08-14-2017, 09:41 PM
Mr. Mark, very cool to hear that you have gravitated towards the toothy truthy too! (Say "toothy truthy too" 10 times really fast). I’m also happy, but really not surprised, to hear that the folks for whom you sharpened blades for liked the edges you produced. It would be great if you could hear back from some of those people after they have really used the knives, however I realize that is probably not in the cards.
I know that most folks really have no idea about the difference between a smooth and toothy edge and what it means as far as usability goes. Indeed there is a place for smooth edges such as chopping or shaving, etc., but for a general use blade and anything that involves slicing tooth really seems to win out.
There is nothing more frustrating than what seems to be a sharp blade just riding on the surface of something and failing to cut without a great deal of pressure to force the blade through. I’ll bet just about everybody who uses knives has experienced that. I used to sharpen to a smooth edge for folks, and I’m sure that some of them wondered why they could only cut a tomato without smashing it for such a short time. They probably thought I did a crappy job of sharpening.
I’m very interested in your method of deburring. As you say, that is the most difficult part of the whole sharpening process if you are trying to not smooth the edge. I can do it, but it is very time consuming, so if your method is as quick as you say and yet effective without smoothing the edge I’d like to hear more. I’d love to throw one of the blades you have sharpened and deburred under a microscope and have a little look-see at the edge.
Diamond is aggressive and 625 grit is pretty fine, so I’m exquisitely curious as to how much tooth remains after deburring with the DMT. What sounds promising to me is that you say it only takes about 2 passes per side. Is this done with very light pressure?
This sounds very cool, “it's very cool to watch a big ol' hairy burr just fall off the edge like tinsel in a few seconds”. I love it! Hairy burr just falling off the edge like tinsel!
How do you judge the amount of tooth left after deburring?
You mentioned how surprising it is that some people only feel the need to sharpen once a year. For a lot of people I think once a year would be an improvement! I’ve been given chef’s knives to sharpen that were literally butter knife dull. How do these folks even use stuff like that? Geeze.
Bummer folks don’t realize just what they are getting when they get a blade sharpened from you. What they fail to realize is how many years of experience and expertise it takes to make it be a simple and quick process and yet produce an excellent and very useful edge. Funny how almost anything expertly done looks easy.
To increase profits you could wear a lab coat, set up a microscope and give out an occasional print of an edge. I’m sure nobody has ever seen anything like that before, and folks would think you are some sort of mad blade edge scientist. Tell everybody it will take 30 minutes. Take all of the knives and disappear into a tent for the final “secret finishing process”. Actually this just gives you time to enjoy a cold brew. 30 minutes later emerge from the tent with the finished product. Maybe that would produce more $20.00 tips!
I know that most folks really have no idea about the difference between a smooth and toothy edge and what it means as far as usability goes. Indeed there is a place for smooth edges such as chopping or shaving, etc., but for a general use blade and anything that involves slicing tooth really seems to win out.
There is nothing more frustrating than what seems to be a sharp blade just riding on the surface of something and failing to cut without a great deal of pressure to force the blade through. I’ll bet just about everybody who uses knives has experienced that. I used to sharpen to a smooth edge for folks, and I’m sure that some of them wondered why they could only cut a tomato without smashing it for such a short time. They probably thought I did a crappy job of sharpening.
I’m very interested in your method of deburring. As you say, that is the most difficult part of the whole sharpening process if you are trying to not smooth the edge. I can do it, but it is very time consuming, so if your method is as quick as you say and yet effective without smoothing the edge I’d like to hear more. I’d love to throw one of the blades you have sharpened and deburred under a microscope and have a little look-see at the edge.
Diamond is aggressive and 625 grit is pretty fine, so I’m exquisitely curious as to how much tooth remains after deburring with the DMT. What sounds promising to me is that you say it only takes about 2 passes per side. Is this done with very light pressure?
This sounds very cool, “it's very cool to watch a big ol' hairy burr just fall off the edge like tinsel in a few seconds”. I love it! Hairy burr just falling off the edge like tinsel!
How do you judge the amount of tooth left after deburring?
You mentioned how surprising it is that some people only feel the need to sharpen once a year. For a lot of people I think once a year would be an improvement! I’ve been given chef’s knives to sharpen that were literally butter knife dull. How do these folks even use stuff like that? Geeze.
Bummer folks don’t realize just what they are getting when they get a blade sharpened from you. What they fail to realize is how many years of experience and expertise it takes to make it be a simple and quick process and yet produce an excellent and very useful edge. Funny how almost anything expertly done looks easy.
To increase profits you could wear a lab coat, set up a microscope and give out an occasional print of an edge. I’m sure nobody has ever seen anything like that before, and folks would think you are some sort of mad blade edge scientist. Tell everybody it will take 30 minutes. Take all of the knives and disappear into a tent for the final “secret finishing process”. Actually this just gives you time to enjoy a cold brew. 30 minutes later emerge from the tent with the finished product. Maybe that would produce more $20.00 tips!