Vent: I was sharpening my boning knife wrong for years and a customer's comment set me straight

For the longest time, I was using a 1000-grit stone on my main boning knife and calling it good. I thought a fine edge was the goal, period. Then last week, a regular who used to work in a big Chicago packing plant watched me struggle to get through some silver skin. He just said, 'You know, for that job, you want it more like a saw than a razor.' It clicked. I was putting a polished edge on a tool that needs a bit of bite to grab connective tissue. The next day, I dropped down to a 400-grit stone and put a slightly rougher finish on it. The difference was night and day, it just grabs and parts the tissue without slipping. I feel like a fool for all the time I spent chasing a mirror finish that made the work harder. Has anyone else found that a coarser edge works better for certain knives in your kit?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesley13925d ago

Well, at least you weren't using the back of a cereal box.

bell.lily25d ago

Wait, people actually do that?

andrew_shah6919d ago

My old math teacher used scrap paper from the recycling bin.