Diamond wheels vs grind stones

[Ken S]

The gold standard of kitchen cutlery use seems to be slicing tomatoes. With tomatoes, the oft quoted term is "toothiness". Among the ways to obtain this toothy quality is to begin with a very sharp knife and use a ceramic rod to add the toothiness (degrade the edge slightly).

The Tormek demonstration of cutting a tomato into very thin slices without touching it makes me think this issue may have more than meets the eye.I would be curious to see this demonstration (performed with both sharprning methods) on the twentieth tomato.

I believe we may have some confusion with word usage. To me, toothiness means a slightly unpolished edge designed to snag things like tomato skins. While they may be close cousins, I think of burr as the mostly ground surface of an edge which should be removed, either in the sharpening process or in eating the food if it is left on the knife. (not the most pleasant thought) 

I would expect a very expert (and priced accordingly) sharpener to be able to vary his sharpening to meed the individual customer's expectations, if the customer desired that. I see these questions as part of the learning process which will make all of us more skilled sharpeners.

Ken

[Stickan]

[/quote]

True... but are you saying that an edge can't be "de-burred" on the DE-250 (or other) stone?

My experience, (and I've posted it before), is that you'll get a better edge if it's as burr free as possible, prior to any type of honing.
[/quote]

Good question and I would like to use more time answering it, but I am a bit "on the clock" so a short answer which I hope will do for today.

There will be burr left on an edge with the DE-250 wheel which you likely would remove.
You can, by using light pressure the last passes over the wheel, get less burr butt it will still be in need of honing .
The closest to a "de-burred" edge is on the SJ stones.
Personally, I hone all tools but the only thing I would not hone is regular scissors, as they should have burr left. Well, I don't hone drillbits either to be honest.
This needs practice especially on chisels/plane blades but easily described in the handbook (p.122 on the latest edition) but when you get the feel for it it's pretty interesting to feel the difference on those tools. I hone knifes the same way.
I do understand why you have your opinion regarding this, as honing might round the edge a little.
Using a stone with it's hard surface, will keep the edge on a tool more "straight" than on a more soft leather-wheel. But with experience, honing will get close to the same sharpness as the SJ stones.

[cbwx34]

To me, toothiness means a slightly unpolished edge designed to snag things like tomato skins.

My .02... "toothiness" can be achieved even with a polished edge, as long as you don't round or otherwise remove the "teeth".  (But like most things in sharpening... it's a pretty subjective definition).

Good question and I would like to use more time answering it, but I am a bit "on the clock" so a short answer which I hope will do for today.

There will be burr left on an edge with the DE-250 wheel which you likely would remove.
You can, by using light pressure the last passes over the wheel, get less burr butt it will still be in need of honing .
The closest to a "de-burred" edge is on the SJ stones.
Personally, I hone all tools but the only thing I would not hone is regular scissors, as they should have burr left. Well, I don't hone drillbits either to be honest.
This needs practice especially on chisels/plane blades but easily described in the handbook (p.122 on the latest edition) but when you get the feel for it it's pretty interesting to feel the difference on those tools. I hone knifes the same way.
I do understand why you have your opinion regarding this, as honing might round the edge a little.
Using a stone with it's hard surface, will keep the edge on a tool more "straight" than on a more soft leather-wheel. But with experience, honing will get close to the same sharpness as the SJ stones.

I'm missing the point of p.122 (or maybe I'm trying too hard)... do you "prehone" all the manufacturer scratches out of a knife?

I think a knife can be deburred on a wheel without further honing... light pressure (as you stated) combined with a higher angle, will often do it.  (Or at least deburred enough that it's hard to detect in use).  Probably also depends on the level of sharpness one is trying to achieve.  On the Tormek it can be harder.. one reason I'd like to see the finer diamond wheel.

[Stickan]

"
I'm missing the point of p.122 (or maybe I'm trying too hard)... do you "prehone" all the manufacturer scratches out of a knife?

I think a knife can be deburred on a wheel without further honing... light pressure (as you stated) combined with a higher angle, will often do it.  (Or at least deburred enough that it's hard to detect in use).  Probably also depends on the level of sharpness one is trying to achieve.  On the Tormek it can be harder.. one reason I'd like to see the finer diamond wheel."

Page 122 in the handbook shows how you hone a chisel freehand. I hone my knifes the same way.
I got a new Japanese knife some years ago, known to be sharp "out of the box". 5 days later my wife told me that I had to sharpen it. I honed it and it stayed sharp for weeks.
I told this to my friend who import these knifes and got the answer that all knifes has a little burr when new and honing will get them sharper.
I sharpen my knifes 1-2 times each year but hone them 3-5 times each year depending on quality of steel and angle I've played with.

Some month ago I got in contact with an Australian woodcarver who purchased a Tormek and was not very satisfied with the edge he got.
We had long discussions via Instagram and after a few weeks he really learned and had the time to test and play around so he got the edge he wanted and slightly more. When he purchased the SJ stone, I gave him the tip, same as your wrote, to put an extra degree on the angle-master when he was using the Japanese wheel.
He is a very talented spooncarver, you can follow him on Instagram,  spoon_carving_with _tom where he also share his view of sharpening in a honest way.

Sincerely,
Stig

[cbwx34]

Page 122 in the handbook shows how you hone a chisel freehand. I hone my knifes the same way.
I got a new Japanese knife some years ago, known to be sharp "out of the box". 5 days later my wife told me that I had to sharpen it. I honed it and it stayed sharp for weeks.
I told this to my friend who import these knifes and got the answer that all knifes has a little burr when new and honing will get them sharper.
I sharpen my knifes 1-2 times each year but hone them 3-5 times each year depending on quality of steel and angle I've played with.

Some month ago I got in contact with an Australian woodcarver who purchased a Tormek and was not very satisfied with the edge he got.
We had long discussions via Instagram and after a few weeks he really learned and had the time to test and play around so he got the edge he wanted and slightly more. When he purchased the SJ stone, I gave him the tip, same as your wrote, to put an extra degree on the angle-master when he was using the Japanese wheel.
He is a very talented spooncarver, you can follow him on Instagram,  spoon_carving_with _tom where he also share his view of sharpening in a honest way.

Sincerely,
Stig

Ah, OK.  Guess I was trying too hard.

I have seen that Instagram feed.  (Unfortunately, he's another guy who thinks "Instagram Live" is a good idea).    He seems like he's into stropping quite a bit (considering he evens sells strops).... do you recall anything specific on the leather honing wheel (not the SJ stone) that differed from stropping on a regular strop, that was different?

Thanks.

[Stickan]

Page 122 in the handbook shows how you hone a chisel freehand. I hone my knifes the same way.
I got a new Japanese knife some years ago, known to be sharp "out of the box". 5 days later my wife told me that I had to sharpen it. I honed it and it stayed sharp for weeks.
I told this to my friend who import these knifes and got the answer that all knifes has a little burr when new and honing will get them sharper.
I sharpen my knifes 1-2 times each year but hone them 3-5 times each year depending on quality of steel and angle I've played with.

Some month ago I got in contact with an Australian woodcarver who purchased a Tormek and was not very satisfied with the edge he got.
We had long discussions via Instagram and after a few weeks he really learned and had the time to test and play around so he got the edge he wanted and slightly more. When he purchased the SJ stone, I gave him the tip, same as your wrote, to put an extra degree on the angle-master when he was using the Japanese wheel.
He is a very talented spooncarver, you can follow him on Instagram,  spoon_carving_with _tom where he also share his view of sharpening in a honest way.

Sincerely,
Stig

Ah, OK.  Guess I was trying too hard.

I have seen that Instagram feed.  (Unfortunately, he's another guy who thinks "Instagram Live" is a good idea).    He seems like he's into stropping quite a bit (considering he evens sells strops).... do you recall anything specific on the leather honing wheel (not the SJ stone) that differed from stropping on a regular strop, that was different?

Thanks.

Send a message to him on Insta, he always answers. He is also a new member of the Forum so who knows, he might answer here.

Best,
Stig

[tomo2090]

Page 122 in the handbook shows how you hone a chisel freehand. I hone my knifes the same way.
I got a new Japanese knife some years ago, known to be sharp "out of the box". 5 days later my wife told me that I had to sharpen it. I honed it and it stayed sharp for weeks.
I told this to my friend who import these knifes and got the answer that all knifes has a little burr when new and honing will get them sharper.
I sharpen my knifes 1-2 times each year but hone them 3-5 times each year depending on quality of steel and angle I've played with.

Some month ago I got in contact with an Australian woodcarver who purchased a Tormek and was not very satisfied with the edge he got.
We had long discussions via Instagram and after a few weeks he really learned and had the time to test and play around so he got the edge he wanted and slightly more. When he purchased the SJ stone, I gave him the tip, same as your wrote, to put an extra degree on the angle-master when he was using the Japanese wheel.
He is a very talented spooncarver, you can follow him on Instagram,  spoon_carving_with _tom where he also share his view of sharpening in a honest way.

Sincerely,
Stig

Ah, OK.  Guess I was trying too hard.

I have seen that Instagram feed.  (Unfortunately, he's another guy who thinks "Instagram Live" is a good idea).    He seems like he's into stropping quite a bit (considering he evens sells strops).... do you recall anything specific on the leather honing wheel (not the SJ stone) that differed from stropping on a regular strop, that was different?

Thanks.

Hi,
Stropping is essential to keeping any tool sharp. Depending on which medium you use will depend on the results you will achieve.

Using flat strops with PA70 and a thick suede will give you a wonderful "draw" affect, a beautiful polish and a very sharp blade(so long as you have sharpened it correctly before) but will always put a micro-convexed edge on your tool - not good for scandi edged green wood working tools. It's fine for kitchen knives, EDC blades and any other blade with a secondary bevel.

Using very thin leather with high tensile strength (kangaroo) like I do for my strops ensures no micro-convexion will ever occur regardless of the pressure you apply and the amount of times you strop, with all the advantages stated above about the important draw affect associated with leather as well as a beautiful polish and of course a surgically sharp edge.

Stropping on wood works, but poorly when compared to the above two other methods. After the first pass or two, the wood becomes very slippery due to the inability of the wood to hold the compound. This - like applying too much oil to your honing wheel makes wood a pretty poor choice.

Cardboard again will work, but with similar affects of the wood and will soon tear.

Then you have the Tormek wheel which of course will polish a hollow ground bevel. It does a great job, and although its a thick leather and will cause micro convexion if you press too hard, with light pressure and the correct angle, you can get a great finish and can reduce the micro-convexion.

Once again, microconvexion on a secondary beveled knife isn't a problem... the bevel is so small that when you grind / sharpen again, it wont affect the tool and won't be noticeable.

Micro convecion is only a real issue on scandi grinds where a massive bevel and subsequently lots of metal, must be removed to get it back to a true flat grind...

Another point worth mentioning is you can strop a hollow ground tool on a flat surface, but the results of stropping a flat scandi tool on a wheel is less than ideal.

As for the Tormek wheels. The 220/1000 wheel isn't fine enough grit for the finish I aim for in carving - i never sand my work so the finish left by the tool has to be flawless. Since purchasing the 4k stone, my blades have never been sharper. I have spent over one and a half decades learning the skill of freehand sharpening and perfecting my technique. I have tried pretty much all mediums from Wet / Dry sandpaper through to Japanese waterstones. It is something I am very passionate about (and of course stropping) and it is something I have taught to people on many occasions, not to mention thousands on youtube. The results I get are beyond functional - an example (also shown on youtube) is cutting 1 single unsupported hair with a mora 106 after using sandpaper, 6k stone and strops.

This being said, frustratingly the Tormek gives me slightly better results after only a few months of use. By being able to apply more pressure to the 4k stone and in a more concentrated and direct fashion, it leaves a better mirror polish straight off the 4k stone...

The key question though is, is there a functionally noticeable difference when both blades are used for carving wood? No... 

It pops the hairs off my arms a little easier and I can feel that, when I pull my thumb across the edge it gives me that sensation that its removing (cleanly) microsopic layres of skin cells (did I say I'm obsessive?)

That being said, I use the tormek for the vast majority of my sharpening now days. The results are incredible, it's fast, effective, easy to learn (easier than freehand sharpening) the results are repeatable (with practice) and as mentioned above, I get a better finish off the stones. However I do use my Kangaroo strops over the wheel the vast majority of the time for the reasons mentioned above. I say vast majority of the time, because my kitchen knives get stropped on the wheel without a second thought (as mentioned, secondary bevel knives don't have this issue)

As for how often to strop, little and often is my advise... I went months between sharpening my carving axe and weeks with my knives between taking them back to the stones because stropping keeps that edge keen. The key is little and often! Don't let the blade lose that hair popping edge, strop before this happens. For carving, this means every 30-40 mins for me!

The key here is, I think we all have a missconception that the Tormek sharpens our knives for us, but as I have always said, the machine takes skill to use, especially for knives. I have messed up about 4 mora knives over the months through mistakes, but it's a learning curve for everyone! The guides that hold the tools are exactly that, guides, they will guide you but won't do the work for you. Maybe with the plane iron jig it might, but for knives and some other tools like bowl gouges with a variable profile etc, the user will have to control the positions. It will take time.

I can tell you now, there isn't anything wrong with the Tormek machines or Jigs I don't think, but we always blame the machine and jig before we blame ourselves..
I read another post about the SVM-45 jig and its "problems". I'll share my thoughts over there too.

Another thing, scandi bevels like that on the mora 106's are a whole lot harder than the small secondary bevels to sharpen well. Couple the large scandi bevel, the SVM-00 and the SVM-45 jigs and you need much more practise than you do just sharpening a kitchen knife, secondary bevel  and one svm-45 jig.
Things take time to learn, I bet a new learner driver wouldn't blame the car for not driving properly?
The Tormek works beautifully, it's the user that lets it down sadly (as much as we hate to admit it!)
The car will drive, but you have to practise how to do it, and it will drive beautifully if you can drive beautifully.

I wanted to pick the machine up and throw it across the room during the first few days through frustration, but the darn thing is just too friggin heavy. The next few days I continued to practise, each time I learn't something I didn't know before, It started to become an enjoyable process and even more rewarding and exciting. Then I couldn't stop myself sharpening every knife I could find!

Anyway this is my experience and two cents.. Lastly whats wrong with Instagram live?!  Maybe join me in the next video and I can show you how to use your Tormek, you may learn some tips and realise live videos are useful after all

[Ken S]

Welcome, Tom.

Thank you for a thoughtful post. It will take me a while to digest. 

Ken

[cbwx34]

Hi,
Stropping is essential to keeping any tool sharp. Depending on which medium you use will depend on the results you will achieve.

Using flat strops with PA70 and a thick suede will give you a wonderful "draw" affect, a beautiful polish and a very sharp blade(so long as you have sharpened it correctly before) but will always put a micro-convexed edge on your tool - not good for scandi edged green wood working tools. It's fine for kitchen knives, EDC blades and any other blade with a secondary bevel.

Using very thin leather with high tensile strength (kangaroo) like I do for my strops ensures no micro-convexion will ever occur regardless of the pressure you apply and the amount of times you strop, with all the advantages stated above about the important draw affect associated with leather as well as a beautiful polish and of course a surgically sharp edge.

Stropping on wood works, but poorly when compared to the above two other methods. After the first pass or two, the wood becomes very slippery due to the inability of the wood to hold the compound. This - like applying too much oil to your honing wheel makes wood a pretty poor choice.

Cardboard again will work, but with similar affects of the wood and will soon tear.

Then you have the Tormek wheel which of course will polish a hollow ground bevel. It does a great job, and although its a thick leather and will cause micro convexion if you press too hard, with light pressure and the correct angle, you can get a great finish and can reduce the micro-convexion.

Once again, microconvexion on a secondary beveled knife isn't a problem... the bevel is so small that when you grind / sharpen again, it wont affect the tool and won't be noticeable.

Micro convecion is only a real issue on scandi grinds where a massive bevel and subsequently lots of metal, must be removed to get it back to a true flat grind...

Another point worth mentioning is you can strop a hollow ground tool on a flat surface, but the results of stropping a flat scandi tool on a wheel is less than ideal.

As for the Tormek wheels. The 220/1000 wheel isn't fine enough grit for the finish I aim for in carving - i never sand my work so the finish left by the tool has to be flawless. Since purchasing the 4k stone, my blades have never been sharper. I have spent over one and a half decades learning the skill of freehand sharpening and perfecting my technique. I have tried pretty much all mediums from Wet / Dry sandpaper through to Japanese waterstones. It is something I am very passionate about (and of course stropping) and it is something I have taught to people on many occasions, not to mention thousands on youtube. The results I get are beyond functional - an example (also shown on youtube) is cutting 1 single unsupported hair with a mora 106 after using sandpaper, 6k stone and strops.

This being said, frustratingly the Tormek gives me slightly better results after only a few months of use. By being able to apply more pressure to the 4k stone and in a more concentrated and direct fashion, it leaves a better mirror polish straight off the 4k stone...

The key question though is, is there a functionally noticeable difference when both blades are used for carving wood? No... 

It pops the hairs off my arms a little easier and I can feel that, when I pull my thumb across the edge it gives me that sensation that its removing (cleanly) microsopic layres of skin cells (did I say I'm obsessive?)

That being said, I use the tormek for the vast majority of my sharpening now days. The results are incredible, it's fast, effective, easy to learn (easier than freehand sharpening) the results are repeatable (with practice) and as mentioned above, I get a better finish off the stones. However I do use my Kangaroo strops over the wheel the vast majority of the time for the reasons mentioned above. I say vast majority of the time, because my kitchen knives get stropped on the wheel without a second thought (as mentioned, secondary bevel knives don't have this issue)

As for how often to strop, little and often is my advise... I went months between sharpening my carving axe and weeks with my knives between taking them back to the stones because stropping keeps that edge keen. The key is little and often! Don't let the blade lose that hair popping edge, strop before this happens. For carving, this means every 30-40 mins for me!

The key here is, I think we all have a missconception that the Tormek sharpens our knives for us, but as I have always said, the machine takes skill to use, especially for knives. I have messed up about 4 mora knives over the months through mistakes, but it's a learning curve for everyone! The guides that hold the tools are exactly that, guides, they will guide you but won't do the work for you. Maybe with the plane iron jig it might, but for knives and some other tools like bowl gouges with a variable profile etc, the user will have to control the positions. It will take time.

I can tell you now, there isn't anything wrong with the Tormek machines or Jigs I don't think, but we always blame the machine and jig before we blame ourselves..
I read another post about the SVM-45 jig and its "problems". I'll share my thoughts over there too.

Another thing, scandi bevels like that on the mora 106's are a whole lot harder than the small secondary bevels to sharpen well. Couple the large scandi bevel, the SVM-00 and the SVM-45 jigs and you need much more practise than you do just sharpening a kitchen knife, secondary bevel  and one svm-45 jig.
Things take time to learn, I bet a new learner driver wouldn't blame the car for not driving properly?
The Tormek works beautifully, it's the user that lets it down sadly (as much as we hate to admit it!)
The car will drive, but you have to practise how to do it, and it will drive beautifully if you can drive beautifully.

I wanted to pick the machine up and throw it across the room during the first few days through frustration, but the darn thing is just too friggin heavy. The next few days I continued to practise, each time I learn't something I didn't know before, It started to become an enjoyable process and even more rewarding and exciting. Then I couldn't stop myself sharpening every knife I could find!

Anyway this is my experience and two cents.. Lastly whats wrong with Instagram live?!  Maybe join me in the next video and I can show you how to use your Tormek, you may learn some tips and realise live videos are useful after all

Thanks for the reply... some good info.

Instagram Live... Biggest gripe is it 'disappears'.  Other things I don't like especially for a training video... very little control (for example you can't pause to see something), most of the time it's inconvenient, etc.  I think it's great for showing something noone will care about in 24 hours anyway... but for a training video... throw a copy up on YouTube, and I'd get more out of it.  (Doesn't have to be edited, etc. like you said in an IG post... content to me is more important).  My .02... I'm sure it would be beneficial and I'd learn something if I saw one... it just seems a bit of a waste for training video stuff.

One thing I thought of in going thru this thread again... I guess there's different levels of honing or stropping that might make it somewhat confusing.  For me, I often "hone" just enough to remove a burr, and maybe refine the edge just a tad... which, while it can be done on a strop, I also may do on the sharpening stone itself, or something like a ceramic rod.  More stropping or honing further refines the edge, this is often done on leather or other items mentioned (SJ wheel for example)... and then you get to "polishing" where the effort is to remove the grind marks of the previous stone(s), and refine the edge as much as possible to the level it's being honed at.  All have their place.

And you're right about the Tormek... it's not "plug and play" like some think it should be... but it's fun to use, and gives great results once a person gets the hang of it. 👍

[Ken S]

I would like to begin to add my two cents to a few of the many good areas this topic addresses.

First, instagram videos. I confess total ingorance concerning instagram (and facebook). That's my problem. I have a big problem with useful videos which disappear. There was supposedly a one day wonder video on instagram about the new Tormek diamond wheels and multi base. Not being an instagram user, I missed it. I have heard that it was very informative, more so than the material posted on the Tormek website. I have no problem with posting videos on instagram or facebook, however, why must this be an either or situation? I continue learning from you tubes made by Jeff Farris in the SuperGrind era. If a training video disappears after a day, why bother?

Incidentally, if you could pm me a link where I could watch your videos, I would enjoy watching them.

Now that I am off of my soapbox, I would like to mention hollow grinding. Many years ago, I used my six inch dry grinder to create hollow grinds and switched to stones with the two contact points and microbevels. The small grinder creates very visible hollows. In theory, the larger Tormek wheels do,  also. However, in my opinion, the amount of hollow from the large diameter wheels is negligable.  I mention this in the spirit of conversation, not debate. I would welcome your thoughts on this.

Duty calls; I must close for now.

Ken

[Serhij]

a number of years ago I bought a Delta Sharpening Center



some what the same Idea as the work sharp,
I had a few bench grinders, but for the wood working tools I have found this a nice tool to have, I have sharpened planer knives, jointer knives, chainsaws, chisels and other on it, and reserve it for sharpening only, the white wheel is to fine for heavy removal of stock,

I would want a bench grinder as well, possibly if it was just the wood shop the sharpening center would do and a 4" grinder for the occasional other things one would get into,

but I have a few 6 bench grinders for various wheels, and I have a buffing station for "honing" I use a polishing compound on the buffing wheel and after bringing things to a sharp point one can put a razor edge on them with the buffer,

I have a grinder with the normal coarse and fine wheels and wire brush etc,

for planer or jointer knives I think you need some thing like the work sharp or the delta sharpening center and some type of guide system for accuracy

[John_B]

The gold standard of kitchen cutlery use seems to be slicing tomatoes. With tomatoes, the oft quoted term is "toothiness". Among the ways to obtain this toothy quality is to begin with a very sharp knife and use a ceramic rod to add the toothiness (degrade the edge slightly).

The Tormek demonstration of cutting a tomato into very thin slices without touching it makes me think this issue may have more than meets the eye.I would be curious to see this demonstration (performed with both sharprning methods) on the twentieth tomato.

I believe we may have some confusion with word usage. To me, toothiness means a slightly unpolished edge designed to snag things like tomato skins. While they may be close cousins, I think of burr as the mostly ground surface of an edge which should be removed, either in the sharpening process or in eating the food if it is left on the knife. (not the most pleasant thought) 

I would expect a very expert (and priced accordingly) sharpener to be able to vary his sharpening to meed the individual customer's expectations, if the customer desired that. I see these questions as part of the learning process which will make all of us more skilled sharpeners.

Ken

I think cutting a tomato horizontally is demonstrating something no one will ever does in actual usage. Edges having a tooth is also one of the myths that is debunked in Wootz's book on deburring. I have found that knives sharpened and properly deburred using Wootz's technique glide through tomatoes with almost no force and probably more importantly retain their edge longer. I have an Italian chef as a customer and she cuts more tomatoes than most. She has told me that in all her years on the line she has never had knives that are so sharp and that stay so sharp using her smooth steel. To me this means more than watching people cut a tomato or pieces of paper of various thicknesses. This can be achieved using the standard wheel and leather hone as demonstrated in this thread:
https://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=3936.0

Having seen the results of proper deburring I will continue to use these practices on all the knives I sharpen.

[Ken S]

I have been amazed with the innovations and advances in Tormek sharpening in the ten years I have owned a Tormek. These advances in both technique and equipment have come both from Tormek and from members of this forum.

I have noticed an increased interest in things like diamond and CBN wheels; SJ wheels; paper wheels; various honing compounds; and VFBs. While these are all useful, none of them is a magic bullet. If you study carefully the you tubes of members Wootz and Sharpco, you will see careful, practiced technique.

Nor do any of these advances in technique and equipment diminish the value of the basic Tormek technique and equipment. Whether for home use or a sharpening business, the bulk of knife sharpening is still being done in the traditional Tormek manner. A very well established sharpener may be able to command premium prices for premium knives, however, few customers appreciate the extra time and skill involved in top shelf sharpening, nor are most customers willing to pay enough to justify a lot of special sharpening equipment.

I believe the percentage of sharpening with high tech will increase over the years. I do not see it replacing the standard technique or gear.

Ken

[Antz]

A very well established sharpener may be able to command premium prices for premium knives, however, few customers appreciate the extra time and skill involved in top shelf sharpening, nor are most customers willing to pay enough to justify a lot of special sharpening equipment.

I believe the percentage of sharpening with high tech will increase over the years. I do not see it replacing the standard technique or gear.

Ken

I just wanted to chime in on what Ken said. Where I live at least it seems like most people aren't appreciative of a premium edge. Maybe its due to their lack of knowledge on the subject, but they seem to rather pay someone 5 bucks to sharpen and polish their knives on a belt sander with subpar results rather than paying a small premium for a tormek finished knife. So far I'm the only one on our island offering this service so perhaps word will spread and people will come around to the idea of better quality knife sharpening.

[RichColvin]

... I'm the only one on our island offering this service ...

Which island?

Kind regards,
Rich