No blade sharpener cares as much as you do about sharpening your knives or tools. If you send them off to knife sharpeners it is likely that a lot more material will be removed than is necessary. This decreases their lifespan.
Sharp tools provide health & safety in the workplace. Tools which are continually used on commercial premises must always be kept sharp - a blunt or dull tool is dangerous because it requires more pressure and is more likely to slip and cause an injury. This is the single most important reason to keep all tools sharp.
It's said because it's true. A dull knife can easily slip off of an object rather than cut through it, but is still sharp enough to cut you. The same can be said of any tool that can't perform the way it's designed.
Storing in a cluttered drawer can chip the blade ,honing guide ,or handle, and most definitely will make tools dull. In order to keep your tools sharp, store them in a way that stabilizes and separates them. The two best ways to do this are sheaths and magnet strips.
A sharp knife will cut cleanly when using a slicing motion to cut through paper. A razor sharp knife can cut the paper cleanly by just pressing down on the edge of paper without any slicing at all. Another test is to shave the hair on your arms. While we recommend caution using this method, it can be very useful.
- ✅A SHARP KNIFE OR CHISEL JUST WORKS BETTER - Sharp tools need less brute force to cut than dull ones. Less force means less damage to whatever you are working on. But, more than this, a dull chisel or scissors slows you down, while sharp ones make your job easier and more enjoyable.
- ✅A SHARP KNIFE OR RAZOR IS MUCH SAFER - A sharp blade is predictable. When it strikes or is drawn across a surface, it won’t slip. This makes it easy to control how the blade moves, giving you control over what you are working on. A dull blade will slip, which makes control difficult and increases the risk that it will slip into your finger or cut someone if shaving them. With a dull knife, it’s only a matter of time until you badly cut yourself.
- ✅GIVES YOU MORE CONTROL - When you sharpen your knives or kitchen tools yourself, you can control the bevel of the edge to suit how you use it. For example, you may choose to put a broad 45-degree angle on the sides of a sturdy chef’s knife for a tough, durable blade that will be well suited to chopping. Or for a fine slicing knife, you can hone the edge to a shallow angle of 15 degrees on each side. Such a blade will be fragile but will slice through food with ease.
- ✅SHARPENING IS QUICK AND EASY - It’s neither difficult nor time-consuming to sharpen a knife or chisel set. The alternative to sharpening yourself is to use the sharpening services of a good knife shop. They’ll usually sharpen knives or tools for a few dollars each. Depending on where you live, this might involve mailing items and waiting for them to be returned.
- ✅IS AN INVESTMENT - A set of waterstones for sharpening your knives will cost about as much as a good knife. We think this is a great investment since a whole set of expensive but dull knives or tools is useless. A couple rounds at a sharpening service will cost more then a set of stones, and the stones should last you a lifetime. If you send them off to a knife sharpener it is likely that a lot more material will be removed than is necessary.
- ✅A SHARP KNIFE OR CHISEL JUST WORKS BETTER - Sharp tools need less brute force to cut than dull ones. Less force means less damage to whatever you are working on. But, more than this, a dull chisel or scissors slows you down, while sharp ones make your job easier and more enjoyable.
- ✅A SHARP KNIFE OR RAZOR IS MUCH SAFER - A sharp blade is predictable. When it strikes or is drawn across a surface, it won’t slip. This makes it easy to control how the blade moves, giving you control over what you are working on. A dull blade will slip, which makes control difficult and increases the risk that it will slip into your finger or cut someone if shaving them. With a dull knife, it’s only a matter of time until you badly cut yourself.
- ✅GIVES YOU MORE CONTROL - When you sharpen your knives or kitchen tools yourself, you can control the bevel of the edge to suit how you use it. For example, you may choose to put a broad 45-degree angle on the sides of a sturdy chef’s knife for a tough, durable blade that will be well suited to chopping. Or for a fine slicing knife, you can hone the edge to a shallow angle of 15 degrees on each side. Such a blade will be fragile but will slice through food with ease.
- ✅SHARPENING IS QUICK AND EASY - It’s neither difficult nor time-consuming to sharpen a knife or chisel set. The alternative to sharpening yourself is to use the sharpening services of a good knife shop. They’ll usually sharpen knives or tools for a few dollars each. Depending on where you live, this might involve mailing items and waiting for them to be returned.
- ✅IS AN INVESTMENT - A set of waterstones for sharpening your knives will cost about as much as a good knife. We think this is a great investment since a whole set of expensive but dull knives or tools is useless. A couple rounds at a sharpening service will cost more then a set of stones, and the stones should last you a lifetime. If you send them off to a knife sharpener it is likely that a lot more material will be removed than is necessary.
