The cap of butter on top is just to keep the pate from oxidizing, it is usually just tossed away.
Seems a bit precious, no? I mean steel is steel and stone is stone and sharp is sharp. I suppose if I was a samurai and needed my sword sharpened...who am I kidding?
My father's first-and-third wife (not my mother) had many faults but was a heck of a cook. She once served us some mushroom "pate" (no livers involved) which was one of the best things I ever ate. I think I know mostly what was in it, but wish I had the recipe or saw her make it.
I am making a 24" knife as a gift. A week to shape it, tempered by really good professionals and now sharpening it. An hour a day for two weeks with a slow speed wet grinding wheel, now with 220 grit for an hour or two a day for a bit more than a month. I expect the 280, 400, 600, 800, 1200 & 2000 grit stages to go faster, but not that much. Then the etch to bring out the Damascus pattern. Finally I will put on the last four pieces of the handle. About a years worth of work. Could go faster, but I find the process at an hour a day about the right pace for me.
So far have only drawn my blood twice. When it is fully sharp the knife should instruct folks you don't run your finger along the edge to test for sharpness.
Now a pro could sharpen it faster but $3,000 for a sharpening is actually a bargain.
Just part of the ritual, remember these are genuine 18th century or older museum pieces with provenance worth 10's of thousands.
Ed - the $3000 is just for polish and tune up every decade or so. Sounds just like making your own telescope mirror I had grit down to 3 microns (and then you polish).
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Scott,
A lens is ground to shape, an edged steel item starts off already formed. Before a resharpen you start at 400 grit. Walking the barrel requires less skill than sharpening a combination straight and curved edge.
A pro still makes mistakes, but notices them earlier, smaller and then knows how to repair or hide them.
A lens is ground to shape, an edged steel item starts off already formed. Before a resharpen you start at 400 grit. Walking the barrel requires less skill than sharpening a combination straight and curved edge.
A pro still makes mistakes, but notices them earlier, smaller and then knows how to repair or hide them.
A bit more on topic, breakfast today was a slice of cinamon toast of whole wheat bread, a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice (I soak the oranges overnight first), a large glass of air filtered tea and then to keep up liquid intake a black cow. (Chocolate ice cream in home made root beer.)
I believe a 24" knife is called a "sword".
It sounds like you are removing a lot of material, and you don't want to get the steel hot lest you remove the temper (maybe should have created the edge before tempering?), so I'll give you a couple of hours. I assume you are a master craftsman so I will let you overcharge for your time, let's say $100/hr. So no, $3K to sharpen a knife may be a lot of things, but never a bargain.
And a mirror polish on a working edge? I hope you never have to cut anything with that knife, or you will need a month of sharpening between uses. Heaven forbid it should ever touch a strop, never mind a steel.
Not necessarily -- Freddie Capasso:
Capasso Group >> Tunable metalenses
also inventor of the quantum cascade laser.
Anyone try this?
After all the meat tenderizing discussions I came across a comparison of various techniques and the winner was surprising. Vacu-packing a cut of meat along with a simple puree of fresh pineapple for 12hr. or so made a dramatic difference without (supposedly) adding any pineapple flavor. I have hard time classifying this as some kind of horrible additive or process. I know some meat tenderizers are based on fruit enzyme extracts but this simple process does not ring "industrial" to me.
I plan to try it this week with an Aussie grass fed London broil.
After all the meat tenderizing discussions I came across a comparison of various techniques and the winner was surprising. Vacu-packing a cut of meat along with a simple puree of fresh pineapple for 12hr. or so made a dramatic difference without (supposedly) adding any pineapple flavor. I have hard time classifying this as some kind of horrible additive or process. I know some meat tenderizers are based on fruit enzyme extracts but this simple process does not ring "industrial" to me.
I plan to try it this week with an Aussie grass fed London broil.
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No the edge was there before tempering. The blade edge is about 16 inches after the guard, handle and decorative pommel. A large person would wield it as a knife. A small person could use it as a sword. In more modern usage such as the U.S. Civil War swords were often used as forged. The duller edge would inflict more damage.
The amount of material removed is extremely small. It is just that the Damascus steel is so hard that it wears out the grit amazingly fast. It is not quite a mirror polish nor is it just the edge. Damascus steel has a pattern that is brought out to look prettier. With the 220 grit I am still removing milling marks over the entire surface.
I expect the first real use may be carving turkey.
It is intended as a wedding present for a couple who have a wierd collection hobby. My usual wedding gifts have been commercial knife sets. One neice didn't understand why she got one as she already had knives. Of course after she used them, she found out the difference between good knives and ordinary ones.
BTY we charge $95.00 for technician time.
A rare visitor here - but this jumped out at me, in a good way.
I remember being shown how to sharpen things by my grandfather, a very patient, loving, gentle man, an old-shool pharmacist who worked with his hands for relaxation, one of those 'could make or fix or finesse anything' people.
Anyway - I remember one wet Saturday while 'helping' in the workshop being shown how to sharpen a chisel, maintaining and if necessary restoring the two bevels accurately; how to use the oilstone and differing stroke patterns to ensure they were accurate, square, true and finally - sharp.
Then how to strop (lap) that sharp edge to be sharp. And after a few hours when I'd got somewhat acceptable results on 1/4" and 1" chisels we moved onto a 2" Plane blade (for one of the many beautiful old Stanley planes I later inherited from him; still have and use); we'd got to the 'look at newspaper, it falls apart' stage when my parents came by and it was time to go home that evening.
- ' oh, and don't tell your mother!' followed me out of the door; because I was 6 yrs old.
I can still do it all (and probably blindfold) from recall of the touch and feel learnt that day. It remains a joy to use the same large slab of corundum to do so. Meditative indeed!
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Papaya is the standard go to, pineapple works almost as well. Of course the traditional was onion but it does add flavor. Of course when you cook with it, even the toughest cuts fall apart.
My secret marinade is saki. Few recognize the added flavor and it clearly demonstrates what alcohol really does to meat like you and me.