Keeping sharps sharp - a foray into knife-sharpening

[dgaddis]

Used our electric sharpener this weekend. While I'm sure it's not as good as many of the other methods in this thread, it is effective and inexpensive and good enough for me.

After on top, before on bottom. Not high quality knifes, obviously.

[bbattle]

Chefsknivestogo has a nice starter set with a 1k/6k grit combo stone. They even give you a pretty nice "practice" knife to use. their site has some good videos on how to sharpen knives, too.

Complete 6pc Sharpening Starter Set

[Gattonero]

Reviving this thread, what would people recommend for sharpening SAK's or Leatherman's?
I can use an Edge Pro system, but does not have the stones.
Don't want to spend a fortune, would two stones do the job? What grade?

Thanks!

[skouri1]

How important is the cutting board in the equation ? I bought a chefs choice manual sharpener but maybe 4 months later I needed to re sharpen... I feel like that's too soon . Could the plastic board I've got just be ruining things ? Is endgrain all it's cracked up to be ?

[Octave]

How important is the cutting board in the equation ? I bought a chefs choice manual sharpener but maybe 4 months later I needed to re sharpen... I feel like that's too soon . Could the plastic board I've got just be ruining things ? Is endgrain all it's cracked up to be ?

The board makes some difference and yes, endgrain is pretty tops, but honestly 4 months is not that short of a time for knives to need a resharpening depending on the frequency and what you're cutting. So... what are you cutting and how often? Personally, as I said that the beginning of this thread, I resharpen every 3 months. Yesterday was pretty average and one knife went through: 2 apples, 1 onion, 1 leek, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 sweet potato, 2 zucchini and a bunch of asparagus. That every day for 3 months is plenty to necessitate a sharpening.

[caleb]

For those of us with no access to a belt sander, and limited funds to shell out on a big complete system.... Anyone got a favourite method/recommendations for basic equipment?

Reviving this thread, what would people recommend for sharpening SAK's or Leatherman's?

For knives that aren't too precious and when nobody is watching, I'm "guilty" of using the Work Sharp: Work Sharp Original Knife and Tool Sharpener – WSKTS

Use it without the guide, and you basically have a mini belt sander. Just get a feel for it with a junker the first time since you can take off a lot of metal in a hurry.

It's not as good as a stone and strop in the right hands, but it's quick and pretty easy. After all, the best sharpener is the one you actually use.

[davids]

We have this.

It does a damn fine job after a few minute's study on how to use it.

[BShow]

My knives were useless. It got to the point where I wanted to just throw them away and start over, but I didnt know how to safely dispose of them. As a compromise, I picked up a two sided diamond plate - 300/1200 I think. May well be the best $60 I've ever spent. Having knifes that can cut things again is wonderful.

[marley]

We have this.

It does a damn fine job after a few minute's study on how to use it.

+1 - followed davids lead and ordered this off of Amazon - knives were sharpened - first time in 17 yrs - was blown away at how easy it is to chop an onion and have been freaking out watching the kids use something sharper than a paper plate

[Too Tall]

My knives were useless. It got to the point where I wanted to just throw them away and start over, but I didnt know how to safely dispose of them. As a compromise, I picked up a two sided diamond plate - 300/1200 I think. May well be the best $60 I've ever spent. Having knifes that can cut things again is wonderful.

+1 DMT plates are great.

[Mark Walberg]

after years of using a Chefs Choice, I finally picked up an Edge Pro Apex. I always had an issue getting the tips sharp with the CC, and this system solves that issue. I've re-profiled a couple of my old blades that I had almost given up on to a razors edge. Highly recommended. I have stones from a 220 grit up to 3,000 and can put a mirror polish on a blade that make the edge seem to disappear :>).

+1 on the Edge Pro Apex. Works great. Easy to use.

[mmoore]

I take my knifes to be sharpened at the local chef supply store. its $2 per blade and they are on the hook if they mess up my expensive knife.

[Cookietruck]

some stones and a few youtube videos watching what to do and even your junk knives can cut like expensive ones. they just might not hold an edge very long.

1000/4000 norton stone is probably all most people would need
but a 220 stone is cheap and it makes fixing a dull and chipped edge easy and quick
but also, a mirror finish on the edge makes a knife feel so much nicer. i use a king 6000 to polish it up, then i just take my belt off and lay it smooth side up on the table and strop for a minute.

also, a blade that is completely mirror polished feels really smooth...

[mmoore]

how difficult would it be to ruin the profile of the edge when polishing? if I were to do that after having it sharpened and ruined the edge trying I wouldn't hear the end of it.

[Cookietruck]

a 1000 stone doesn't take much off, it takes quite a few strokes to get chips out of the edge with a 1000 stone.
for the most part, even with a 220 stone, you're not going to do drastic reshaping of the belly profile of the knife. i had a cheap santoku with a weird bump right in the middle of the belly of the knife, it took quite a while on the 220 stone to get that smoothed out.

also maybe 15-25 strokes a side on a 220 and all the chips in a moderately abused edge are gone. the worst damage you will do with stones as a newb will be accidentally scuffing the sides of the knife a bit, maybe you will put some weird angles on your edge as well but you can fine tune/adjust that as you get better at it.
i used to use my right hand to hold the angle on the stones on one side of the knife, left for the other side. then i saw a video of bob kramer showing how he uses stones and i started doing it like him, right hand for both sides of the blade, one side of the knife pushing away, the other side of the knife i'm pulling towards me. seems more consistent...

[ericpmoss]

I ordered an over-fancy Nakiri Thursday night, because I have even less sense than skill. Ahem. So to address that imbalance, I'm going to see if I can learn something from the maker: Carter Cutlery Blade Sharpening Tutorial Set. I'll report back after I get sewn back together.

[Too Tall]

I ordered an over-fancy Nakiri Thursday night, because I have even less sense than skill. Ahem. So to address that imbalance, I'm going to see if I can learn something from the maker: Carter Cutlery Blade Sharpening Tutorial Set. I'll report back after I get sewn back together.

Good for you. I really enjoy keeping a working edge on my pocket knives, kitchen knives. You'll have fun.

[tbonefitz]

My dad used the Spyderco sharpener for years. I finally broke down and got one for myself. Two knives, nothing fancy, Henkels classics, and now I can shave with them. Check out the Spyderco system if you're into simple and effective.

[ericpmoss]

Good for you. I really enjoy keeping a working edge on my pocket knives, kitchen knives. You'll have fun.

Things I've learned -- knives as sharp as these need a lot of respect; super clean cuts bleed as much as jagged cuts; carbon steel turns onions black (did not know that one). This last point was the excuse I needed to buy one of his funayukis in stainless-clad White #1 steel. Half the price, 99.9% as sharp, or maybe 100.1%, and thinner and pointier. Gawd I love toys. Next up, maybe the new experimental Potts road-ish bike.

[giordana93]

stones (I dig my dmt's) are great, especially after you get the hang of it, but nothing is more important in my mind than having a good sharpening steel (not diamond in this case, you don't want to remove material) and knowing how to use it properly (and it ain't the free swingin' in the air like a french chef sh*t unless you know exactly what you're doing). makes a huge difference in keeping knives sharp on a daily basis and not having to hit the more aggressive sharpening systems nearly as often

edit before the time-out: a steel is for honing, not sharpening