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.
.