On 22/1/09 15:32, in article ,
"Martin" wrote:

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:14:23 +0000, Broadback wrote:

beccabunga wrote:
chili-girl;827940 Wrote:
Any ideas

Our local farm shop will sharpen knives. Worth trying any nearby.




I have always thought that 70% of good pruning, carpentry, or any skill
that needs a tool that is sharpened, lies in the ability to sharpen
correctly. I must admit I a not good, I have files, stones and leather
strops, but cannot get a professional edge. :-(

About 25 years ago Philips made an electric knife & scissor sharpener that
would
put a perfect edge on any small blade. We still have one somewhere.

So do I and I use it often. But I would have thought asking a local butcher
might be an option. I bought a hand held knife sharpener from ours and
that's been very useful, too.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)

On Jan 22, 11:15*am, Martin wrote:
On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:53:33 -0800 (PST), Judith in France



wrote:
On Jan 22, 10:16*am, Martin wrote:
On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:27:19 -0800 (PST), Judith in France

wrote:
On Jan 21, 7:58*pm, "Tom" wrote:
"chili-girl" wrote in message

. ..

Any ideas

*I sharpen all my knives with a smooth file and then hone them on the bottom
of a ceramic mug. Use the file to shape the blade and get the angles right,
then polish all the filing marks out with the bottom of the mug (which is
almost exactly the same grade as a medium ceramic sharpening stone that
you'd pay £'s for)

*I can shave the hairs off my arms with any of my knives.

* *Tom

Do you do underarms?

Not in France by all accounts )
I do! *To try and keep on gardening mattersG, it was lovely
yesterday and I made a list of small jobs to do today, too late, it's
snowing heavily, what made us buy a house halfway up a mountain????

Jack and Jill syndrome?
--

Martin

Pill? I don't need any thank you.

Judith

On Jan 22, 1:27*pm, "Muddymike" wrote:
"Judith in France" wrote in ...
On Jan 22, 10:16 am, Martin wrote:



On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:27:19 -0800 (PST), Judith in France

wrote:
On Jan 21, 7:58 pm, "Tom" wrote:
"chili-girl" wrote in message

. ..

Do you do underarms?

Not in France by all accounts )
--
I do! *To try and keep on gardening mattersG, it was lovely
yesterday and I made a list of small jobs to do today, too late, it's
snowing heavily, what made us buy a house halfway up a mountain????

Judith

Judith

Think positive its better than being half way down the other side. My aunt
in Wales does and their dead end drive goes way up over the mountain and
half way down the other side, great fun in winter.

Mike

There's always a silver lining|!

Judith

The message
from Sacha contains these words:

So do I and I use it often. But I would have thought asking a local butcher
might be an option. I bought a hand held knife sharpener from ours and
that's been very useful, too.

Hmmm. I used to sharpen my local butcher's knives for him. Mind you -
they were all cheap rubbish, and needed sharpening almost as soon as
he'd made a couple of slices.

Now *MY* butcher's knife has kept its edge for nearly a year - but then,
it's surgical steel.

--
Rusty
horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:35:19 GMT, Rusty_Hinge
wrote:

The message
from Broadback contains these words:
beccabunga wrote:
chili-girl;827940 Wrote:
Any ideas

Our local farm shop will sharpen knives. Worth trying any nearby.




I have always thought that 70% of good pruning, carpentry, or any skill
that needs a tool that is sharpened, lies in the ability to sharpen
correctly. I must admit I a not good, I have files, stones and leather
strops, but cannot get a professional edge. :-(

Probably the quality of the knives' steel.

I find that a softer steel knife is easier to sharpen, although it may
need doing more often.
I buy quite a few kitchen knives in Spain for example. They are
cheap, fairly soft material, but take a lovely edge quickly, even if
they need touching up fairly frequently, not a problem,

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹



--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹

On 22 Jan, 10:53, Judith in France
wrote:
what made us buy a house halfway up a mountain????

You have aspirations to get to the top?

The sharp edge has to be straight, not curved like most kitchen knives, otherwise it will not cut properly.
It should only be sharpened on one side, with any resulting burr taken off the flat side, same as a chisel or plane blade.
It will never be razor sharp unless it is high quality steel.
Felco the secateur people do a nice little diamond sharpening stone for about £14. Not in most g-centres, so try internet. Else use trad stone, which is better for getting a straight edge initially.
Do not use under arms unless you intend replacing a limb!