Sharpening knives, what do you all use?

[retrieverman]

I’ve been using a Lansky since the early 90’s and upgraded to the diamond version at some point many years ago. Last year I bought a Chef’s Choice 2100 sharpener mainly for kitchen knives, and boy howdy was that a costly mistake. The cooling fan on the motor broke, and they basically told me I was chit out of luck. They won’t fix it and don’t sell parts. It still works, and I’m planning to use the thing until the motor burns up and chunk it.

 

[AER244]

I’ve got a work sharp grinder for when an edge is pretty far gone- it doesn’t see a lot of use. A DMT dual sided diamond stone meets most of my needs and is what I use most often.

 

[SoonerP226]

My go-to sharpener is the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker shown in the first post. I never could get the hang of sharpening with a stone, but the Spyderco has never let me down.

 

[Ready_fire_aim]

I use King brand Japanese whetstones. Water soak stones, not oil. Usually just use a 1000 then a 4000. But I have an 800 for bad edges. And a 400 for major reshaping if needed, like a broken tip or something.

My stones are the larger size ones. Plenty of area to work with for larger blades.

Buying some nice Japanese kitchen knives is what got me into sharpening. For those these type whetstones are what’s recommended so that’s what I’ve got. But I keep my pocket knives and fillet knives razor sharp with them too.

 

[montesa]

@montesa I purchased the 1/4 hp grinder and sharpening wheel kit off of a fella that was always at the gun shows sharpening knives and he gave me a class on how to use it....apparently dangerously.

His grinder was set up with the on/off rocker switch towards him which makes the wheels turn towards the user but by simply spinning it around with the switch facing away I can see where the wheel will spin away from the user.....I do remember when he showed me how to use it he did make a special point in telling me to watch the angle of the blade so that the blade edge didn't come into contact with oncoming the wheel which I've always been careful to do except for that one time and it landed me in the ER.

I've got 1/2 dozen kitchen knives to sharpen for the wife and I'll make sure that the wheel is turning away from me from now on.....thanks for the heads up.

Good deal. When the wheels are spinning away from you the knife will be near the top of the wheel depending on how acute you want your angle to be. You will be looking straight down and with the right lighting you can see the burr form. Once you have a burr move down on the wheel a couple of degrees on the polishing wheel. You'll have a knife that's about as sharp as possible.

Don't try to change the angle by tilting the knife. Just keep it horizontal and change where you touch on the wheel. Also use very light pressure.

 

[Coug91]

Ken Onion worksharp and a ceramic rod. Have a Spyderco in a box I need to remember where I "put away".

 

[sumoj275]

I h have the Spyderco Sharpmaker which is good for maintaining an existing edge but not great for reprofiling, whetstones that belonged to both grandads, DMT Diafolders in blue/red and tan/green, Workshop bench stone, Worksharp pocket sharpener, and a Worksharp Adjustable Pro which is great for profiling up to a 1000. I would like to try some Japanese water stones for scandi and kitchen knives. I have a 2x72 I picked up in trade here but I’m not into the cold so it will be spring before I try on it.