T
The Tourist
Guest
One of my forum friends here asked me to do a sharpening tutorial, and I told him that I am reluctant. And there's a very good reason.
I have absolutely no credentials.
I am not a polisher, in fact, I am not even a sharpener in the traditional sense. I am what is known in the trades as an 'itinerant tinker.' That is, I travel (and work out of my home) sharpening and repairing kitchen tools. Usually in restaurants, but I did work as a consultant for our local Panera's Bread chain.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, that I do is accredited. Everything I use for sharpening comes from Edge Pro, Hand American, Sears and Amazon.com in total and it's listed on the internet.
About /-twenty years ago I began collecting high-end production knives, like the Microtech USSOCOM. I don't like stripped or boogered up screws, and I was reluctant to have a blade-butcher wreck a 400 dollar knife. All I could do was use crock-sticks. And I hated my 'adult job' in finance. I began to sharpen for friends and my church kitchen. Time passed.
Slowly I tried and trained with differing tools, like DMT diamonds and oil stones. One day I heard about Edge Pro and Ben Dale. Not only did he sell equipment, but he's a good honest man who also had a sharpening route and a business plan. I bought his fixture. And with those humble beginnings I took an unpaid consultant's job at the old Madison East-Side Gander Mountain and I worked for pocket change. At the end of four years I made anywhere from 100 to 500 bucks per day, and I went out on my own.
By that time I had my own ideas on equipment and waterstones. Ben Dale and I began to experiment with pastes, polishing papers, glass, brass, toothpaste, leather--you name it. I also bought 3x9 stones from Japan and a full range of products from Keith DiGrau at HandAmerican. I also started my study on Japanese cutlery, history and polishing.
Like most of my pursuits, I "cheat." Just because I am not a polisher doesn't mean that I cannot usurp their tools--and I do!
But as for teaching, I might take on an apprentice, and I have. But as for the professionals here who create an engraved knife using only a boxful of tinfoil gum wrappers and a bag of charcoal, I have little to provide in the way of cutlery insight.
Of course, I'll answer any question. But please remember there is not one shred of info I possess that cannot be obtained without a simple google search.
I have absolutely no credentials.
I am not a polisher, in fact, I am not even a sharpener in the traditional sense. I am what is known in the trades as an 'itinerant tinker.' That is, I travel (and work out of my home) sharpening and repairing kitchen tools. Usually in restaurants, but I did work as a consultant for our local Panera's Bread chain.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, that I do is accredited. Everything I use for sharpening comes from Edge Pro, Hand American, Sears and Amazon.com in total and it's listed on the internet.
About /-twenty years ago I began collecting high-end production knives, like the Microtech USSOCOM. I don't like stripped or boogered up screws, and I was reluctant to have a blade-butcher wreck a 400 dollar knife. All I could do was use crock-sticks. And I hated my 'adult job' in finance. I began to sharpen for friends and my church kitchen. Time passed.
Slowly I tried and trained with differing tools, like DMT diamonds and oil stones. One day I heard about Edge Pro and Ben Dale. Not only did he sell equipment, but he's a good honest man who also had a sharpening route and a business plan. I bought his fixture. And with those humble beginnings I took an unpaid consultant's job at the old Madison East-Side Gander Mountain and I worked for pocket change. At the end of four years I made anywhere from 100 to 500 bucks per day, and I went out on my own.
By that time I had my own ideas on equipment and waterstones. Ben Dale and I began to experiment with pastes, polishing papers, glass, brass, toothpaste, leather--you name it. I also bought 3x9 stones from Japan and a full range of products from Keith DiGrau at HandAmerican. I also started my study on Japanese cutlery, history and polishing.
Like most of my pursuits, I "cheat." Just because I am not a polisher doesn't mean that I cannot usurp their tools--and I do!
But as for teaching, I might take on an apprentice, and I have. But as for the professionals here who create an engraved knife using only a boxful of tinfoil gum wrappers and a bag of charcoal, I have little to provide in the way of cutlery insight.
Of course, I'll answer any question. But please remember there is not one shred of info I possess that cannot be obtained without a simple google search.