I have a meat knife, that I have owned for around thirty years. I
sharpen it with a stone a couple times a month whenever I need to
slice up a whole chicken for frying. Would the blade over this time
frame become thinner or narrower to the point that it might break if I
applied too much pressure? I would think butchers must wear out their
knives quite quickly.

Thanks

Tom

wrote on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:17:29 -0800 (PST):

> Thanks

> I have a meat knife, that I have owned for around thirty years. I
sharpen it with a stone a couple times a month whenever I need to
slice up a whole chicken for frying. Would the blade over this time
frame become thinner or narrower to the point that it might break if I
applied too much pressure? I would think butchers must wear out their
>knives quite quickly.

If you look at a butcher's knife, it often shows signs of a curved blade
from being worn down by sharpening but I suspect yours is not in bad
shape if you have to ask.


--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

wrote:
> I have a meat knife, that I have owned for around thirty years. I
> sharpen it with a stone a couple times a month whenever I need to
> slice up a whole chicken for frying. Would the blade over this time
> frame become thinner or narrower to the point that it might break if I
> applied too much pressure? I would think butchers must wear out their
> knives quite quickly.
>
> Thanks
>
> Tom

It takes a very long time to sharpen a knife that far down, if ever. If you
sharpen it right, it wont get thinner except at the edge

On Jan 15, 5:17*pm, " >
wrote:
> I have a meat knife, that I have owned for around thirty years. I
> sharpen it with a stone a couple times a month whenever I need to
> slice up a whole chicken for frying. Would the blade over this time
> frame become thinner or narrower to the point that it might break if I
> applied too much pressure? I would think butchers must wear out their
> knives quite quickly.
>
> Thanks
>
> Tom

Good knives will last you for a lifetime. Self sharpening is ok with
a sharpening steel to keep the edge keen for slicing and chopping,
etc. But most people really don't know how to properly sharpen
knives. It wouldn't hurt to have your knives professionally
sharpened once in a while. The professional sharpener knows how to
grind the blade back to a straight, even edge that will only take the
steel to keep it in top condition.

In article <f3bf13cc-88f3-4674-980e-db77aa3e3247
@c29g2000yqd.googlegroups.com>, says...
>
> On Jan 15, 5:17*pm, " >
> wrote:
> > I have a meat knife, that I have owned for around thirty years. I
> > sharpen it with a stone a couple times a month whenever I need to
> > slice up a whole chicken for frying. Would the blade over this time
> > frame become thinner or narrower to the point that it might break if I
> > applied too much pressure? I would think butchers must wear out their
> > knives quite quickly.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Tom
>
> Good knives will last you for a lifetime. Self sharpening is ok with
> a sharpening steel to keep the edge keen for slicing and chopping,
> etc. But most people really don't know how to properly sharpen
> knives. It wouldn't hurt to have your knives professionally
> sharpened once in a while. The professional sharpener knows how to
> grind the blade back to a straight, even edge that will only take the
> steel to keep it in top condition.

When I ran the club one of my bartenders was a retired Merchant Marine.
Every Sunday he would come in and work on a knife, I would give him some
beers. Sometimes on slow shifts he would be back there working on one,
it was awesome. The knives in the kitchen were wonderful to work with
the way he kept them. Anyway, my point is if he taught me anything about
sharpening knives, the most important thing is patience... He said he
learned while spending endless weeks at sea, gave him something to do...

Scotty