Hammered vs. Unhammered Knives: A Sharpening Comparison

Today, I finally managed to set aside some time and create an environment where I could sharpen at my own pace.
I’ve been curious for a while about comparing the sharpening process between a “well-hammered knife” and a “less-hammered knife.” This time, I only used a coarse whetstone for sharpening.

To conduct a fair test, I had to sharpen both knives in the same way, which took quite a bit of focus. While sharpening, I got the impression that the less-hammered knife sharpened more quickly. On the flip side, because it sharpens so easily, the edge also seemed to form faster. However, this might lead to quickly losing the knife’s shape if you’re not careful.

One thing that stood out to me was that the hammering seems to have a noticeable effect, particularly on the soft iron part of the blade. Since I haven’t yet put an edge on the knives, I can’t comment on their sharpness or edge retention, but that was the feeling I got.

• 2011-06-01