I have been sharpening my own knives and tools for 45 years, and have been doing it in the same way since I was in my teens and my dad and I read some article (in Popular Science, maybe?) which Just Worked. My dad was a bit more patient than I have ever been and his edges always shaved hairs, dry. My edges are still quite good though.<p>Anyway Ima procrastinating today and saw this HN item and hesitated, oh no, have I been doing something wrong all these years? So in the spirit of never stop learning I bit the bullet and read it.<p>I didn't have to read far though. First came the don't use oil bit and then next the relief and the burr, and nope! Hooray, whatever we read back in the day was the equivalent of this. Maybe it was the same people, I remember a folksy tone.<p>The sad thing is in all those years none of the people of my acquaintance, with the exception of my daughter, have ever had any interest in sharpening/maintaining their knives, and if they do anything (most don't), it's an electric sharpener. I've passed through some home kitchen horror shows, and now if I know I'm going to be cooking in somebody else's kitchen, I bring my own knives, even internationally. Mandatory for AirBnBs. I remember reading up on packing a set of knives on a Thalys train and reading some worrying restrictions. But decided, well WTF to chefs do in France? I didn't get hassled, maybe I was lucky.<p>Anyway, even though I don't think I've ever converted anyone, I always encourage people to learn to sharpen/maintain their knives. I will usually haul a big DMT hone along with me on trips to home kitchens and do a quick repair job on the host's knives. Weirdly, quite a few people are very wary of sharp knives! Dull knives are what terrifies me...