Leather strop or honing steel, for WÜSTHOF 4596-7/20 Classic Ikon 8" Cook's Knife?
I know that honing differs from sharpening. My grandparents never altered their WÜSTHOF 4596-7/20 Classic Ikon 8-Inch Cook's Knife since buying it on Aug 1 2018. It could effortlessly slash coconut and raw Winter Squashes, but now it can't even cut paper or pears or zucchinis! Undeniably they must alter their knife. They bought 1000/6000 grit King water stone.
Ought they buy a leather strop or honing steel?
Best Answer
Late edit: I eventually gave up with all this faffing & bought a good electric system - https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/108740/42066
For people who can't be bothered to sharpen their knives, getting anything that requires practise & skill seems rather pointless.
Flat stones, honing steels and strops all require skill, otherwise the knife gets duller rather than sharper.
For the unenthusiastic amateur, I'd go for some kind of pull-through system like this Füri
They used to make a 3-grade version of this which I own but can no longer find, with both coarser & finer grades.
I found a store with several of these - including some by Wüsthof - Manual & pull through knife sharpeners
To get a good initial clean edge you want a guided stoning system, not freehand. Freehand is not good if you aren't practised. Aligned systems are much harder to get wrong.
This is a fairly random Google search which turned up a store selling most of the majors - Sharpening Supplies: Guided knife sharpening systems
Basically, they all have a method to hold the knife at a set angle & one or more different grits you can drag across it without ruining everything ;)
Pictures about "Leather strop or honing steel, for WÜSTHOF 4596-7/20 Classic Ikon 8" Cook's Knife?"
What is the difference between honing and stropping?
The main difference between honing and stropping is that honing is the process of smoothing out the blade surface after it has been polished and sharpened while stropping is the process of removing residual microscopic nicks and irregularities.Do you need a leather strop for sharpening?
Sharpeners of straight razors for instance often prefer using a smooth leather strop with no compound applied. The leather polishes the metal and removes any burr from the edge, leaving it crisp and sharp. Knife and tools users on the other hand often use a compound like the Green Honing Compound on their strops.Is stropping necessary for kitchen knives?
Honing and stropping are two methods to ensure your kitchen knives stay at a high quality and do not become dull or less durable too quickly. While consistent stropping is not necessary and is often more for aesthetics, honing is recommended after every use of a knife.Stropping vs Honing
More answers regarding leather strop or honing steel, for WÜSTHOF 4596-7/20 Classic Ikon 8" Cook's Knife?
Answer 2
There is no need for a strop or honing steel if they aren't willing to take the time and maintain the edge.
If you want something easy and reliable for them, I suggest an electric sharpener.
We use a version of the Chef's Choice at home in the kitchen. It' will put a consistent and repeatable edge on a knife. It's easy for my wife to use and eliminates the complaints about dull knives.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: валерия Гарбуз, TranStudios Photography & Video, Rene Asmussen, Silvie Lindemann