The two knifes I use most - a decades old soft steel paring knife that gets bloody sharp just by honing and a big Chinese chopper that’s seen better days but is still fairly sharp - both go through all tomatoes very easily.
My advice: get a second hand/carbon steel paring knife and a honing steel.
Cite on 13 mph? Interesting…
BTW, unless the knife blade is mondo sharp, you want a serrated one, which will make that initial “cat” (rip) in the tomato skin preparatory to slicing it,
Get a “Tomato Slicing Knife”
Long and slender with a sharp wavy serrated edge. Does a neat job.
At fine cutlery stores most everywhere.
I remember tomatoes in the past were rock hard and green despite the color. Only now can we buy tomatoes that are ripe. Perhaps before WWII, people actually got ripe tomatoes in stores. I was told people only got good veggies in restaurants.
Who cuts tomatoes from the stem end down? There’s a lot more structural integrity in the slice when you do it that way. Better for sandwiches and salads both.
As many before me have said…use a serrated knife. Seriously, if one came with your knife set, why wouldn’t you use it (at least once) instead of going through the whole knife-sharpening ritual every time you want tomato?
Unless, of course, you just like the whole spectacle of knife-sharpening! LOL
Sharpening the tools is part of the whole cooking experience. It may not be a part of the experience that everyone wants to experience themselves. Growing tomatoes is part of that experience too, but I haven’t experienced that part myself for some years now. And some people are satisfied with just the eating part of the experience. All good.