Why do people rub knives on leather?

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asked Nov 29, 2021 in Other-Home/Garden by Medlock12334 (8,940 points)
Why do people rub knives on leather?

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answered Nov 29, 2021 by Lilly21 (57,780 points)
People rub knives on leather as a way to sharpen the knives and to polish and buff the knives.

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 on their strops.

They find it quickly and easily gives them an excellent edge that meets their needs.

Rubbing knives together hones them to help maintain the edge.

Simply rubbing knives together does not always sharpen them but the edge is maintained.

You still should use a knife sharpener to sharpen your knives properly.

Chefs rub knives together as a way to hone the knives.

Rubbing the knives together maintains the edges of the knives which is called honing.

Honing is just maintaining an edge that is already sharp.

A honing steel pushes the edge of the blade back into alignment.

This may also be referred to as "folding back the burr."

It is recommended that you hone your knife frequently, some choose to hone their knives after every use.

A honing steel is significantly harder than the blade of a knife and is specially textured for honing.

Rubbing two knives together is more likely to dull or knick the blades than anything else.

How often should you hone a knife?

While it depends on how often you're using them, there are a few general guidelines for maintaining a set of perfectly sharp blades.

In addition to honing your knives after every 2-4 uses at home, experts recommend having kitchen knives professionally sharpened at least once or twice a year.

A honing steel basically pushes the edge of the knife back to the center and straightens it.

Honing doesn't actually sharpen the knife, but if done properly, the knife will seem sharper because the blade is now in the proper position.

Honing should be done often — some even hone before each use.

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