail you have a pretty good edge on there.

P.S. Has anyone used an Isler steel from Switzerland ?

Okay hope this helps some !
Your thoughts are welcome !
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Wed Jan 24, 2018 22:36

Whats your take on the ceramic "steels".
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Post by Knifeman » Wed Jan 24, 2018 22:54

Hi Bob
In all of the years I have never used one .Actually I only saw one being used daily along with a regular steel and that was a Federal meat inspector using it.Never saw a knifeman using one . I have heard they are very prone to breaking. As you probably know the meat industry has many different manufacturing set up's . If you are moving around a lot and are wearing a steel on your belt / chain along with a scabbard and knives the chance of that steel swinging around is great ,banging into metal tables etc, so I don't think a ceramic steel would last long!
Hope this helps !
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Post by Knifeman » Wed Jan 24, 2018 23:02

As to my first post on the thumbnail tip for seeing if you have an edge. You can use a plastic rod or ( think the old style Bic pen without the refill in) placed on a 45 degree to a tabletop and gently let you knife edge come straight down and hit that, if it grabs / hangs/sticks right away there s a fairly good edge on your knife. Try it with a known sharp knife and you will see what I mean .
Again I hope this helps !
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cathouse willy
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Post by cathouse willy » Fri Jan 26, 2018 19:47

My "best" knives are a set of three hand forged knives. They were made in France sometime in the after ww1 at a waterwheel powered shop. The story is interesting I'll add a link to it They're not fancy, a bit ugly really but they take and hold a good edge.


http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/19 ... mt2W4JzLIU
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Post by Knifeman » Fri Jan 26, 2018 21:26

Cathouse willy

Thanks for the link very interesting ! Those carbon knives hold a very good edge ! When I first started in the meat industry we used a general purpose knife while on the slaughter floor called a Sheep Knife ( less of a curve than a skinning knife) from Green River in the U.S. It was carbon steel and held a great edge . Also a larger carbon steel bladed knife from Green River for removing side ribs from pork bellies . Also a longer narrower blade for lifting neck bones. Still have a scar on my wrist where that knife came to land in my wrist, 5 stitches .

I don't think that you are able to use those knives today in CFIA inspected plants because of rusting issues . I think all knives used today in CFIA plants need to be stainless steel.

Lee Valley has many unique products !

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Post by Knifeman » Thu Feb 01, 2018 02:13

Hello All

When I first started using a knife about 40 years ago we ground our knives on a huge rotating grinding stone that sat in a water bath and kept the stone wet while using it. Then the final touches were made on 3x6 or so water bench stones .We would keep them lubricated with water and liquid hand soap. Our knives were kept true by using a sharpening steel while we were working until they needed to be put to the stone again . As many of you may know as you use the cutting edge of the knife it starts to turn over and the steel simply straightens the edge out again . Eventually though it needs to be given a new edge using a stone.
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Post by Knifeman » Sun Feb 18, 2018 23:44

Giesser Messer also great knives !
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Post by Kijek » Tue Mar 13, 2018 22:07

Not sure where I mentioned it, or if I did or not, but I know I've been discussing buying myself a knife shaper, with Knifeman.
Well I ordered the Ken Onion knife sharpener and it arrived today so I've been playing with it to get the feel for it.
Now I never had an electric knife sharpener so I can really compare it to any other brand.
But I think I did good getting the Ken Onion, it sharpens extremely well, and I can't wait to spend a few hours working on all my blades to put a new edge on them.
Well there you Knifeman, thanks for all your help, I hope you approve? :grin:
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Wed Mar 14, 2018 14:44

Well to be honest I have owned several belt and ceramic knife sharpeners over the years but I am back to the good old Arkansas stones and a Japanese water stone.

https://ru-clip.com/video/t39rhQs6Hqc/s ... erada.html
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Devo
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Post by Devo » Wed Mar 14, 2018 15:47

I have owned the Work Sharp Knife sharpener for a long time. Think I might even have one of the originals. For me it works perfect. Other knife sharpeners I can destroy a knife in very short time lol.

I even use mine to sharpen the blade on my old Hobart meat cutter (1612). I could never get the sharpening stone to give me the edge this Work Sharp does. At $219 buck US for a new blade it does a excellent job on a dull blade.
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Post by sambal badjak » Fri Mar 16, 2018 14:56

Japanese waterstones for sharpening for me too!

I think the ceramic steel is interesting for the hard steel Japanese knives.
Since I have one, I use it for my other knives as well. But then, I am not walking around with it and I am the only one using it (and I am also the only one usig my knives, you want to borrow one, you can borrow my kiwi or other cheapish knives :))
life is too short to drink bad wine (anonymus)
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