Knife Holding Survey

[Cinisajoy]

Isn't a sharp knife the safest?

Less effort required by the user, than a knife with less edge.

The disadvantage to a super sharp knife is you might not feel it slice you.
I have a couple of very sharp blades that have nicked me more than once.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

plus how often you actually sharpen a particular knife would depend on how often you actually use that knife. I have a couple that have not been sharpened since they left the UK in March. The reason is that I don't actually use them. So I have had to answer according to the knives I use the most frequently. But this will also depend on how many knives you have. If you have 3 of the same thing, and no preference, then you will only sharpen then 1/3rd of the time you would if you had only 1 of that knife because each individual knife is getting only 1/3rd the use of that single knife (assumptions made here folks for the sake of an example).

 

[classic33]

The disadvantage to a super sharp knife is you might not feel it slice you.
I have a couple of very sharp blades that have nicked me more than once.

Last "knife" I cut myself with was a scalpel. Older butchers/slaughterhouse knives, no problems, and I'm no expert.

 

[Cinisajoy]

plus how often you actually sharpen a particular knife would depend on how often you actually use that knife. I have a couple that have not been sharpened since they left the UK in March. The reason is that I don't actually use them. So I have had to answer according to the knives I use the most frequently. But this will also depend on how many knives you have. If you have 3 of the same thing, and no preference, then you will only sharpen then 1/3rd of the time you would if you had only 1 of that knife because each individual knife is getting only 1/3rd the use of that single knife (assumptions made here folks for the sake of an example).

Well technically I don't sharpen the knives. My husband does that.
You are probably right although if you are anything like me, you just grab the one on top. So two will be neglected.

 

[Cinisajoy]

Last "knife" I cut myself with was a scalpel. Older butchers/slaughterhouse knives, no problems, and I'm no expert.

The last "knife" I cut myself with was the three bladed one that goes in my food chopper. It likes to bite me when I wash it.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

You are probably right although if you are anything like me, you just grab the one on top. So two will be neglected.

nope, I have my favourites. there are 4 of them.

these 4... (click on them for a large image). The 2 of the left date back to my Grandmother's time and were purchased or handed down to her around 1950 I believe, but could be older. I'm not sure. The bottom one of the 2 is really on its last legs and will probably only last me another decade or two. The blade has been sharpened away almost if you look closely. It should run level from the lowest piece of handle. It is meant to be a paring knife The other 2 are brand new (on the right) because we thought knives were missing from our shipping container and ended up replacing them. We finally found them in a box marked Christmas Decorations (this is what the packers marked it and how they packed them) rather than in anything that was marked for the kitchen. Luckily I did open the box before this Christmas and finally found them and some work books of my OH's that were missing as well. We will slowly continue to build up this set because they are really nice, well balanced and a beauty to handle. I'm not saying the next bit about sharp knives because I need to use them today

 

[GadgetGuy]

Isn't a sharp knife the safest?

Less effort required by the user, than a knife with less edge.

Yes!

A sharp knife is much safer to use than a dull one.

 

[Cinisajoy]

nope, I have my favourites. there are 4 of them.

these 4... (click on them for a large image). The 2 of the left date back to my Grandmother's time and were purchased or handed down to her around 1950 I believe, but could be older. I'm not sure. The bottom one of the 2 is really on its last legs and will probably only last me another decade or two. The blade has been sharpened away almost if you look closely. It should run level from the lowest piece of handle. It is meant to be a paring knife The other 2 are brand new (on the right) because we thought knives were missing from our shipping container and ended up replacing them. We finally found them in a box marked Christmas Decorations (this is what the packers marked it and how they packed them) rather than in anything that was marked for the kitchen. Luckily I did open the box before this Christmas and finally found them and some work books of my OH's that were missing as well. We will slowly continue to build up this set because they are really nice, well balanced and a beauty to handle. I'm not saying the next bit about sharp knives because I need to use them today

View attachment 3754 View attachment 3755

Gorgeous knives.

 

[Yorky]

Yes!

A sharp knife is much safer to use than a dull one.

I believe it's the same with razors (although I manage to cut myself with both sharp and not so sharp ones).

 

[Kyleo]

plus how often you actually sharpen a particular knife would depend on how often you actually use that knife. I have a couple that have not been sharpened since they left the UK in March. The reason is that I don't actually use them. So I have had to answer according to the knives I use the most frequently. But this will also depend on how many knives you have. If you have 3 of the same thing, and no preference, then you will only sharpen then 1/3rd of the time you would if you had only 1 of that knife because each individual knife is getting only 1/3rd the use of that single knife (assumptions made here folks for the sake of an example).

That's a very good point! what I find interesting though is that so far in this survey a high percentage of people never sharpen their knives. I'm aware you can get titanium-carbide blades which hold their sharpness around 300 times longer than common steel blade but due to their price, I highly doubt this is common...

 

[classic33]

If I'm aware that a knife may be needed, then I'll make certain any that may be used are sharpened.

With older knives, often given to me for this, I've started with larger files.