I sharpen my good knives with a couple of grades of wetstone and usually give them a slick with a steel right before I start filleting. The filleting knife gets a quick go on the fine stone after every filleting session... it is slowly eating up the blade but I like my knives really sharp.

They do a great job, drop them off one day pick them up the next. I use the Dick boning and filleting knives. the boning knives are great for cutting through the ribcage of big snapper

I personally like European knives with Victorinox my pick as flexi, but also Giesser and Dick are excellent just a little stiffer blade. 

Cheers

 

I have a diamond sharpener but it's a cheapie and it puts a minute saw blade type surface on the blade which works ok but not like a very sharp knife should after an oil stone.

those Kleva sharp are a waste of time. my boy was keen but i said no... so he went and got one anyway and ruined the edge on his knife.

Lansky are a great system but time consuming initially 

Ceramic rods set up a bit like this.

Yeah, Each to his own.  I sharpen (including reshaping etc) at $5 per knife ( $4 for small ones). Some chefs' would be offended at the idea of sharpening their knives, but many can't be bothered with stones and hate pull through machines. So those ones come to me, say, six monthly and just use a finish steel in between. I even get stuff couriered to me so you never know. I get asked all the time what is best knife or sharpener but there is no simple answer.  I try to teach people who ask but some will never get it and most can't be bothered putting the effort in.

I'm pretty sure my apprentices would know how to do that stuff steps. 5 to 7 year apprenticeship? I did mine in 4 years which was standard in the 70's. I think maybe you underestimate the talent that many young people have.

 

Anyway back to knives. I can sharpen them but not as sharp as a decent butcher or chef could.

I did an apprenticeship and the three adults came top by miles. P art of it was that kids did not have any practical sense. If they hit a wrong button on a calculator and the answer was 2000000 for a 200 litre tank they would just blindly write down without a second thought. Many many so called qualified people these days have no practical ability. I strike it all the time. 

 

If you ever end up in Tokyo pop down to Tsukiji, aside from the mind-boggling fish market there's also 2 knife shops - I have a couple of knives from each and they're bloody good, not earth-shatteringly expensive either especially if you just get a plain Ho wood handle.

They're all high-carbon steel so they'll rust if not cared for but when sharpened on a wetstone you could shave with them.

I have a large deba bocho that is my go-to kitchen knife, superb for filleting larger fish too.

Yes, carbon steel is generally better and easier to sharpen than stainless. And the higher quality the stainless is, the harder it is to sharpen for most people.  Carbon is great for butchery because its always covered in fat....so you have to be fussy in caring for filleting knives (like the Japanese are)

As a side issue my favourite frying pan is cast iron and it stays the best non stick pan around if you handle it right.  Same with black steel Woks. But most people fall for those other non stick things, which they still wreck. 

Nice to know there is still a few who know the difference. 

Yeah, my cast iron fry pan is over 20 years (I paid $9.00 for it)

Hi Derek, how should the cast iron pans be treated?

Cheers!

If it is not seasoned or hasn't been or is dull or rusty looking do that first. That is wash and scrub clean in soapy water (only time you use soapy water). Rinse and dry with paper towel. Light coat with vegetable oil or melted shortening (my favourite).  Put in preheated oven (280 C) for an hour. Leave in oven to cool off. Should be away after that. If it has wooden handle you might have to do job on element.

Once using never wash in soapy water. I just scrub with nylon dish brush under hot water.

Stays perfect for a long time. 

 

Note ...there is the odd cast iron skillet with a sort of serrated surface. These don't work nearly as well.

 

I don't but that would be ideal yes, and it is what I do with the wok every time.

But I found a great clip on youtube,  now my hunting knives are soo sharp, one a high carbon steel svord, which I have never been ab le to sharpen. and a stainless steel sticking knife 

The secret is the angle on the stone, circular motion, with the angle at about the same as the back bone off the knife, quite amazing how you can be making the knife blunt if this is not right, if you dont keep a constant angle. Anyway my knives are lethal now. My knives were that bad, I spent a good 1/2 hour to get an edge back, on each Knife

Hope it helps. 

Stuck a pig on the weekend, and it was easy and humane

 

However I don't find the shape of those knives very appealing to use plus due to the fact I tend to miss use my knives they tend not to last as long as they should between sharpening. Also I am notorious for losing knives thru being left behind or dropped overboard etc. hence the reason I mostly use lower priced knives. To this end I tend to favour the knife sets that Burnsco often have on special ie a 6" filleting knife, sheath & sharpener for $9 - 90. I find considering the price they are remarkable value so usually buy 5 or 6 when they are on special & it does not break your heart if you lose or miss use one, plus always have replacements on hand if the one you are using loses it edge a bit from cutting bait, thru bones or scales or for whatever reason.

 

I also find they initially respond fairly well to simply drawing the blade once or twice thru the carbide sharpener but seems to gradually become less effective. At that point I usually give them a quick pass over the bench grinder ( I can just see you cringing in horror ) then a couple of draws thru the sharpener which restores their cutting ability albeit does not last that long.

 

OK my question is do these ( stainless ) bladed knives only have the cutting edge completely hardened in order to keep the blade flexible as if so this would explain why they respond less & less to ongoing sharpening.

 

In your opinion what is the best way to treat these knives for sharpening as for what they cost hardly seems worthwhile spending a lot of time stoning them, particularly if they any sharpening is not going to last.

For frozen bait, especially with scales and bones, a ****ty serrated tomato style knife will do a way better job than your nicely sharpened filleting blade. The Victrinox ones are cheap, stainless and the edge is bulletproof, great bait knives and will cut mono and braid nicely as a bonus.

Ok, officially confused. It looks like a company has grabbed the name Scary Sharp. To me the Scary Sharp method has always been using wet/dry sandpaper on glass like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVF6pUslaeU" rel="nofollow -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVF6pUslaeU" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVF6pUslaeU

Hi Bazza,  

I think for most people it's not worth having flash knives, especially for fishing things. And you are right in that for most people stoning is not worth the time and even then most people can't do it unless it's a guided system like the Scary Sharp which is good but too slow for commercial purposes.

I use a slow speed 25mm wide belt (Trizact belts) plus felt with jeweller's rouge too remove burr and polish.

Having said that, when I was shepherding we always did as you do. Grinder to keep the taper and then steels. (makes me cringe now but it did do the job roughly)

And regarding the stainless, I don't know whether they are more tempered at the edge but I doubt it when you look at the manufacturing of them.