Left Handed English Paring Knife ~
The ground and honed edge is on the 'other side' from ~
that of the right hand knife
This note describes the left handedness of the English Paring Knife. The right handed version, and lengthier notes, are on the page describing the right hand knife [124588].
The handedness of the knife is used to differentiate between the angles of the cutting edge ~ not to the human preference for use by the left or right arms,wrists, and hands.
The angle of the blade ~ approximately 45ยบ ~ gives rise the English label. French and German knives have curved blade ends.
The paring part of the title refers to the intended use ~ but is not to be confused with a fruit-paring knife, which is traditionally thin so that it can negotiate the curvature of an apple or similar fruit. Leather paring is undertaken over a bulky ~ slightly rough ~ absolutely flat ~ stone. Traditionally this was a cast-off lithographer's stone ~ but nowadays would more readily be a flat sheet of toughened glass.
Sharpening these knives is a straightforward job ~ but it does require practice. A grindstone is not required for sharpening ~ an uncooled electric grindstone will ruin the knife within seconds. I will write a note on Sharpening for Beginners one day soon, including mention of scary sharpening which is cheaper and as effective as the complexity of using whetstones [124504].
