Toothy verses Polished 3 Max's take

[MaxtheKnife]

restaurants cut so many different things it is hard to sharpen all so they cut this and that......the WE makes a great restauranet edge after the 1200 grit paddles followed by ceramics........but slow, but they cut tomatoes.........restaurants LIKE KNIVES THAT CUT TOMATOES.  with my belt sanders i use to go up to 1200 grit trizacts and polish.......cut great.....celery, carrots...etc.....TOMATOES.....GO LUCK

the big commercial guys knives appear to be sharpened on a stone.....real toothy and they cut tomatoes  much nicer than the polished jobs i did.....they would call me up the next day and say....hey these knives will not cut our tomatoes.......i called some of the guys above and now at 73 years old my knives will cut tomatoes .......still using kallys...1 x 42"........80grit to 220/240   a few around 600, but 95% of the restaurant knives i stop at trizact A65..........i finish on leather........felt......compounds............i really have fallen in love with 3m non-woven belts......scotbrites.......maroon is med.......blue is fine and  gray are super fine.........they love serrated blades, mowers, axes, yard stuff.
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"i am new to knife sharpening compared to most here "

Umm...  I consider you an experienced sharpener!  4 years of farmers markets, local gun shows, whole foods, williams-sonoma, garden tools, scissors with multiple grinders?  I would say that you are fully qualified, with a lot of experience.  I value that level of experience, think you have a lot to contribute, and look FW to your posts and knowledge you can share. [img]webkit-fake-url://F0FA329A-A9E4-4D97-A264-29E06D78B9F0/pastedGraphic.png[/img] ……….let me say that i have been sharpening knives for  a long time, but with water stones and back in the 70/80’s i was in the commercial fishing business and uses water stones then, but i never used the really nice one like i have now.

in 2012 is when my friend who operates this farmers market lost her knife person and wanted to find another who did not live 60 miles away she called me to see if i would do it…..may thru. dec. on sat…….9 to noon.  as i look back i have to laugh ……..people would bring 3 or 4 knives, some would bring the whole block…….here i go with the wicked edge…..never could do them all in the the time allow, so i had to bring them home and return them on sunday.

next may rolls around and i have 1 new kalamazoo 1 x 42” belt sander, after that all i brought home  was yard gear that most wanted to pick up next sat.

then i tried my first gun show alone and it was good, but too many knives on sat. for just one person….sundays have for the most part been about 50/60% slower than sat……….started with one rally and now i have 4…….3 is what i use at most farmers markets now and a 6” baldor buffer…..4 to 6 mins per most blade…….3 days before thanksgiving and 3 days before christmas i worked for whole foods as a paid vendor 4 hours per day and i sharpened knives for free……whole foods called it Complementary knife sharping…..3 blades per person…..45 fri…….sat/sun……over 300…….christmas event was 182 total for 3 days.

I have been thinking along the same lines, so I am curious about what you are saying.

A blade sharpened to 600 grit will cut tomatoes easily, but not for long.  Soon the blade starts riding on the skin…….the real sharp polished  blades ……good for cutting veggies, carrots, celery. etc…. So I have been experimenting with lower and lower grit levels.  Especially when sharpening for other people to use in the kitchen.  I find it most interesting that your customers are most happy with blades finished on Trizact A65, which is basically 220 grit………gun shows we seldom go any higher and just some leather with compound

You are now the second person here to speak of using surface conditioning belts, i.e., Scotch-Brites.  Are you using these for sharpening or just burr removal?…….if blades are dull, i start with 80 grit to form bevel…..then 120……we have scratches with 80/120……(Keep in mind)…..commercial restaurant knives…….you can take the blue fine scotchbrite…..as rupert refers to as a BLENDING BELT and a few passes GLORY……THEY REALLY WORK WELL ON SERRATED BLADES AS WELL………..lets drift off a bit and talk about yard gear……most lopers, pruners, hedge trimmers are nasty and i ALWAYS CLEAN THEM before i sharpen using buffer with sisal wheel and 400grit black compound…….works great for most……the buffer items we use liquid “KRUDCUTTER” and cleaning coarse pads and on MANY WE USE the greatest thing since sliced bread………ANGLE GRINDER WITH SCOTCHBRITE PAD…….
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lawn mower blades, axes etc……36 grit or 40 grit on angle grinder…..generally stop at 120 on mowers, but 600 on axes etc with polish…….scissors, trimmers 120 to 220
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Are you using these for sharpening or just burr…………Actually both in many instances, but many to blend out the scratches…….

  Are you sharpening with regular belts and then finishing with conditioning belts to create the final toothy edge?……no, finish on 220/+ and 600…. 90% of the time and just a pass or two on felt or leather w/compound.

Could you please elaborate more on exactly what you are doing?……HAVING FUN  and in my case making some needed EXTRA income

today i work inside williams-sonoma store here locally……1 sunday per month from 1 to 4…….will see mostly high end japanese and german knives…..use wicked edge and 1 kally……..kally uses 90% of the time for chip removal from jap knives……many at times and pre-sharpening so not to wear down THE WICKED EDGE PADDLE TO FAST……I cover the table with magnetic 8.5 x 11 sheets to collect some of the metal dust as well………..most of these knives i will carry to higher grit, but nothing above 1200.