Who knows about sharpening knives?

JonathanRyan

JonathanRyan

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Because I spent some of the weekend looking at knife designs, my ad feed is now full of "magic" knife sharpeners. Are any of them any good?

I have a nice global whetstone but experience shows I don't actually use it enough :) would something like an anysharp keep kitchen knives in good order with little effort? Reviews are mixed and I'm a bit concerned that it can actually wear knives out quickly. Are they really that aggressive?

Oh and I may soon have a knife that I really won't want to wear down :)
 
We have a anysharp and yes it is very aggressive, can see the filings from knife after use. Does get the knifes sharpish though- gives a serrated edge
 
A whetstone, personally I use a 1000, 6000 combo and a honing steel.
I soak my stone before use, start with the 1000 and then move on to the 6000 and the honing steel before and after each use.
If you struggle with a consistent angle you can buy angle guides. All the sharpening gadgets basically shave the blade, fine for the average household and cheap knives but not something I would personally use and certainly not on expensive knives.
 
We use a steel, inherited from my in-laws. I doubt it was ever used by them because they would be afraid of an accident. If you have a basically sharp knife then it will put a fine edge on it, but if you want to put an edge on a blank then you'll need a grinding wheel.
 
Graham W said:
I got one of these Tormek jobies for shapening my chisels...works a treat on my kitchen knives!
Probably not what you're looking for though!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o016qATGsO8
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Well..... I'm making my own knife which will hopefully look similar to a Koi so I'll be starting with a grinding belt and may move to a wheel :)

I was thinking more everyday maintenance.
 
tarric said:
A whetstone, personally I use a 1000, 6000 combo and a honing steel.
I soak my stone before use, start with the 1000 and then move on to the 6000 and the honing steel before and after each use.
If you struggle with a consistent angle you can buy angle guides. All the sharpening gadgets basically shave the blade, fine for the average household and cheap knives but not something I would personally use and certainly not on expensive knives.
Click to expand...
After a few hours of googling, I'm starting to think about a Lansky guided system. Not too expensive and removes some of the skill requirement.
 
Used one of the Chefs Choice electric sharpeners on my Kai Shun knives. Twelve years now and still excellent
 
I've been using a diamond 'stone' for heavy duty repair/reprofiling and then water stones for upkeep. I have quite a few across different grits.

My most used upkeep tools are a Shapton 4000 glass stone and a ceramic 'steel'.

All my knives are Japanese, ranging from high carbon content to one I got for the wife which is made from bloody Kryptonite I think. A PITA to sharpen but does keep an edge for ages.
 
I do. I also know about sharpening all sorts of other tools; chisels, saw blades, drill bits, etc. Kitchen knives are not precision tools, so don't overthink it. You are not performing surgery with them. You really don't need fancy sharpening systems. Most of the time, the basic sharpening things you buy in kitchenware departments are fine. They will give you a decent enough edge. If you have better quality knives that you use a lot, then these will grind away a lot of metal so will wear your knives out. You will quickly grind back from the narrow cutting edge, requiring regrinding. So these are more for cheaper knives, made from softer/lower quality steel. I own a couple of decent knives, so I use a basic sharpening stone which is soaked before use. This gives a nice edge. I keep this edge honed using a honing steel; this straightens out the very fine edge which can become splintered and have microscopic bits bent out of true. A honing steel is NOT for sharpening though, although you can get a reasonable edge on an already reasonably sharp knife. With careful sharpening, and regular hoining, you shouldn't need to sharpen a good quality knife very often; I go many months between sharpenings. My benchmark is to be able to slice squashy tomatoes without them mashing to a pulp. You really don't need to be able to shave hairs with a kitchen knife, as some people might suggest; putting such a fine edge on them just makes them more brittle, they aren't designed for that. That said, if and when you do cut yourself, its better to do so with as sharp a knife as possible, as this leaves a cleaner edged cut and it heals better.
 
JonathanRyan said:
After a few hours of googling, I'm starting to think about a Lansky guided system. Not too expensive and removes some of the skill requirement.
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That reminds me. In a rash moment I bought this kit https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001KN3OKO?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details had a play, put it in a cupboard and forgot about it.
If you want to have a play pm me an address and I'll send it over. If you like it you can either send it back and get a new set or even make me an offer!...Just checked and it's been in the cupboard for 5 years!
20230613_153326.jpg
 
Graham W said:
That reminds me. In a rash moment I bought this kit https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001KN3OKO?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details had a play, put it in a cupboard and forgot about it.
If you want to have a play pm me an address and I'll send it over. If you like it you can either send it back and get a new set or even make me an offer!...Just checked and it's been in the cupboard for 5 years!
View attachment 392512
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Oh wow, thank you. That's very kind. That's the exact one I was looking at :) I'll pm you.
 
After we did our kitchen we treated ourselves to some expensive Japanese knives and the dealer recommended a mino Sharp water sharpener which works a treat on these. Used to use more traditional methods steels/stones ect. but does the job well.
 
Huge thanks to @Graham W for the "loan" of his sharpening kit. It's bright a much neglected chef's knife back to paper slicing sharp in less than half an hour.

Also, I now have a knife I want to look after. Fancy Japanese steel? Nah, hand made in Kent :)PXL_20230618_160930926.MP-02.jpegPXL_20230618_165001917~2-01.jpeg
 
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