So I want help to buy a good knife sharpener. I have read some good things about japanese stones. What’s your thoughts?
Thank’s in advance!
I have the worksharp, belt sander looking sharpener. Hated the idea at first but it works well.
With the convex edge it puts on my knives, they stay sharp for quite a while. The main reason I got it though is the ability to sharpen recurves! Not so easy with a stone :weary:
Cant go wrong with any high quality stone though. There are also some good guided systems out there. Food for thought.
My thoughts; it depends on individual level of skill, how sharp you prefer, environment and what kind of knives you are sharpening. Each “system” has their merits and disadvantages.
For harder steels like VG-10 and ZDP-189 I prefer acute v grinds, so I think waterstones are the way forward for me. I don’t think they are for everyone. They are expensive (as are a set of diafolds), but I see it like an investment. It probably helps that I enjoy sharpening and trying different methods.
I still want to experiment some more with diamond pastes and use MDF as substrate instead of a leather strop, and I will continue to strop softer steels as convex edge seems to suit them better.
My problem is while I seem to be skilled at most things I apply myself to, I am just really awful at sharpening. I can sometimes get a good edge on softer steels with my Japanese whetstone, but I can’t seem to get a hair popping edge on VG-10, and I haven’t even tried S30V. From watching some Youtube videos, I think I’m not just getting the wrong angle, I think I am pushing too hard on the knife.
What are your thoughts on the Sharpmaker or the Smith’s? I am strongly thinking of buying one or both.
What about the Lansky system? It seems like that would solve my problem of not getting the accurate angle by hand, but it creates other problems.
In the mean time I’ve taken to sharpening my Spydie VG-10’s on a coffee cup. I still need a strop for that setup, but I can mostly get a hair popping edge on my precious Delica and Dragonfly. I’ve even touched up the edge on my Native a couple times with the coffee cup, though I am scared of damaging it. So, coffee cup and denim strop maybe? I still need some sort of compound even for the denim strop, right?
I have a handful of sharpeners in my shopping cart at Amazon but I can’t decide lol.
I have a four shapes diamond stone from LIDL and a ceramic “chaira” from IKEA and it’s perfect for me.
The DC4 stone is highly recommended for the people too.
Chloe, you really know how to sharpen your set of knives on your own? Wow that's so cool. For example on youtube, i've never seen a lady sharpening her expensive knives. There are ambitious and well-made How-To videos by ladies, e.g. i really enjoy watching
but that's so far from sharpening knives!!
You are probably making some very minor errors in technique that may appear inconsequential to you, but are preventing achieving the sharpness you want. It would probably only take a few minutes to figure it out if we were sitting down together, but many U-Tube videos I have seen contain incorrect techniques.
Since the correct method is SO easy and simple, I think it would be best if you studied the theory and figured out how you could correct your technique, rather than buy new gadgets that might not help if your concept of the process is not correct. Watch all the videos you can find and the concept will reveal itself in a short time.
I remember watching a show on PBS one time that showed the making of a Katana in Japan by traditional methods that was pretty good. They might have been monks. The final sharpening and polishing stage of the blade took the guy a month! He wore the water stone down to a 3/4” piece….that’s kind of extreme, but the blade was a work of art and sharp as hell!
So basically, understand that to achieve a true razor’s edge, you need to polish it, and you will need a very fine abrasive stone or 3m paper above 6000 grit and a leather or paper strop and some compound…all that is very inexpensive.
I like owning good tools, but you can sharpen a knife with a red brick and an old piece of cardboard with some compound on it once you know how to do it.
I get the feeling you are just about there.
Wow, thanks for that great advice, Top Cat. If I were still in Southern California (was for 38 years) I’d probably buy you a beer or 6 and beg for those few minutes. And you are right, if I buy some technical sharpening system now, it would just be a crutch. I’m looking to cure my ineptitude, not mask it. I need to work at getting that ‘aha’ moment.
I already own dozens of knives, and I seem to keep buying more, so I guess this is something I need to figure out, thanks 
If you look on eBay you’ll find something marketed as a Sharpener System that is a copy of the Edge Pro Apex. It’s about $20 and whilst the standard stones are rubbish (they still work on softer steels though) you can buy polishing stones from Congress Tools that (once fixed to aluminium backing plates) will sharpen any knife to a polished edge. Just remember to put duct tape on the blade to keep it from scratching in the slurry that will be generated.
I built my own EdgePro style, its a jig to provide exact angle control over a set of lansky stones ($30) and about $10 worth of parts. I got the idea of how I wanted it to work from this thead and decided the lansky stones (5-stone set) would be my best option. I picked up the 3/8” female rod end for $8 and the clamp I made from a broken set of duck-bill pliers. Works far better than any other store bought sharpener I’ve ever tried, allows me to choose the angle I want and unlike a super expensive EdgePro if I loose it while camping or brake it I won’t care.
I polish them up afterwards with a leather strop I made from an old army carrying strap and a piece of MDF.
Sharpen knives with a brick and cardboard? Not if I had a choice. NOTHING works better than this:
For years (many, many years) I have tried everything to get a perfect edge on my knives, many of them VERY expensive custom models, and failed miserably. I’ve tried it all. Technique - schmeknique. The Wicked Edge eliminates human error (if you can read) and will put an unbelievable mirror polished, micron slicing edge on just about everything worthy of being called a knife. Yep, it’s expensive, and worth every penny. I used to send out my knives to a professional blade sharpener (beautiful work!) until he told me his secret. Then I went out and bought the WE PRO Pack ll. You CAN buy the cheaper base kit and add on options as your finances permit. I love mine and my knives love it too. I’m done putting a $20 stone to a $3K knife (or even a $10 knife) only to screw it up. For those that think they do OK using the free hand method - well, you’re only fooling yourself. There’s sharp and then there’s REALLY F*ING SHARP! There are tons of videos about this on YouTube. Check them out. Enjoy your knives, gentlemen!
It has 5diffrent angles.serated sharping stone coarse 60 grit up to600 grit diamond hones needed for tidays high cabon knives and you can't fold edge over on blade and it protects the users fingers from getting cut.
I have also bought this one which will take edge pro stones and has the benefit of looking like it’ll survive the nuclear apocalypse.
It’s not particularly refined, but it looks tough.
Also this one is a copy of the Edge Pro 2, though in plastic rather than metal so it wouldn’t be as robust. I suppose it’d work just as well though.
That looks really nice for $28. I think I’m going to make a metal base like that for my diy one, don’t know why that never came to mind.
stone, plasti. Finger gaurd is to narrow I have a lansky kit also and have had it slip or turn while using on a blade only to see thin fillets of finger. Fly off and also where the set screw goes on guide rod on stone will crack I know its happened on 3 of my 5 stones after years of use I’ve had my lansky and gatco kits over 15 years I’ve never had to replace anything on my gatco other than honing oil , go aheasd compare the lansky and gatco stones side by side:-)
Delete away, silly squirrel. ;)
Well I’ve sharpened Swiss Army Knives, and kitchen knives on mine. You just move the blade along/turn it to ensure you catch the curves. It’s the angle that’s fixed, not necessarily the blade location.
I don’t use the lasky kit, I use the stones only in my DIY jig, the actual lansky kit allows several degrees of error when sharpning, I wouldn’t recommend using it at all but for the price the stones are of decent quality.
Whatever tool seems to work best for you is what you will prefer to use. My point being is that once a person truly understands what makes for a sharp edge, there are many different tools and methods that will achieve the same end result… the conceptual understanding comes first, the choice of tools is secondary.
A $700 gizmo…?
If that’s what you want to use ok…it will work, but that kind of dough would buy a bench filling production line array of power belts of various grits that will sharpen a blade in seconds. Under $100 would as well…
The job still requires knowing what you’re doing…the concepts are very simple…
I’d recommend acquiring the knowledge first, and acquiring the tools last.
As for a general recommendation for something more advanced than a red brick from your back yard, I like the 3M micro sheets used wet for those just starting out. While similar in concept to a waterstone, they seem to be easy to grasp mentally, and cost little to nothing…this is the Budget forum after all…
I'm following this discussion with interest as I'm just getting into knives and have no idea how to properly sharpen them!
-Garry