Easy to use Knife Sharpener?

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usmarine0352_2005

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I have 3 fillets knives that are dull and can't sharpen them to save my life. I have a good stick sharpener and a couple of different sharpeners that you pull the knife over but still can't get them sharp.



Do you know of a good, easy to use knife sharpener?



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It seems like it with mine (EDC'd Endura and Griptilian), but I tend to stay away from serrated knives to begin with. I find that one pass brings back a "prickly" sharp, as long as it was sharp to begin with.
 
Filet knives...

US Marine--firstly, thank you for your service!

Re: Filet knives--They are the hardest of any knife to get really sharp, IMX, due to the flexibility and length of their blades. And the edge wants to be really steeply angled, an impossibility with any pull-it-across sharpener I've ever seen. So I'm not too surprised at your difficulties.

A filet knife is a bear to sharpen even using a high-quality, large, sharpening stone, although it can be done with time, patience, and care.

The only halfway easy way to sharpen a filet knife I've found is with a belt grinder, using a fine grit, progressing to very fine, then extremely fine grit, followed by a leather strop. I recently got into sharpening knives with a belt grinder, and now that's the only way I'd consider sharpening a filet knife.

Lacking a belt grinder, you go with a fine-grit sharpening stone--a large one you can place on a table and it'll stay stable so you can use both hands on the knife. Then use a very fine stone to finish and polish the edge, and finish with a leather strop. In all of this, keep the angle of the sharpening as narrow and as uniform as possible--you want an edge that slips through the fish, and you're not going to use this knife for chopping tough stuff!
 
Frankly there is nothing easy about sharpening a knife correctly and well. The methods that are fast require just as much skill as those that are more manual...stones.

The pull through models wreck you edge...wreck 'em. We've all been cut by jagged pieces of metal that have been ripped assunder...and that's what you get with the pull throughs...jagged metal that will cut but break off and go dull quickly.

That said, probably the best tool for easy sharpening in my estimation is the Spyderco Sharpmaker. It is the kind of tool that sets up two rods at a 20 degree ange and you hold your knife vertical and draw it toward you and down. It comes in many grits so you can do a pretty good job with it. Bonus is that it is simple, packs in a small case and is affordable and about $50 plus the cost of extra rods.

Another good product is the Edge-Pro. This product is highly regarded by serious knife guys who use "gadgets". This thing is much more than just a gadget and is a serious piece of machinery. An Edge-Pro with all its bells and whistles is about $200 but folks think it is worth it.

Long term, the best and easiest way to sharpen a knife is to learn to free-hand and then any decent stone, which you could buy at a hardware store will work for you. The problem there is it takes an enormous amount of practice to get really good at it.

I am not being a jerk at all, you ask a great question. Given the tone of your original post, I think a Sharpmaker may be what you need. Nice thing about the "gadgets" is that they teach you a lot about what makes a good edge, regardless of how the tool achieves it.
 
Wait, This Seems So Familiar . . .

Rather than write it from scratch again, permit me to quote myself from a past thread:
[post=6612728]Basics[/post]

Well, let's begin with the basics.

1) take the time to read the sticky at the top of this forum;
2) the magic words in successful sharpening are "constant angle."

If you are using the sticks at one angle, and then following with another angle, your bevel won't be constant, and you'll be spending a lot of effort to little result.

It would be good to find out what the original bevel angle is for that knife.

Once you know that angle, you can sharpen to that spec.

[snip]

One of the Lansky, Smith's, or EdgePro systems can help there.
Click to expand...

Later, in that same thread:
[post=6614402]Original Angle[/post]

[snip]

This Smith's kit will do 20 degrees or 25 degrees. It's $27, depending on where you buy it. Your local sporting goods store probably has it.

They do a couple of more expensive variations on that kit.


Contrast with the Lansky system, this model for example, which will do 30, 25, 20, and 17 degrees.

They also cover a range of prices. The one above is $45, depending on where you buy it.


From the reports of people who use these, it can take three sessions or so before the edge settles down and "takes" so that it's uniformly sharp and holds the edge well.


And then there's EdgePro. I have one of the Apex models.

These cost . . . significantly more.

One of their strengths is that they have an "infinitely variable" angle -- in other words, no preset angles.

[snip]
Click to expand...

Hope you find something useful in these.

 
Whenever I touch up my knives I just use an elcheapo sharpening block that I got from an oriental market.

Not at all fancy but it gets the job done.
 
Get a Lansky set and then do a little research on how to cut the correct bevel on each side of the cutting edge, there's lot's of info on the web. Once you learn the "secret" of grinding the bevel on one side until a bur shows up on the other side, it's very easy to sharpen any knife.
 
Edge Pro and a Steel

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Another thumbs up for the Edge Pro. I had a Lansky at
one time. The Edge Pro is much more versatile. Especially
for a blade with any kind of length.

If you like knives and like them sharp, this is the way to go.
Once you put a proper edge on a knife it is easy to maintain
with a steel. I do a lot of cooking, almost daily, and use
kitchen knives constantly. I work the blades with the
Edge Pro once every 6 months, maybe. In the meantime I use
a steel to keep the knife sharp. I just checked my Forschner
rabbit knife, which is my number 1 in the kitchen. It's been at
least 6 months since I've manicured it's blade with the Edge Pro.
I just steeled it a few strokes and it will shave hair on the
back of my arm.

A proper edge and the use of a steel is the end of frustration
with dull knives. Your butcher carries a steel in his knife
holster for good reason. He doesn't have time to futz with
dull blades.

So, I guess what this is all about is answering your quest
for an easy to use knife sharpener. There is nothing
easier to use than a steel. But you need a good edge first.
And that means a uniform edge of proper angle.

Here's a video on using a knife steel --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHMWdGvDLiA

Using an Edge Pro --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY6DJ0PQxyA

dxr

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It isn't cheap, but I recommend the Wicked Edge system. Saw this at Shot and was wowed by the simplicity of design/function, and its ability (with the right set of stones) to make a mirror edge.

Similar to the Edge Pro, you don't move the knife along the stone, however, instead of sharpening only one side, you can sharpen both sides at the same time. The knife is locked to the stand, and you have full control of the stones. The stones are guided on a system where it looks like a piston from an engine.

Pretty much idiot proof.

Then there's the Spyderco Sharpmaker, but people usually get mixed results from it.

http://www.wickededgeusa.com/
 
I use these wheels on a slow speed bench grinder.

I don't believe that this would be OSHA approved.

You will want to remove the base of the grinder and rotate it 180 degrees so the wheels rotate away from you. It should have two bolts that hold the motor to the base. Get rid of the guards also.

The one wheel is coated with a fine grit. You get a cake of beeswax to cover the grit with. If you see sparks, you don't have enough wax on the wheel. When the grit wears out, coat the wheel with wood glue and apply more grit. The wheels come with a container of grit. I still haven't used it all after 15 years. Make passes across the wheel alternating sides until you have a wire edge turned up.

The other wheel has slots in it and is used with a polishing compound. Alternate sides of the blade until the wire edge is gone. The compound puts a mirror polish on the cutting edge. The whole process takes about 5 minutes.

I learned of this system from a woodcarver back when I did woodcarving.

You can get the wheels from Woodcraft or any other woodworking store.
 

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Nevermas -

I had not heard of the "Wicked Edge" system until your post. Interesting.
I would call it an improved (somewhat) Lansky. Uses a similar design. Gripping the blade in a fixture and moving stones along a pre-determined angle in that fixture.

I had a Lansky and the main problem I had with it, and I'm sure this WE sharpener will be the same and that is not all knife spines get along with
this type of design. That is being held in a clamp on the spine. If it's
a dead square back knife, it can work OK. But if it's not, the knife will
move/rock in the clamp impairing any attempts to get a true angle on the
edge. This is why I eventually gave up on the Lansky and went back to
hand stoning my knives until I found out about the Edge Pro.

The Edge Pro is kind of a synthesis of manual, Lansky, Wicked Edge ideas.
You control the placement and holding of the blade on a table, the machine allows for edge angle control.

I'm game for a better mouse trap though, and am always interested
in hearing about new knife sharpener designs.

dxr
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Works for my fishing knife when on the boat, otherwise I use a steel.

Rapala Two Stage Sharpner from Amazon

512NN16WYVL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
 
I picked up a Warthog diamond sharperner at a gun show a while back, and it's become my go-to tool for keeping an edge on my Wusthoff kitchen knives.
http://warthogsharp.com/
Works a lot easier than a sharpening stone, and does both sides of the blade to the same angle, which is adjustable for different types of knives. It's not cheap, but once it's set up, just a few strokes occasionally keeps blades at their peak sharpness.
 
I have had literally thousands of dollars of different sharpeners from $600 systems to $5 carbide... my choice is the "Redi-Edge" V sharpener (about $25) followed by stropping on leather with jeweler's rouge- gets everything from Bowies to penknives shaving sharp in less than 5 minutes.
 
HoosierQ said:
We've all been cut by jagged pieces of metal that have been ripped assunder
Click to expand...

Ouch. Not me. What is this guy, in a prison library? :p

(Just messing with you HoosierQ, don't take it personally)
 
Bed Bath and Beyond (I'm sure other places) carries several models of Chef's Choice electrics. I have a two stage. I fillet a lot of fish, works great.
 
Wicked Edge. You will be able to sharpen a knife like you never could before each and every time. I know there are people who are very skilled at sharpening, but with a Wicked Edge, you don't need to be to get fantastic results. It is virtually idiot-proof...but damned expensive.
 
Wicked Edge...

Ye gods! They're $250!!! My belt grinder cost $49 @ Harbor Freight, and I have mebbe another $60-70 in fine-grit belts and stuff for it. That's less than HALF the cost of the Wicked Edge.

For that, I can (a) sharpen dull knives (so can the Wicked Edge) (b) restore ruined, rusty knives' edges (perhaps, also, so can the Wicked Edge) (c) clean up the blades of ruined, rusty knives (sorry, Wicked Edge can only work on edges) and (d) shape and grind new knives from blank steel (completely beyond Wicked Edge's ability.) Plus, of course, all the other uses to which a belt grinder can be put.

The Wicked Edge is just a super-Lansky sharpener, for those who can't/won't learn to hold a blade at a steady angle when using a plain ordinary sharpening stone. And, I betcha it doesn't have enough reach to "do" a filet knife properly--let alone a chefs' knife or a big carving knife (just from looking @ the picture on the Wicked Edge website--haven't handled one.) For Two Hundred and Fifty Bucks! Keee-ripes!

Or you can hire me to sharpen your 25 knives a $10 a throw.
 
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