Looking for advice on a knife sharpener

[mrad]

I'm looking for advice on a good knife sharpener. I have a Works belt sharpener that does an okay job, but its a bit of a pain to use and goes through a lot of belts.

Does anyone have something they would highly recommend?

 

[uncle eddie]

I use a simple one from Wal-Mart. There are a lot of variations of it. It is quick, easy and does get a nice edge on my utility blades.

Something like in this link...

Robot or human?

Then I use a sharpening steel and if I am getting fancy, then a leather strap. Usually I stop at the steel.

 

[uncle eddie]

The link is wonky but it works...

 

[Fueling Around]

Here is a recent thread on the topic

new knife sharpener for touch ups

Last week the recurring knife sharpener discussion came up. Since I am easily enabled, I usually have to get out a sheet of notebook paper and go check my knives. My cutlery array ranges from Budget (Chicago cutlery)to medium: Misen (late night drunk food channel buy) Brewin and my Wusthofs. I...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[geek with fire]

I'm a big fan of the fixed angle sharpeners that have a flip option. They are a pain in the backside to use and don't work well on small knives. But they are way more accurate than I can reproduce by hand. They also usually come with a series of stones that allow you to really refine that finish, such that proper use of a steel reduces the need for significant sharpening in the future. There are a number of knock offs of knock off options on the Scamazon. I won't recommend a knock off to anyone but I don't know who the original producer is. But the design concept is the same on most of them. There is a clamp to hold the rig to a bench. Another clamp for the blade that rotates "exactly" 180° to allow a mirrored angle on each side of the blade. And finally a sliding/rotating rod that holds the stone. The angle of this rod establishes the stone angle, which establishes the blade edge angle.

And before anyone tells you that the stone angle changes on large blades, be sure to watch this video. It's the best example I know of that explains the geometry. That said, the stone angle will change on a major curve. So your mileage may vary depending your style of knife.

 

[sandyut]

I just use a steel that came with the knife set. makes them deadly sharp real easy. Seem to last forever too.

Like this

 

[geek with fire]

I just use a steel that came with the knife set. makes them deadly sharp real easy. Seem to last forever too.

Like this

Just be aware that steels don't sharpen. Rather, they realign the burr on the edge. Sharpening reproduces the burr. This is important as at some point, the burr will be dulled to the point that a steel will no longer reproduce a sharp edge. At that point sharpening is required. But frequent and proper use of a steel will preserve that burr much longer.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

The cheap-o sharpners I use from Harbor Freight or Walmart seem to out perform anything pricy I buy off Amazon.

 

[whistlepig]

Just about any cheap sharpener will sharpen an edge razor sharp. If the blade angle isn't controlled the edge won't last.

 

[sandyut]

Just be aware that steels don't sharpen. Rather, they realign the burr on the edge. Sharpening reproduces the burr. This is important as at some point, the burr will be dulled to the point that a steel will no longer reproduce a sharp edge. At that point sharpening is required. But frequent and proper use of a steel will preserve that burr much longer.

I have never gotten to the place where they needed to be resharpened I guess.

 

[voyager 663rd]

I use a two-sided whetstone--that uses water as a lube. As strange as it sounds, it's quite therapeutic.

 

[Fueling Around]

I just use a steel that came with the knife set. makes them deadly sharp real easy. Seem to last forever too.

Like this

This is very important so the steel doesn't destroy the edge