Kitchen knife sharpeners,,,

Hey all you lovers of kitchens,,,,and,,,and,,all you cooks too,,,!!!
Since I'm head Chef,,,,,I tend to the kitchen stuff and have always had issues with sharpenin knives,,kitchen as well as huntin knives. I just can't do it for chit,,!!. I been lookin on Ebay for one of them "pull across" type sharpeners as I don't really want one of them electric jobbies. My problem is I can never hold the angle right and wind up getting a good edge,,,,then takin it right off on the next swoop. I used to know this guy at work that could put a sharp on a knife like you would not believe,,!! I never could tho,,,,
What do others use,,??

Tracy Martin TN wrote: The drag thru will ruin a good knife. I have one that has 4 ceramics sticks. You put two of the same grit into holes on a wooden handle. The first set thins the edge, the second set puts on the finish touch. So simple and easy. Crock stick from Cutlery World. HTH Tracy

I use something similar for the same reasons.  The Spyderco Sharpmaker.  Not cheap, but I use knives a lot on the farm and as such I use the sharpener quite a bit.  I also have several stones for when I ding up a blade/axe.  Some kitchen knives are only sharpened on one side (Japanese vegetable knife or Nakiri)  These get the stone.

Other knives (Wusthof and Shun among others) are sharpened at fifteen degrees instead of twenty.  If you sharpen at the wrong angle, you will be disappointed unless you are willing to work until the edge is converted.  I can't see up close for squat anymore so I bought a USB camera which magnifies the image up to 200X and puts the picture on my computer.  This lets me see if I have been sharpening at a bad angle or if I still have some curl on the edge.

The pull-through sharpeners are usually really rough on a blade and you will get gouges in the cutting edge.  No matter what you use, you can see how you are doing much better if you line the edge you want to sharpen with a magic marker before you begin.  If the magic marker wears off where the cutting edge is, you know you are in the right ballpark.

(Spyderco Sharpmaker demonstration)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2DDpB8Pjho






Edited by CaseyCreek - 21 Feb 2018 at 10:46am

The one you get from Cutco is OK...though only good for 'regular' edges NOT scalloped ones. I sharpen my 50 yr old Rapala fishing knife , still good today..
I do wet the wheel and the blades ...10-20 strokes per side, I'm done.

Here's the one I use Joe.  But back when I bought it, it was only around $125.  I've replaced about 4 of the stones through the years.  It take a knack though, you gotta learn.  And remember, you're NEVER too old to learn.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/victorinox-40997-11-1-2-norton-multi-oilstone-honing-system/35340997.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&gclid=Cj0KCQiAzrTUBRCnARIsAL0mqcyo6cJsxAtIrml67S_qw_mxZYoYufblW-LBaYmxryjkG6pex-L9jzoaAnEtEALw_wcB

I use my knife for many things, and gets dull fast... Punching holes in tin, scraping rust off things, scraping rust out of threads, sometimes using as a mini pry bar, or tryingto turn some screw etc. besides cutting bale strings.
 So I just use the angle grinder when I walk past... not pretty but it works...and sharp enough to just press light on the bale strings and they blow apart without any need to saw on them.

I never could sharpen a knife good so I give them to BIL to sharpen. When he is done they are sharp

Wife got me a WORK SHARP  Knife & Tool sharpener. cost about 90 bucks  works great and is fast.   www.worksharptools.com

anyone use the snap off blades? when the point or blade gets dull, just break it off and got new cutting edge.

i use what Dave H (NE) does.  Gets me by

Take one of those large size paint stirring sticks.  I think they are for 5 gal buckets.  Glue a piece of leather to it.  Why do you think old fashioned barbers used a strop?  I was told that if you got a good knife it should never touch metal.

I also have the same problem as Ray.

Now sharpening drill bits, I am pretty handy at that. Don't know if I am as good at it as Joe is, but I can make em chew through metal pretty good. Learned it mostly own; partly from a friend of mine. This friend of mine couldn't sharpen one to save his ass, but could explain to me how it was supposed to be done. I took the information and ran with it. I can pretty much take any cheap drill bit and make it dig. darrel

I have a bucket of dull bits....

shameless dude wrote: I have a bucket of dull bits....

   UMMmmm,,,don't you dare throw them away,,,!! You wanna trade bucket of wore out drill bits for bucket of ,,,,,,,,beer,,???

One of the guys in our woodshop in ShowLow brought in his WorkSharp like Dave has and we went into the custom knife shaping business for the ladies in the park.   I was impressed with it.