DIY Knife Sharpeners!

I use a Lansky system and love it. It is easy to keep your angles consistent. I think they offer about 5 grades of stone, but I only have 3 Coarse, Medium and Fine. It will give a razor sharpness if you want it, but typically you don't want to have a razor edge (low angle) because it will not last long. I use 20 or 25 degrees most of the time.

 

Some of these systems I would not reccomend for culinary knives. Any system which forces the edge of the blade into a V is removing more metal from the knife than is nessecary, therby shortening its life. To explain better the sharpening process should be elongating the edge of the knife. By forcing the edge of the knife into a V it removes a lot of excess metal every time it is forced through the V. It is a much different process than running a knife over a stone. It will make it sharper don't misunderstand but it shortens the life of the knife considerably. The reason I say culinary knifes specifically is for a few reasons. First, they are generally made of a softer steel than a hunting knife, chisel or hatchet. The benefit of this being that they are easier to sharpen or hone which needs to be done much more frequently in a proffesional culinary environment. They also generaly have a thinner backbone or blade width. Secondly, many "French" or "Chefs" knives have a full tang. Once you have sharpened the knife down to the tang it pretty much becomes worthless. Yes it can be ground down but its never the same after that. And if you don't grind the tang you end up with a bow in the knife which again makes it worthless. (This is why I use/suggest knives with either no tang or a partial tang.) Lastly, culinary knifes are generaly used cutting against a nylon or wood cutting board, whereas other cutting implements are not. The cutting boards, nylon specificaly, actualy dull the knife significantly just through the process of running the knife over them. These are just my experiences spanning the past 28 years working with knives and unfourtnately ruining quite a few. (Or watching others do so.)

 

THAT was pretty informative.

 

i use an older spyderco sharpmaker. i bet mine is close to 20 years old..i got it when they first came out. i've lost knives, but that sharpener has been with me..solid.

for my hunting pack. i carry an accu-sharp. light, fast, cheap.

kitchen knives? i take them to a pro..once a year. usually around the holidays. for the rest of the year, i only realign them with my steel.

 

Another fan of the VSharp. I hunt and fish and depend on my knives to be sharp to process my game. I also sharpen my knives for work- I'm a LEO and my life might depend on a sharp knife. I have used other system and there are many that work great. I like this one due to the speed in which it works. Once you develope an edge with the system, it takes only 4-5 passes and I can cut a sheet of paper in 1/2 clean.

 

Stones are what I use and prefer. I use a norton tri stone, which is actually made for chisles. The stones are reversable and replacebale. There are numerous other systems which work well.

 

The reason I prefer the warthog/ v sharp is because the tension on the rods is so minimal that it doesn't have the bad side effects of eating your blade

 

i need to sharpen my brand new kitchen knives. they barely cut a kiwi. almost squishes before it cuts. and my rambo knife. though thats already sharp, why not sharper?

 

subed

 

Another Lansky user here. Only have to use it once or twice a year, and use a regular sharpening steel to keep them touched up

 

Here is what I use and would recommend it greatly. I use all of my Henkel and Wustof kitchen knives and also use it on Numerous pocket knives and hunting knifes. It ranges from 100 grit to 50,000 grit. Angles of 15 degrees to 30 degrees. Very easy to use. I have had mine for a year now and dont use anything else. I had ordered mine thru Bestsharp .com and got a free granite base to install mine on. It works great on my knives using the S30V steel. which is some what of a difficult material to sharpen I thought.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzL41ygQG0o&feature=player_detailpage

 

i bought a little 8$ sharpener at walmart with a course and fine side and it works awesome!

 

Lansky 4 Rod Ceramic Turn Box.

I use some stones for tool sharpening when I need to work out a nick in the blade, but I am pretty impressed with the results of this thing. I wouldn't call it shaving sharp, but few of my blades have steel that can get that sharp.

 

I had forgotten about this until yesterday but I though everone might find this amusing. When I was cooking in the 80's I worked with a number of chef's who would sharpen knives on the back unglazed "foot" of a plate. It apparently does work. How well I never determined for myself. For some reason I never see anyone doing that anymore. Just a funny note on the whole sharpening thing

 

I've seen people do that as well. Also seen some fellows at work use a ceramic insulator with great results. I'd guess these items were used to "touch up" edges that was already in pretty good shape.

 

The top of your truck window works amazing

 

This what i have used for the last 10 years.
I use Mineral Oil though.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXp5fxCoNnA