    >People spend hundreds of dollars and many hours sharpening kitchen knives...

What amazes me is how many people spend absolutely zero time sharpening knives, using decades-old knives that have never been sharpened and can't even cut through cucumbers.

▲ john_minsk 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I don't use knives in my kitchen. My romantic partner does. Yesterday I decided to cut some tomatoes only to find out that all knives are dull.

She never said anything, I didn't know it. Why?

Because she is just "used" to it and to her these knives were just fine. So she never thought about sharpening knives in the first place.

I will take those knives to a pro and he will sharpen them for me, as in a rental I stay in, I don't have the tools to do that and as I said in another comment - I don't have a pain free process to do that as I don't do it often.

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chneu 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

You don't really need "tools" to sharpen knives. You just need a harder surface and some experience. It's one of those things that once you learn you can accomplish with a variety of "tools" because you're just trying to achieve an end goal. There's zero reason you can't sharpen a knife in a rental, lol. You don't need a belt grinder or anything.

People get way too caught up in buying into systems and being told how to do things because it alleviates some anxiety of trying something new. Sharpening knives hasn't really changed much in the last few centuries. Watch a few guides and learn to do it. There's no substitute for experience here. It's also a very transferable skill so it's one that used to be taught in schools but no longer is.

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scarby2 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> There's no substitute for experience here. It's also a very transferable skill so it's one that used to be taught in schools but no longer is.

This 100% should be taught in school, it would have been one of the most useful things I could have learned.

	▲	obscurette 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		When I was in school (in seventies), all boys at least tried to learn how to use and take care of all sharp tools and machines with one up to wood and metal lathe. When I was in school now as a teacher, scissors were the only somewhat sharp things kids were allowed to use. Risk tolerance is so low in our society nowadays, sense of responsibility of children is nonexistent etc.

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coffeebeqn 26 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Buy a whetstone for $10 and you’re set for life. It’s not complicated! People have been sharpening knives for millennia

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JohnMakin 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

when I was poor I used to make pricy shaving blades last for months longer than they should have by rubbing them on some old jeans. I don’t remember where I learned it but my roommates thought I was crazy til they tried it.

	▲	foundart an hour ago \| parent [-]
		That’s stropping https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor_strop

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UberFly 12 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is all very defeatist. Learn to sharpen your knives for your own sake and your... romantic partner. It's a very basic life skill that you should know.

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petepete 35 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

Were you cutting tomatoes with a serrated knife? If not, you should be - they do a far better job.

▲ RHSeeger 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I know I'm setting myself up for being picked up, but... I use an older knife that I've never sharpened outside of "occasionally" running it back and forth against a tough fabric. It cuts literally everything just fine; cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, etc. Nothing about my use of it _seems_ unsafe; but I expect that's partially because I don't cut very fast. Cooking, when I'm involved, tends to be "social time", where we prep and chat at the same time; so there's no rush.

I'm not saying it's not a good idea to sharpen knives, but a lot of people make it sound like you're a dangerous monster if you don't. And that just doesn't seem to be the case.

	▲	LordDragonfang 28 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		> outside of "occasionally" running it back and forth against a tough fabric. As I understand it, that's technically stropping, not sharpening, but it should be sufficient to keep an already-sharp blade sharp over the long term as long as the blade doesn't see extremely heavy use. That said, most people don't strip their blades any more than they sharpen them.