"60 Second Spiel" - Sharpening

Any cutting tool with an edge, eventually, needs sharpening. One of the main differences between a good quality cutting tool and an inferior one is its ability to take and maintain a sharp edge. A number of factors go into this – such as quality and make-up of the steel and the original craftsmanship…

Some tools – such as scissors and manicure nippers – are meant to be used until they become dull and then resharpened. Knife edges, once sharp, are meant to be kept sharp (maintained) with a fine abrasive - such as a butcher's steel - for as long as possible until they cannot be kept sharp any longer.

Knife blades are wedge shaped and, with use, a thicker part of the blade is eventually exposed. When that happens it's time to professionally regrind the edge…

This is done with a coarse abrasive which thins the steel down but leaves the edge rough. This roughness is then polished off in multiple stages with increasingly finer abrasives until you are left with a thin, polished edge… in other words, a sharp knife!... Once resharpened, the edge is then maintained for as long as possible…

And that is the normal life-cycle of a sharp edge…