Knife sharpening: wood block

[mistertate]

Knife sharpening experts, would the typical knife sharpening motion and angle, on a wood block,
A) sharpen the knife
B) dull the knife
C) no change
?

Thanks,

[look 171]

Wut?

[enzo1]

You mean like using a leather strop? but with wood?...

[GWN7]

I think maybe pulling the knife out of a wood block?

[look 171]

Originally Posted by enzo1

You mean like using a leather strop? but with wood?...

I think that's what he meant? Wood?

[drkshdw]

Is this like the airplane on a conveyor belt question?

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by mistertate

Knife sharpening experts, would the typical knife sharpening motion and angle, on a wood block,
A) sharpen the knife
B) dull the knife
C) no change
?

Thanks,

Not enough info to answer.

Northern or Southern hemisphere?
African or European wood?
Wind speed and direction?

[JavaBrewer]

I put my knives in the wood block upside down. Blade edge up.

[DanielDudley]

I once carved a set of hearts from a piece of walnut, using a Stanley 199 utility knife with the replaceable blades. I took only light cuts. The blade was virtually as sharp when I was done as it was when I started. Most wood will neither dull nor sharpen a blade, as long as you do not deform the absolute edge.

[kach22i]

I suspect wood will always dull the blade.

I've built a lot of architectural models using soft woods like balsa and bass, they most certainly do dull blades, but I'm cutting not trying to sharpen them on the flat side.

I'm going to have to research this to validate, but my current theory is that the coefficient of friction on a leather strap, and the way it conducts or absorbs heat is different than that of wood.

That the friction and heat are in such short time periods that your senses don't pick up on it don't mean that they are not there.

Sort of like a needle running through the groves in a vinyl record. The friction and heat melting the vinyl for a micro-second thereby insuring each time you play the record it will sound every so slightly different and eventually wear out. Your senses simply cannot pick up on this.

One could conduct an experiment flat side rubbing a knife on leather and then wood to see which material transfers heat into the knife or transfers the heat into the the wood or leather.

Can I change my answer? I just found this:

Razor strop
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor_strop

A razor strop (or razor strap) is a flexible strip of leather, canvas, denim fabric, balsa wood, or other soft material, used to straighten and polish the blade of a straight razor, a knife, or a woodworking tool like a chisel. In many cases stropping re-aligns parts of the blade edge that have been bent out of alignment. In other cases, especially when abrasive polishing compound is used, stropping may remove a small amount of metal. Stropping can also burnish (i.e. push metal around on) the blade.[1]

Sounds like a soft wood will indeed sharpen a knife.

That is my answer, but I could change my mind a couple of more times.

Originally Posted by mistertate

Knife sharpening experts, would the typical knife sharpening motion and angle, on a wood block,
A) sharpen the knife
B) dull the knife
C) no change
?

Thanks,

Anything you drag against a honed edge will dull it.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by JavaBrewer

I put my knives in the wood block upside down. Blade edge up.

[green] Mortise out a square and glue in a sharpener so it's refreshed every time ya pull it out. [/green]

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by Eric Coffey

Not enough info to answer.

Northern or Southern hemisphere?
African or European wood?
Wind speed and direction?

You forgot Laden or Unladen!

[craigster59]

I use a Kapoosh knife block. All my knives are different sizes and manufacturers so it works great for me.



https://www.amazon.com/Kapoosh-Batonnet-Knife-Block-Woodgrain/dp/B005R21NQG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1511195645&sr=8-2&keywords=kapoosh+universal+cutlery+block&dpID=417RjGSgHHL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

[Hugh R]

My wood knife block they go in sideways.

[mistertate]

Originally Posted by kach22i

Can I change my answer? I just found this:

Razor strop
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor_strop



Sounds like a soft wood will indeed sharpen a knife.



That is my answer, but I could change my mind a couple of more times.

That was my idea.
I use the knife to scrape stuff off the cutting board, into the pan or into the compost. Usually not hard scraping, just a gentle motion like you would with the leather strap.
Thanks.

[vash]

It dulls the edge. Similar move on a cutting board has the same effect.

[Charles Freeborn]

Originally Posted by vash

It dulls the edge. Similar move on a cutting board has the same effect.

This^^

Get yourself one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SSZ4Q4/ref=asc_df_B000SSZ4Q45276453/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B000SSZ4Q4&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167142021489&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13137805465145095932&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9061081&hvtargid=pla-306143543904