While in Carbatec, I noticed at the back of one of the shelves in the wetstone wheel sharpening section, some boxes in familar colours – the yellow/blue of Scheppach. Knowing that Carbatec no longer seem to be stocking them, in favour of Tormek, I had a quick dig through to see what was there, and found the large knife jig which was one that I was still wanting. (I had sharpened my kitchen knives with one not that long ago, and they are back to better than new (they are never sold as sharp as they can be!))
Scheppach Large Knife Jig
I ended up getting it for $50 because it is discontinued stock (still sold elsewhere for around $100), so although expensive for what it is, no where near as much as it could have been!
Filed under: Tools Tagged: | Jig, Knife, Scheppach, Sharpening, Tormek
What ever happened to the good-ol’ sharpening steel rod for kitchen knives?
I use one for my knives, a few passes each time I use them and they stay in great condition.
Sharpening steels don’t actually remove much of the knife edge. Instead, they realign the edge so that it points out straight. Since the edge is so thin, it can actually bend over and cause the knife to act as though it were dull. However, eventually you need to remove some blade to restore the edge itself and that’s what sharpening stones, ceramic rods, etc, will do.
Couldn’t have said better myself. Steels certainly have their place, and you don’t use a grinding wheel all the time (you’d run out of knife pretty quickly, and they are not cheap (mine are >$100 each))
Once you have a sharp edge, you can use a steel to maintain it, but it gets to a point that the knife needs resharpening. I’d probably only resharpen the knives on the wheel every 6 – 12 months.
You’d use a steel very regularly.
Ahhh, you learn something new every day here. Thanks for that.
Hi Stu,
I recently purchased a Tormek T7 and half a dozen of their jigs that I wanted. Price was steep but quality and results are excellent. I purchased it mainly for sharpening carving and turning chisels and knives but I have also gone through the kitchen and am doing the right thing there so that the financial manager acknowledges the value of my tool purchase. The Tormek does a great job and I am impressed with the quality of the tool and the results. Only disappointment so far is the quality of the locking nut on the two knife sharpeners. One has already stripped the thread on the handle. I intend to replace this plastic item with a turned aluminium version in the next week or so. The other negative outcome was a quick trip to casualty when I carelessly ran my ring finger across the tip of one of my recently sharpened carving knives. I didn’t know that I had cut myself until the blood fell on the piece I was carving. So thumbs up for the Tormek T7. It is a great addition to the carvers toolbox… cheers pv