dcarch

The problem is not adhesion. In General Physics 101, there is a classic experiment you can perform. if you take two flat pieces of glass, put a small drop of water in between, and you will find that you can't pull them apart. What is forcing the glass together is atmospheric pressure at over 14 lbs per sq. in. if the panes of glass are 5" square, you will need over 350 lbs of power to pull them apart. Using two suction cups, you can "walk" up a skyscraper's curtain wall. dcarch

Come on! If you are a doctor, a lawyer, or an architect, people always ask you for free advice. dcarch

Not off topic at all. I am pointing out that noisy restaurant is not designed to be noisy because it is good for business. And I am repeating more than once: 1. retail commercial rental is extremely expensive, they have to pack as many tables as possible in the dinning room. 2. When you pack people close, the inverse square law of energy disputation works against you. Every time you half the distance, I think you increase 6 DBs (I need to check, doing by memory) 3. Sound absorption is not that effective in a small enclosure. If someone is yelling near you, you can have 10 tons of absorption around you and will do you no good. Again, all surfaces in a restaurant need to be maintained well. I am not sure what acoustic material is washable. "2-3dB is the threshold that most people can perceive a change in loudness, but a doubling of loudness is a 10dB increase, not 3. " Please read what I said. I said 3 db is doubling acoustic power, not doubling loudness. dcarch

"-----Also RE dcarch's comment about there not being many ways to keep noise down in a room - there are quite a lot, ----" Let me put it in another way. Yes there is very effective way to cut down noise, but there is a problem you cannot change. ​In the science of hearing and acoustics, the problem is that our hearing sensibility is logarithmic in response. Our hearing can detect a change in sound level every 3 dbs; however, every 3 dbs, it represents a 100% in acoustic power. In other words, if you manage to lower the noise somewhat, you need to cut the noise energy by 100%. In reverse, 1 watt of power can give you acceptable music loudness, why do you need a 500 watt amplifier? because 2 watts is a little louder, 4 watts, slightly louder, 8 watts, 16 watts, 32 watts ----------. The factors I mentioned are the most effective, but not practical ways to control noise in a restaurant environment. dcarch

Non-stop display of amazing dishes! Truly impressive all. Halloween is for you to do strange things to food. How was your Halloween dinner? dcarch A perfectly round smoked chicken. Not sure what this is about Pairs well with Halloween background music Kaboooocha!

Halloween is enjoyed in many countries. dcarch

"------the noise level is a deliberate aspect of the business model.---" I don't think so. It is about extreme real estate costs for retail space, so they pack the tables as closely as possible. It is about maintenance costs. Hard reflective surfaces are much easier for cleaning. "----Chinese restaurants that get pretty loud on the weekends when Chinese families pour in---" Table sharing is a common practice. They don't even ask you. dcarch

The reason for Clad cookware is to take advantage of the durability of stainless steel and thermal conductivity of aluminum or copper. I suppose the multi-layer cladding is to offset differential thermal expansion of dissimilar metals to minimize warping. I think it is more important to consider conductivity than thickness of aluminum for a cookware. Perhaps the following test can be useful: Soak pan in 32F ice water until pan reaches 32F. Put pan on boiling 212F water immediately and using an IR remote read thermometer and measure how long it takes for the pan to get up to 212F. dcarch

Thanks Rotuts. Regarding EP, the stones are 1 inch in width, my stones are about 3 inches wide. That works out to three times the pressure on the knife's edge. In any case, if you hand sharpen your knives, I don't think there is a way not to end up with a convex edge, because there is no way to keep your movements absolutely constant. dcarch

Is thickness of aluminum the only criteria? How many pliers/layers? Because the difference of metal's thermal expansion coefficient, I would assume the thickness of each layer of metal is carefully designed to minimize warping, in addition to thermal conductivity, dcarch

DaveB, I apologize if you find it annoying and absurd about my curiosity regarding sharpening stone geometry and it's relationship to knife edges. I do want to point out, if you read the posts of this thread, that it is not I who started to talk about dished sharpening stones, and it is not I who said that it can take hours to flatten a stone. While I don't have your knowledge on the various aspects of knives, I do want to learn about some of the details and mechanics about knives and sharpening systems. You see I do make my own knives. Since I suspect that EP uses thin and narrow stones and thin structural components, there may be a possibility that significant force might be placed on knife edges, especially on thin blades, causing uneven angles to happen while sharpening. So I made my own sharpening system, which using wider, thicker and longer stones as well as much sturdier components. dcarch

You should be able to, or someone else can, use stainless steel wire to solder a repair. You will need plumber's solder (no lead metal), and stainless steel soldering flux. dcarch

Let me see if I can be more clear, using a stone which is not flat: Once the sharpener determines the desired angle for a knife, on the curved stone, lets say using the Sharpie method, he keeps the knife at that angle and starts to sharpen. Left-to-right, right-to-left, doesn't matter where the knife is on the dished stone, the only possible shape for the knife's edge to take is to conform to the profile of the stone, which will be a slightly convex edge. It has nothing to do with how fine or coarse the stone is. Sharpening knives on a curved surface is done all the time on a belt sander, and to a lesser degree on a strop. Quality sharpening stone is very expensive, why waste a good part of it away by grinding it flat? dcarch

My point is not to compare hand sharpening with mechanical sharpening. My point is that I don't understand why spending hours to flatten a stone when a dish shaped stone can do no harm. Hand sharpeners do change the angles they hold the knife based on that particular knife's edge angles. I suppose you can use the Sharpie method to determine the desired angle for that particular knife, then hold that angle when you grind, the dished stone should not be a problem to give you the desired sharpness, unless the very slight convex edge is not what you want. dcarch

"----and many others have come to the opposite conclusion: that micro-serrations, in the right context, can be a very good thing.---" I am surprised that no one talks about what kind of steel. With very brittle high Rockwell hardened steel, the broken edges can be as sharp as broken glass, which is one of the sharpest edges known. dcarch

"--"dished" stones - yup, they will not maintain a consistent angle. " ​I am not sure I understand. If you hold the knife at a consistent angle while sharpening, you will always end up with a consistent angle on the edge, regardless of the shape of the stone. dcarch

1. Isn't it a nice thing to have a convex edge? You get that with a curved stone. 2. Besides, if you look at the geometry, a highly curved stone will give you almost imperceptible angle change on the knife's edges. dcarch

So what is the problem with curved stone? dcarch

The sharper the edge, the quicker it gets dulled, and the easier it can be damaged. Don't need to go sharper than sharp enough for your kind of cutting. Some knife sites have a tendency to advise you to make your knives "scary sharp" dcarch

Tasty turkey? No such thing. It is all about the gravy. Last year it was free turkey with $100 purchase. dcarch

It's all in your mind. You smell the aroma, aroma permeating in the air, your anticipation builds up. You wait, and you smell more, you get more hungry. Still you wait. You are starving, you are salivating-------------. 10 hours later ------- THE BEST MEAT SAUCE EVER!! dcarch :-)

Cook them all in the microwave for one to two minutes to stop them from aging. dcarch

Don't use a full tank. It will work better. dcarch

Thanks guys. Come to think of it it does have some artichoke-ish flavor, and artichoke heart/potato-ish texture. I was thinking, if I had some bone marrow to put on them, it would make interesting eating. dcarch