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I sharpened two knives
#1
A short story for no reason.

I was feeling odd and depleted because I had not sharpened anything for a while.  So I ferreted around in the kitchen drawer knife block and found two knives that didn't hang very well on my thumbnail. For all intents and purposes they were still plenty sharp, but I declared them dull enough to be in desperate need of sharpening because it made me happy.

The first knife was a Victorinox 5" chef's.  Nice little knife.  This one: https://www.swissknifeshop.com/shop/swis...ef-s-knife

After sharpening and deburring I took 3 sharpness readings from handle to tip: 100, 230, 105.  Now normally, seeing the wacky 230 number I would have at least taken another reading as most likely the wild reading was caused because I happened to measure right on a tiny bit of burr and another reading would not have been so aberrant, but I felt along the edge with my educated thumb and the whole thing felt very sharp.  Also, I only used a 150 grit Cubitron belt so of course it was nice and toothy and I knew it would do a fine job slicing onions or whatever so I declared it good enough and returned it to use.

Then I did a Calphalon 4.5" parer.  A dandy, fairly thick, heavy blade parer: https://www.amazon.com/Calphalon-Contemp...B00007IT31

After sharpening I took three readings from handle to tip: 95, 90, 65.  While I was not bothered by the strange 230 number from the last knife, I found the 65 reading most troubling.  I took another reading there at the tip and got 95.  Much better!  I declared it good enough and returned it to use.

While writing this I got the Calphalon from the drawer knife block to see exactly what it was and placed it next to the computer.  I picked it up to read the writing on the blade and clumsily bumped it into the back of the first knuckle of my index finger.  Crap!  Epidermal leakage.  I'm finishing this with a piece of Kleenex wrapped around my finger secured with Scotch tape so as not to leak all over the keyboard.  Seems to be working.

Like I said, a short story for no reason.
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#2
Don’t feel alone, I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve done something similar. Can’t remember ever cutting myself while using a knife, but those clumsy moments when I’m doing something else with it, like taking a measurement or reading the steel type, happen all too frequently (again last night, in fact).
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#3
Same here. I think there is a reasonable explanation though, and I've started to identify perfectly safe situations where accidents are waiting to happen.

Number 1- The knife at rest. It's sitting there minding its own business, and I forget about it. Heck, I might even be looking for it. Moving stuff around... wammo. Found it.

Number 2- Knife in hand. Oh, I need to bring this and that too... You probably see where this is going.

Number 3- Knife hiding in plain sight on the edge of the counter, me with bare feet... My big toe doesn't work quite like it used to. Luckily there was some tendon left. This actually affected me. I used to "catch" falling objects with my foot all the time. Still do, but surprisingly, not barefooted. Plus, I hate to see a knife on the edge of the counter. Especially barefoot, which happens to be a lot of the time. I'm pretty good about wearing shoes in the shop now. Maybe this should be expected in a knife shop. Maybe I should invent shoes without soles...
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#4
LOL - great visuals!
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#5
Still laughing Mark. You don't have to invent sole-less shoes - you already have. You just have to decide whether your first offerings will be for dress or casual wear.
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#6
Here ya go.  Well ventilated and oh so comfy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuGBIqzRZMQ
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#7
(06-11-2019, 01:39 PM)Mark Reich Wrote: ...snip...
I used to "catch" falling objects with my foot all the time. Still do, but surprisingly, not barefooted. ...snip...

Nice that you "learned" from that one mishap. 

I have been "catching" falling objects with my feet ever since working in my father's machine shop as a teenager...  some at least, and avoiding others by jumping out of the way.  In the machine shop context, there are two kinds of objects. 

1) Those that are carefully machined with crisp edges and corners and precision surfaces - that don't want those nasty dents and burrs that come from meeting a hard object like the floor.  For these at least, when they are small enough so as to not crush my foot, I would put my foot out to break its fall.  I think this was good training for becoming a pretty good Hacky-sack player later in life.  (Just like being a champion bowler as a teenager contributing to being a pretty good horseshoe player. Oh, yeah, and then there was the rollerskating contributing to becoming a good snow skier.)

2) Similar to #1 objects but too large/heavy to risk my foot.  Fortunately, these are more likely to be held/gripped better so fewer of them seemed to get dropped.  

It has always fascinated me how quickly our brains figure out which is which in mid-fall and the foot might start out to try to break a heavy object's fall, but gets retracted quickly or the jump out of the way happens.  Given that a knife is more in category #1, I wonder if my brain would "catch" the difference/danger and pull my foot away before impact.  

Rick
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#8
(06-18-2019, 10:59 PM)Rick Kr Wrote: It has always fascinated me how quickly our brains figure out which is which in mid-fall and the foot might start out to try to break a heavy object's fall, but gets retracted quickly or the jump out of the way happens.  Given that a knife is more in category #1, I wonder if my brain would "catch" the difference/danger and pull my foot away before impact.  

Rick

Yes sir, Rick. Fascinating indeed. Imagine that, the double clutch at my age. That split second, "I'll catch tha.. no, it's sharp and I'm barefoot" decision. It's so hard to believe any part of me is capable of that I didn't even want to mention it.
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