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Knife sharpeners

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R3DS!X

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Looking for a good knife sharpening system. Would be for kitchen knifes and some of my pocket knifes. Not entertaining those motorized ones. Might just end up buying stones and doing it the old fashioned way but I keep seeing these ads for the wasabi knife sharpener system and I'm sure it is utter crap it would be nice if there was some system like it that was actually effective.

So what y'all got
 
Do you want some sharp kitchen knives, or do you want to spend hours over your kitchen sink with a stone and a serious look on your face while you maintain that 22 degree angle?

If you just want some sharp-ass knives and don't need to make a lengthy ritual of it, I like the WorkSharp sharpeners.
 
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I use one of those diamond knife sharpener stick thingies on my favorite knives. I spend 10-15 seconds before each use rubbing the blade across it about five times on each side and it's ready to go.

My daughter sent a few of our Cutco knives off the get professionally sharpened and they were not better than what I get using the diamond sharpener.
 
I have a Work Sharp and it's decent. But then I put on the show Forged in Fire and see the bigger version (the three wheel belt sharpeners) and wish I had it.It just seems so much more stable and manly.

The belt path of the worksharp that I have seems kinda flaky, a lot of plastic in the body construction. It's really hard to know what's going on with your belt; when I'm supposed to swap it out etc. There still is a degree of variability in getting that angle right. Even the belts themselves are not consistent grit. They are supposed to be color coded but I bought some replacements and they didn't even seem to be the same grit.

The problem with stones is that, in the end, they take up more space if you are trying to do multiple levels. I have a whole set of Japanese waterstones that were the bomb when I bought them (I worked at a woodworking store). But ya gotta soak em, lay em out by grit,etc etc.

The worksharp gets me sharper a lot faster than all that prep. that's for sure. Not perfect, especially with knives that have the curvy tips, which I can never get as sharp as they should be (like a boning knife)
 
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Bay Arean said:
The problem with stones is that, in the end, they take up more space if you are trying to do multiple levels. I have a whole set of Japanese waterstones that were the bomb when I bought them (I worked at a woodworking store). But ya gotta soak em, lay em out by grit,etc etc.

The worksharp gets me sharper a lot faster than all that prep. that's for sure. Not perfect, especially with knives that have the curvy tips, which I can never get as sharp as they should be (like a boning knife)
Click to expand...

I was snarkier about it than you were, but I think we're on the same page here. If you want to make a hobby out of knife sharpening, get the japanese stones.

If you want some sharp knives, get the worksharp. It's not great, but it's pretty dang good.
 
I recommend not sharpening good kitchen knives with a off the shelf grinder. I'd take them to professionals who use stones. Also you likely only need them sharpened 1x a year...just use the steel to maintain them. Sharpening removes material and reduces the life of the blade while the steel just straightens the edge effectively making it sharper.

If they're cheap and you don't care then the above suggestions are great.

In San Fransisco I only go to Bernal Cutlery.
 
I have some Japanese knives with funny angles, so I bought stones to sharpen them. I do it so rarely that it usually takes me a couple of hours to sharpen one knife, including plenty of time on a practice knife. I can't recommend that whole process to anyone :laughing

I bought a leather stropping block from BeaverCraft. That takes 3min to use and keeps my knives a lot sharper in between sharpening. A steel does not compare.
 
Spike said:
I have several. But the Lansky is the best non motorized
https://www.amazon.com/Lansky-Deluxe-5-Stone-Sharpening-System/dp/B000B8IEA4/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw3_KIBhA2EiwAaAAlimserPsSul6Idbsvu3pWYFNB375uCHW4j7jEfWc6OE582xmfOUwhuhoCngQQAvD_BwE&hvadid=345276798380&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9032097&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3410730161598391395&hvtargid=kwd-295421222336&hydadcr=24632_10399690&keywords=lansky+knife+sharpener&qid=1629320691&sr=8-2
Click to expand...

I bought some Chinese version of something like that with more 3rd party stones and made some improvements, and works great.

Or I usually just use a big, dual grit flat stone, like as big as a dozen egg carton, because that works too and I'm lazy.
 
I have a spyderco sharpmaker and lansky. The sharpmaker is quick and easy and yields a very sharp blade, but does take some skill. The lansky can get a perfect edge but takes more setup.
 
Climber said:
This older thread might have all of your answers:

Knife sharpening?
Click to expand...

I looked through this thread and picked up the one that Karbon recommended since the mofo used to make knifes, so I assume he knows a bit.

Thanks for y'alls input
 
I'm terrible at getting a sharp blade, but the Spyderco Sharpmaker is pretty idiot proof. I can get a pretty sharp edge easily and consistantly.
 
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