Journal
Notes on Steel
& the Edge
Technique, materials, and the considered life of a sharpened blade.
Is That Rust on My Carbon-Steel Knife, or Patina?
One kind of discoloration protects your blade. The other eats it. Here's how to tell.
You bought a beautiful carbon-steel knife, and a few weeks in the shiny blade has gone grey, blue, or blotchy. Your instinct is that something has gone wrong. In most cases, the opposite is true. Is that rust on my carbon-steel knife, or is...
Read moreWhat's the Difference Between a Santoku, a Gyuto, and a Nakiri?
A plain-language guide to the three knives every Japanese knife collection starts with.
If you've started shopping for a Japanese knife, you've probably hit a wall of unfamiliar names. Santoku, Gyuto, Nakiri: they all look like variations on the same wedge of steel, but they're built for different jobs. What's the difference b...
Read moreIs That Pull-Through Sharpener Ruining Your Knives?
Why your Wüsthof deserves better than a plastic box with carbide wheels.
You reach for the pull-through gadget sitting in your drawer. Your knife feels sharper after. For about a week. Then you're back where you started, wondering why a $200 Wüsthof keeps disappointing you. Is a pull-through sharpener actually s...
Read moreHow Long Should a Knife Actually Hold Its Edge?
The variables that decide whether your knife stays sharp for weeks or months.
"How long should my knife stay sharp?" is one of the questions we hear most at the shop, and it's also one of the hardest to answer with a single number. The honest answer is: it depends on a handful of variables you can mostly control. How...
Read moreHow Do You Strop a Knife?
The simple last step that keeps a sharpened edge keen for longer.
You just had your knife sharpened, or you spent an hour on the stones yourself, and the edge feels incredible. A week later it's already a little less lively. Stropping is the five-second habit that slows that slide. How do you strop a knif...
Read moreWhy Is My Japanese Knife Chipping?
What causes those tiny nicks in a hard, thin Japanese edge, and how to stop them.
You spent real money on a Shun or a Miyabi, and now there are tiny nicks along the edge. It feels like you broke it. Why is my Japanese knife chipping? TL;DR: Japanese knives use harder, thinner steel than Western ones. That gives you a kee...
Read moreWhy Removing the Burr Is the Real Secret to a Sharp Knife
Raising a burr gets you most of the way there. Taking it off is what actually makes the knife cut.
You sharpened your knife. You felt that telltale roughness along the edge. You put the knife away, and a day later it's already dragging through a tomato instead of slicing it. Here's the part most people miss: the burr you felt wasn't the...
Read moreWhy Is My Wüsthof Harder to Keep Sharp Than It Used to Be?
The honing steel isn't broken. The edge has changed shape.
You used to hone it every few days and it snapped back to attention. Now you hone it the same way and it barely helps. Nothing about your routine has changed, so what gives? Why does my Wüsthof feel duller even though I hone it regularly? T...
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