SHARPENING KNIVES.

[Rik vonTrense]

I have always been a stickler for keeping my chef's knives away from the general rabble that wants to undo a small phillips screw and can't be bothered to find a small phillips screwdriver or those that want to use them as choppers or sharpening pencils etc etc. anyone else is forbidden to touch them and that includes dishwashing as well.

Although not the best of the bunch the Le Sabatier set of five that I have owned for a few years have served me well and a brand new butchers 14" sheffield cast steel has been their companion all kept in their specially made block.

But after reading the tutorial on knife sharpening I begin to wonder if my couple of angled stokes down the steel each time are sufficient to give me the sharpest edge.

I often wondered when I saw Jamie Oliver sharpen his knife by putting the steel point down on the block and stroking his knife down the steel that he was somwhow unprofessional.....being a butchers boy when I was young
I use the two handed method of holding the steel almost vertical in the air and stroking the knife I am sharpening in a flashing movement down the steel with the flexible wrist action that all butchers use putting on an edge between 10 and 15 degrees and causing onlookers to hold their breath.

Maybe I was deviating from the intended edge the manufacturer made on the knives originally so I searched ebay and found a knife sharpening system that I snatched from under the nose of an American professional hunting knife seller.

I know they go for around the �60 in this country and I got this one for �22 and it has hardly been used (which makes me wonder somewhat if it was any good) .

However this is the Gatco Professional knife sharpening system all complete in it's case.






I only hope it was worth the bother.



.

[jenny_haddow]

That looks an interesting piece of kit Rik. You'll have to report on its effectiveness, certainly beats the back door step that my mother used to sharpen her knives. I use a Stellar 5 piece that is good for domestic use and I keep an edge with a steel used butchers style. I bought an electric sharpener a while back which was rubbish, spoiled the knives. I'm tempted to get a set of Japanese knives mainly because they look so beautiful!

Cheers

Jen

[Wohoki]

Japanes knives are lovely to use (and look at ) but the techniques needed to sharped them are totally different to western blades. Traditional Japanese knives are only sharpened on one side of the blade, the other side is flat (well, it's very slightly concave) and almost all are made for right handed users. You'd have to get a couple of waterstones, and practice. It's not hard, but it is different.

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/HowToSharpen2.html

[Oddley]

I also have a set of Sabatier, they are not a bad knife, they keep an edge well. I bought an old electric whetstone off ebay to refresh the edge now and again. Like you Rik I use the butcher boy method with a steel to keep the edge. It works fine for me.

I'd be interested to know what this sharpening set consist of. Ain't it funny how, when the Americans want something to sound more grand than it is they call it a system. So you can have a curtain system, a car washing system, or a nose picking system... When all I have is a finger.

[Wohoki]

But I'm sure it has an integrated, multi-function nail: hence it is a "high-quality digital macro-platform nasal-hygiene tool."



(Off topic, but my favorite bit of American English is one from a military health-and-safety document, where they describe a "bi-directional inter-floor pedestrian access system". Or, in Britain, stairs. Really.)

[Wohoki]

I used to have a couple of Sabatier knives, and they were fine, but they were blunt when I bought them new, and it took me years to get good at sharpening them. They also make a lot of different ranges of knives, some good, some fairly crap. Anything with Stellar in the name is usually good (I have a Stellar sauteuse which is probably my second favorite pan after my wok. However the wok was �4 and the sauteuse was �120, so........)

[pokerpete]

I used to have a couple of Sabatier knives, and they were fine, but they were blunt when I bought them new, and it took me years to get good at sharpening them. They also make a lot of different ranges of knives, some good, some fairly crap. Anything with Stellar in the name is usually good (I have a Stellar sauteuse which is probably my second favorite pan after my wok. However the wok was �4 and the sauteuse was �120, so........)

Many years ago Sabatier made decent butchers knives which were popular. The Sabatier brothers had a row and they went their own way, but both still made knives. They both had Sabatier stamped on them, but one was better quality than the other, but there was no way you could tell which was which. The trade get fed up with this pot-luck system and Victorinox made inroads, thus demoting Sabatier, good or bad knives whatever.

[Wohoki]

I'd probably put my money on Victorinox cheapo knives if I were to start over. Good value, sharp and almost cheap enough to be disposable.

[Paul Kribs]

Rik

It looks like a variety of grades of diamond impregnated files (possibly nickel). If it is good quality it should last you a lifetime. When I first hone an edge I use a flat diamond stone, and removing metal comes easily. During use I then rely on my 14" steel. It is my 2nd steel, the first taking over 20 years to wear.. I now use it to push the last of my sausage mix through the filler nozzle into sheeps casings.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[vinner]

Rik:

It also looks like your "system" may be of ceramic, which should likewise work fine.

All:

Easy on the Americans. My favorite digital system saying is, " You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't wipe your friends on your saddle."

[Rik vonTrense]

This is the blurb that goes with them..........

Gatco Professional Knife Sharpening System -

Consists of;

Ultra coarse, coarse, medium, fine, serrated honing stones plus honing oil, anodised knife clamp/angle guide all in a custom carrying case

The best way to ensure your expensive (and cheap!) knives are sharpened correctly.

The system clamps the knife and the guides ensure you get the exact angle of sharpening for the blade on both sides

This kit has been used but not much, the honing oil is still 4/5ths full....


They sound like they are oilstones of some description.


/

[Deer Man]

Got one of the Gatco sytems, I was given it 10 years ago. I used to use it for my hunting knifes, works well and gives you a perfect angle. I now use a dimond stone, its quicker only in the fact that you dont have to do any setting up only add water!

[dougal]

The Gatco is one of the 'systems' discussed in the excellent eGullet knife and sharpening tutorial here
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=26036

Its long, but then, there's rather a lot of good stuff there...

[Rik vonTrense]

Well my system arrived today and I am very disappointed.

The description was of a kit that was practically new.... Used but very little actual use as the bottle of oil is still 4/5ths ful;l of oil....sells for �49.00 so save yourself ������������. It didn't say how many times the bottle hads been refilled.

It arrived and the stones etc were soaked in dirty gritty oil and they were badly and unevely worn so as to be past their usefulness.

It looks as if the stones have been used to sharpen knves on their own without the use of the jig anf have therefor worn unevenly just like the back step.........

Obviously these were not a personal item belonging to the seller but something they had picked up for a couple of quid at a boot sale.

Well they are going to be returned for a refund and if not I shall claim a refund via Paypal which is how I paid,

You can't win them all but you do sometimes get a bargain on ebay.

[saucisson]

Rik,
Was the photo you posted from the ebay site? and was it of the set you received? If they put up a photo of a different set I would think it would make your case of "goods not as described" much easier to make.

Dave