I use various models of pull thru a v metal shaped trough. They sharoen it good,but usuallu don't hold a edge very long. Also all you are doing is shaving the metal of the knife. Use it because it is conveniant but must be something better?
Here is what I use

sharpener

I use a Tormek but at around $1,000 for the machine and the necessary jigs, it isn't feasible for most people. I can sharpen a knife to a razor edge and polish it with the leather wheel in about two minutes. The edge lasts a good year or more even with using them daily. My wood chisels and turning tools are actually so sharp that they scare me sometimes.

Good question. I look forward to the responses. I sharpen my filet knives same as you with the same results. I am not a knife guy but am not opposed to buying a quality sharpener along with a quality knife. So if I may ,can I add the question, what is a good filet knife to pair with a good reasonably priced sharpener? ~JOE~ p.s. currently I use a Rapala knife.

This kit is a good one I am told.

Spyderco Sharpmaker, doesn't get much easier

I've used this Smith's kit for quite a long time, and really appreciate it. My brother-in-law has the Lansky equivalent, and the added surface of the Smith's "stones" seems an advantage.

Smith's Sharpening System

I get mine professionally sharpened about once a year, keep them razor sharp with a leather strop. I got mine from my barber and he showed me how to use it, not to hard with enough practice.

I'll put in another vote for the Spyderco Sharpmaker. Very easy and great results.

a broken piece of a old crock....best sharpener ever!!!

There are a zillion sharpeners out there.
From the viewpoint of a professional knife maker, I would like to add a bit of advice -
The best way to always have a sharp knife is to never let it get dull.
At first glance that may appear awkward to both say and hear - but it's correct.
You should always be in fear of your knife.
Never use a knife until it goes dull and then sharpen it.
You have already gone far past the point at which it should have been attended to.
"KEEPING" a knife sharp is not the same thing as "sharpening" a knife.
When you "sharpen", you are removing a substantial amount of material to get BACK to a zero edge.
Which, is a lot of work and frustrating.
It's always at that point when you start cussing the knife, the manufacturer, the steel, the sharpener, etc.
When in fact, you should be looking in the mirror and cussing yourself.
You went too far.
You used the knife too long.
Now you have a blunt edge and must remove a substantial amount of material accurately on both sides to achieve a sharp cutting instrument.
This normally requires a great bit of experience, time, talent, a really good sharpening system, etc.

However, if you "KEEP" your knife sharp - you never have to sharpen it!!
Seriously.
Knife sharpener companies' owners have, for eons it seems, been raking in MILLIONS!!!!!! of dollars and enjoying fancy vacations and buying elaborate homes with the $$$ the rake in selling sharpeners that they market to be the latest and greatest system to sharpen a knife.
And many of them are expensive!

Here's a secret - next time you're using a SHARP knife and you just get to the point where it won't slice paper or shave hair, go out to your truck.
Roll down the window but leave about 2" sticking up out of the door frame.
Now, strop your knife back and forth across the EDGE of the window.
You may only need to do it a dozen times or so.
And it's right back scary sharp again.
Why?
Because you didn't use the knife until it went dull.
Now, you're KEEPING your knife sharp - you're not sharpening it.
And it didn't cost one red penny.
They actually make thin little diamond "stones" that are the size of a credit card and barely any thicker.
You can keep one in your wallet or your tackle box or your portage pack.
You can use a flat rock. I've done it.
Just "KEEP" your knife sharp.
There's always a way.
I use one of these on my fillet knives:
sharpening steel

Note that in the description it says: "Fast honing diamond surface with the realigning function...."
The key word there is "realigning".
When you use a steel, you're not actually removing a great deal of material, you are "realigning" the microscopic "teeth" on the edge.
They got layed down flat in use, and when stropping across the steel, you stand them back up!
You 'realign' them.
That's what you're doing when you are "KEEPING" your knife sharp.
When using one of these on my fillet knives, I go fillet a northern or a walleye or two, strop the edge of the fillet knife to 'realign' the edge and then go back to work.
When all the fish are done, I do a good concerted and controlled effort to really realign the edge - which takes all of 30 seconds, and then hang the knives back up.
And when I want to use them again - they're sharp.
Because they're ALWAYS sharp.
I never have to 'sharpen' them.
I'm 60 years old and am using the same ol' hard India stone my Grandfather used before I was born.
I use the knife a little and then "KEEP" it sharp.
And I'm not contributing to some knife sharpener company's retirement benefits.
I've gone on long enough.

Thanks Carl for all the wisdom. Very interesting.

Right on Karl. That is the secret.
For my fillet knife I use one of these and use it every time before filleting:
Diafold
It's light, small and very handy. I keep one in my kitchen at home as well.

I also have to second what Karl has shared above.

I learned how to properly sharpen knives with large oil and whetstones back when I worked as a casino sous chef. Back then I was one of two people in a kitchen of 20+ who knew how to handle the sharpeners properly so I got to deal with all kinds of neglect and have to re-edge the blades somewhat frequently.

We had a large proffessional Norton tri-stone set that became my best friend and I eventually decided to buy one for myself to use at home.

Now that I only have to sharpen the knives that I use I find the only stone I ever have to use is the finest of the three and even that is seldom used because I gently hone every blade on a fine ceramic steel that I bought for about $3 before each use. That ceramic steel has done more to keep my knives sharp than the $200 Norton tri-stone. Proper care and maintenance goes a long way.

Carl and or keth - is there a video online that gives a good demonstration? I am never sure which direction to go. Against the edge or with it? And when honing what type of angle to the edge, about 5* or closer to 30* or???

Run the blade along the steel like you're trying to cut a thin sliver off of it from handle to tip, but gently. With some experience you'll be able to feel the edge and determine if it's pushed more to one side or the other. The idea is to not feel the "burr" or "bevel" on either side- that's when it's centered. That's the short answer. Theres more to it but the post could get really long... Maybe I'll try to find a good video on youtube if I find time later.

As for the angle that depends on what angle the blade is ground to. Try to match it as exactly as possible. Generally blades meant for finer tasks like cooking have a lower angle and and require more honing. Blades meant for heavy duty use have a steeper angle so they generally won't quite take a razor's edge, but they require a bit less tending.

Got lucky and found a good one. He's talking about kitchen knives so the angle may not be appropriate for your use, but the fundamentals are the same.

It's also important to note that he's using a regular steel here. These are strictly for re-centering the knife edge and don't actually remove and material or "sharpen" the knife.

Using a ceramic or diamond steel actually removes a very small amount of material and "sharpens" just enough in my experience to offset the normal wear that he describes in this video (in addition to re-centering the edge as well).

honing

Thanks! I'll work on technique over the winter months. I can see how this requires learning the "feel" of it.

I use the 6" DMT continuous diamond "Bench" stones in my shop.

I use the DMT 'steel' on my fillet knives.

If there is something you want to learn about easy maintenance of your cutlery - it's right here:

DMT series

This is about as complicated as it gets right here.
One thing to avoid is complicating things.
We, sometimes, as humans, tend to over-complicate things.
Keep in mind we're not entering a cutting competition or creating a Japanese cooking show on TV.
We just want to keep our knives sharp.
It really is an easy thing to do.

This is just a video I grabbed off Youtube from a search on DMT:

quick and easy

Call me old fashioned, but I tend to stick with carbon steel blades and Carborundum stones... the old ones that you can still find on ebay. I have no problem putting/keeping an edge on those blades with that stone.

The only kind of knives I make are simple carbon alloy.
No stainless.
Guys who use stainless knives should even pay closer attention to the information shared here.
Never - ever - let a high alloy blade get dull. All of those extra carbide formers used to create those stainless makes also makes them ABRASION RESISTANT!!
Which simply means they will resist being sharpened.
If you use stainless blades - NEVER let one get dull.

Have a Smith's system but also use a steel. When I used to work in a butcher shop I was taught to use the steel and they really work!

Thanks for the info.

quote PortageKeeper: "Call me old fashioned, but I tend to stick with carbon steel blades and Carborundum stones... the old ones that you can still find on ebay. I have no problem putting/keeping an edge on those blades with that stone."

Pretty much the same here. My Grandfather left me a couple shoeboxes of assorted stones. Most of my knives are older models too. The majority of the stones are the carborundum. There are assorted steels and rods, but I'm not real slick with them. If we were butchering or filleting, there was always a "touch-up rod" or steel handy. I don't know much about stainless.

quote overthehill: "

quote PortageKeeper: "Call me old fashioned, but I tend to stick with carbon steel blades and Carborundum stones... the old ones that you can still find on ebay. I have no problem putting/keeping an edge on those blades with that stone."

Pretty much the same here. My Grandfather left me a couple shoeboxes of assorted stones. Most of my knives are older models too. The majority of the stones are the carborundum. There are assorted steels and rods, but I'm not real slick with them. If we were butchering or filleting, there was always a "touch-up rod" or steel handy. I don't know much about stainless. "

Stainless in general is a soft, tough metal. It is usually 'gummy' when it comes time to sharpen. The metal that you are trying to remove to create an 'edge' just moves around, not wanting to leave the blade. I have only found one stone that works on stainless... not saying that there aren't more. I can find out which one, if anyone is interested. It was made for sharpening a Fiskars/Gerber axe.

I could see that happening if it was a worthless knife, and maybe a generic off-shore production piece of junk.
A decent grade of stainless blade is ffffaaaaaaarrrrrrr from either "soft" or "gummy".

quote
Stainless in general is a soft, tough metal. It is usually 'gummy' when it comes time to sharpen.

As you can see from the chart below (see link) there are all kinds of stainless steels. What you'd expect is that a top quality knife maker would use top quality stainless, which as Karl points out, is far from soft - notice, for example, near the bottom of the list "Sandvik12 C27" Stainless Steel chart
Back in the day when I was a furniture designer/craftsman I made a lot of my own tools, particularly planes and scrapers. I had a guy who would make the blades for me and we did a lot experimentation coming to a balance between hardness, sharpness retention and sharpen ability amongst other things. Steel that is high carbon holds an edge well but is a bitch to sharpen whereas steel that is high in chromium is easy to sharpen but also a bit on the soft side. Knife makers, whether custom builders or production are well aware of this. That being said, for 50 bucks you'll likely get what's cheapest to manufacture. That's why you can handle a knife as much as you want but you won't really know the blades worth until you use it and live with it.

My brother. Then SIL.

quote KarlBAndersen1: "I could see that happening if it was a worthless knife, and maybe a generic off-shore production piece of junk.
A decent grade of stainless blade is ffffaaaaaaarrrrrrr from either "soft" or "gummy".

quote
Stainless in general is a soft, tough metal. It is usually 'gummy' when it comes time to sharpen.

"

Would you consider gerber or fiskar knives or axes to be a 'decent grade of stainless'? I don't.

quote KarlBAndersen1: "I could see that happening if it was a worthless knife, and maybe a generic off-shore production piece of junk.
A decent grade of stainless blade is ffffaaaaaaarrrrrrr from either "soft" or "gummy".

quote
Stainless in general is a soft, tough metal. It is usually 'gummy' when it comes time to sharpen.

"

Would you consider gerber or fiskar knives or axes to be a 'decent grade of stainless'? I don't.

quote Northwoodsman: "I use a Tormek but at around $1,000 for the machine and the necessary jigs, it isn't feasible for most people. I can sharpen a knife to a razor edge and polish it with the leather wheel in about two minutes. The edge lasts a good year or more even with using them daily. My wood chisels and turning tools are actually so sharp that they scare me sometimes."

Can I send you my kitchen knives?!

Have a selection of stones from manmade to natural, and my favorite DMT bench stones. All work with a steady hand and patience. Mostly though I just keep em sharp with regular stropping at home and in the field. Lots of YouTube stuff on the topic, easy to make and use. Even a piece of wet or dry sandpaper can be used to bring back a chipped blade.

butthead

"Would you consider gerber or fiskar knives or axes to be a 'decent grade of stainless'? I don't."

That is so hard to say.
The old adage that you get what you pay for seems to still hold true in a lot of situations.
I'm just pretty much up to speed on what goes on in the higher end both hand made and factory 'custom' stuff.
And the steels we use I do not often see on the same knives one might find at Walmart or at your local sporting good chain or hardware store.
Those knives are made for the weekend warrior.
Not for someone who actually DEPENDS upon the knife performing well.
And keep in mind steel grade and type is one thing.
How it is treated is another factor in the mess.
In the words of a close friend of mine who actually is a "World class" knife maker, "Jesus Christ, Himself, could send a bar of steel down from Heaven. It will only be as good as the heat treatment it gets on Earth."
So, there are many, many factors to consider.
You know, a beautiful canoe is one thing, but if it's not done right, or SOME! of the components are not used correctly, then all you have is a decoration.
We've become a throw away society in the western world.
These companies take advantage of that and sell us all types of cutlery that they continually change from season to season in the form of a new "model".
They sell them to their clients CHEAP! You know - 30 bucks.
No big deal.
Then, after a person uses one for a while, they come out with a new model!!
Another 30 bucks.
None of them really work very well because the company had them made in Pakistan or Nicaragua, etc, from borderline materials that only work 1/2 well.
They're interested in profit. Greed.
Now, they want that guy buying a new model of knife every 6 months or so.
You know the same people I do who have drawers FULL of hunting knives and fillet knives, etc.
I have ONE fillet knife.
Bought it when Schrade fillet knives were made in the US with good 440C steel. Maybe 1985. That is the one and only fillet knife I have bought in the last 25 years. Because it performs well.
I know the current ones are now made off shore and are pretty much junk.
Look the same, though.
Now after a few years of buying new knives to try to find a good one, a person can tally up HUNDREDS!!!!! of dollars looking for a good knife, but at 30 bucks a pop - he'll never find one.
Or, do some ground work and research and spend then same, say, 300-400 bucks on a good custom belt knife from a company or maker who you have researched well, and it'll be the last one you may ever NEED to buy and it'll get passed down to your heirs.
There are darned good knife companies out there making and selling really decent knives.
But not for 30 bucks.
And there's a reason why.

quote PortageKeeper: "

quote KarlBAndersen1: "I could see that happening if it was a worthless knife, and maybe a generic off-shore production piece of junk.
A decent grade of stainless blade is ffffaaaaaaarrrrrrr from either "soft" or "gummy".

quote
Stainless in general is a soft, tough metal. It is usually 'gummy' when it comes time to sharpen.

"

Would you consider gerber or fiskar knives or axes to be a 'decent grade of stainless'? I don't."

quote KarlBAndersen1: ""Would you consider gerber or fiskar knives or axes to be a 'decent grade of stainless'? I don't."


That is so hard to say.
The old adage that you get what you pay for seems to still hold true in a lot of situations.
I'm just pretty much up to speed on what goes on in the higher end both hand made and factory 'custom' stuff.
And the steels we use I do not often see on the same knives one might find at Walmart or at your local sporting good chain or hardware store.
Those knives are made for the weekend warrior.
Not for someone who actually DEPENDS upon the knife performing well.
And keep in mind steel grade and type is one thing.
How it is treated is another factor in the mess.
In the words of a close friend of mine who actually is a "World class" knife maker, "Jesus Christ, Himself, could send a bar of steel down from Heaven. It will only be as good as the heat treatment it gets on Earth."
So, there are many, many factors to consider.
You know, a beautiful canoe is one thing, but if it's not done right, or SOME! of the components are not used correctly, then all you have is a decoration.
We've become a throw away society in the western world.
These companies take advantage of that and sell us all types of cutlery that they continually change from season to season in the form of a new "model".
They sell them to their clients CHEAP! You know - 30 bucks.
No big deal.
Then, after a person uses one for a while, they come out with a new model!!
Another 30 bucks.
None of them really work very well because the company had them made in Pakistan or Nicaragua, etc, from borderline materials that only work 1/2 well.
They're interested in profit. Greed.
Now, they want that guy buying a new model of knife every 6 months or so.
You know the same people I do who have drawers FULL of hunting knives and fillet knives, etc.
I have ONE fillet knife.
Bought it when Schrade fillet knives were made in the US with good 440C steel. Maybe 1985. That is the one and only fillet knife I have bought in the last 25 years. Because it performs well.
I know the current ones are now made off shore and are pretty much junk.
Look the same, though.
Now after a few years of buying new knives to try to find a good one, a person can tally up HUNDREDS!!!!! of dollars looking for a good knife, but at 30 bucks a pop - he'll never find one.
Or, do some ground work and research and spend then same, say, 300-400 bucks on a good custom belt knife from a company or maker who you have researched well, and it'll be the last one you may ever NEED to buy and it'll get passed down to your heirs.
There are darned good knife companies out there making and selling really decent knives.
But not for 30 bucks.
And there's a reason why.

quote PortageKeeper: "

quote KarlBAndersen1: "I could see that happening if it was a worthless knife, and maybe a generic off-shore production piece of junk.
A decent grade of stainless blade is ffffaaaaaaarrrrrrr from either "soft" or "gummy".

quote
Stainless in general is a soft, tough metal. It is usually 'gummy' when it comes time to sharpen.

"

Would you consider gerber or fiskar knives or axes to be a 'decent grade of stainless'? I don't."

"

I can't agree more. I favor an ax that is one hundred years old for two reasons... it has better steel than most off the shelf models, and it is affordable. I favor a crosscut saw that is one hundred years old simply because no one makes them out of good enough steel now (well, they do make them for competition, but those are really big bucks).
There are lots of people out there using the cheap stainless blades that you speak of. I was only saying that there is a stone out there that will sharpen them. I have a water wheel that will do a decent job on them as well. I use it to sharpen my wife's Chicago cutlery. She has certain knives that she likes and I'm not going to argue with her.

Any piece of unglazed ceramic will work as a steel. I like an upturned coffee cup.

And there are a lot of decent but affordable stainless knives around. Mora, Hultafors, Sandvik blades, Grohmann...but yeah, I love my Gerber multitool, but the one thing that doesn't get much use is the knife blade. Gerber/Fiskars blades just suck.

Spyderco Sharpmaker. If you have to do major sharpening work, you'll need to add their diamond rods. But to maintain a sharp edge, Sharpmaker is the way to go. I use some flat double sided 'stones' from spyderco and falkniven to sharpen my blades with Scandi grind.

Great info here. I've never owned a good knife, much less one that cost over $50. And frankly can't sharpen a knife worth a hoot anyway. On my cheap knives, I went to using a Chef's choice 3 wheel electric sharpener. It puts a pretty good edge on my Kershaw clip knife and my fillet knives I keep in the garage. My knives and sharpener aren't even CLOSE to the those of the the guys here who know their knives.

One reasonably slow pass on the middle grinding wheel on each side of the knife and one slightly faster pass on the stropping wheel does a pretty good job. My knives are sharper than anyone I know...but we aren't knife guys. I know the coarse and middle wheels take off a lot of metal...it would be a shame to run a good knife through them. But we are talking about WalMart knives for the most part. Throwaway society, yes.

I've always used a decent Arkansas Whetstone to keep all my knives sharp. With a little experience, you can get a razor edge on a dull knife in 5-10 minutes. While this may take longer than other sharpeners, I personally enjoy doing it this way.

This is where I've gotten my whetstones from.
Dan's Whetstones

My son came back from Cabela's last weekend with a Work Sharp sharpener. I was skeptical but took over to his place some of my old "beater" knives that I've never been able to sharpen well. They are now sharper than I could ever dream they'd be. It's a pricey little gizmo but it sure seems to work to me. Anyone else know of or use one of these?

Karl, You use fillet knives in your example, but does this apply to other knives as well? Also if I may ask if I wanted to strop my Mora in the field would a leather belt work?

" if I wanted to strop my Mora in the field would a leather belt work?"

I have with good results. Making and using a strop. Leather strop why what how.

My field touch up set, DMT fine pocket stone and 2 sided leather strop, shown with an "Old Timer Sharpfinger" size reference.

butthead

There are many good sharpeners on the market today. The main factor in sharpening is the device you use to remove the material from the blade must maintain a uniform angle for you and not allow your efforts from stroke to stroke to change the angle of pressure you are putting on the cutting surface of the blade. If this angle relationship is changing from stroke to stroke, you will end up with a rounded edge that will feel sharp for a short period of time and dull rapidly.
Personally, I am using Wusthof 3 stage Knife Sharpener. Its a very good knife sharpner.It hones my knife very well. I come to know about this knife Sharpner from Knife Sharpener Reviews .They recommended me a very nice knife sharpener.Previously, I was using stones to sharp but does not works very well.It leaves stains and marks on knife.It's shine decreases with stone sharpening.

Wusthof is a traditional, good-fame German manufacturer. The company still comply to the highest standards. Its 3-stage sharpener is firstly observed through its triple-stage system. Then, it attain the 14-degree PEtec – united resulting in a 28-degree edge. This actually show the original manufacturer’s angle. As a blade passes through the 3 stages, it becomes like new and is also gleaming. Stage 1 uses the 100% diamond caustic that works with a dull edge; stage 2 uses finer diamonds, while stage 3 is for polishing. The latter one works well with indented knives. I advise maximum caution because the result is excessive sharpness.

quote bapabear: "My son came back from Cabela's last weekend with a Work Sharp sharpener. I was skeptical but took over to his place some of my old "beater" knives that I've never been able to sharpen well. They are now sharper than I could ever dream they'd be. It's a pricey little gizmo but it sure seems to work to me. Anyone else know of or use one of these?"

I just got one for Christmas. I love it.... it drives me crazy to use a dull knife. So I use it for all of our Kitchen knives. "MY" knives, I use a stone on because they don't get that dull.

Rada sharpener. I have used these for years. Strop with leather when the blade is sharp. Works well here.

Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker.

It's the best sharpener that I've tried. There are more out there I haven't tried, but I didn't feel the need to keep tryin' after this one.

I echo KarlBAnderson's comments. As the son of a butcher, my dad taught me early on how to care for a knife. All my kitchen knives are very good quality (mostly various German, Swiss and Spanish knives) and are not allowed to become dull. I have a German steel (they still make the best steels) and use it every time I pull a knife out of the knife block. Most of my knives have never seen a sharpening stone as the steel continually keeps them sharp. For the few that have, I use a $10 double-sided (one side rough, the other fine) flat stone that you can get at any hardware store. Same with my fillet knives. I also have a small steel that I take to the BWCA with me and use every time I clean fish.

A little maintenance with a good steel goes a long way toward keeping your knives sharp and preventing them from wearing down from too much grinding.

quote IvanLSmith: "There are many good sharpeners on the market today. The main factor in sharpening is the device you use to remove the material from the blade must maintain a uniform angle for you and not allow your efforts from stroke to stroke to change the angle of pressure you are putting on the cutting surface of the blade. If this angle relationship is changing from stroke to stroke, you will end up with a rounded edge that will feel sharp for a short period of time and dull rapidly.
Personally, I am using Wusthof 3 stage Knife Sharpener. Its a very good knife sharpner.It hones my knife very well. I come to know about this knife Sharpner from Knife Sharpener Reviews .They recommended me a very nice knife sharpener.Previously, I was using stones to sharp but does not works very well.It leaves stains and marks on knife.It's shine decreases with stone sharpening.

Wusthof is a traditional, good-fame German manufacturer. The company still comply to the highest standards. Its 3-stage sharpener is firstly observed through its triple-stage system. Then, it attain the 14-degree PEtec – united resulting in a 28-degree edge. This actually show the original manufacturer’s angle. As a blade passes through the 3 stages, it becomes like new and is also gleaming. Stage 1 uses the 100% diamond caustic that works with a dull edge; stage 2 uses finer diamonds, while stage 3 is for polishing. The latter one works well with indented knives. I advise maximum caution because the result is excessive sharpness. "

Are the Chef's Choice sharpeners made by Wusthof? They sure appear so.

"Are the Chef's Choice sharpeners made by Wusthof? They sure appear so."

Sharpener yup!

Use 2 different CC styles for kitchen knifes. Many field knifes are too thick and curved to use these. I'm not a fan of such aggressive blade material removal for edgemaking. Better to use a steel/ceramic/strop to align and polish an edge.

butthead

PS: Resurrecting an old post with what sounds like ad copy, smells of salesman instead of new member, hope I'm wrong. bh

When using a steel rod to touch up, do you push the knife edge into the rod or pull the edge away from the rod. I see so many conflicting methods.

Got my father in law a Chef's Choice long ago for Christmas. Last year, he was going through his stuff and wanted to know if I wanted it back. He said it was junk. (Merry Christmas to you, too, Dad...) I used it on some knives at home and it works pretty good. No miracles, but a nice edge in most cases. A magnet holds the blade at the proper angle; I think that my FIL was fighting against it as he drew them through and did his edges no favors. This Christmas, I did his knives and then brought the machine back home. No comment yet. :-)

quote Doughboy12: " This kit is a good one I am told."

Have this kit and love it. 26 dollars at fleet farm

This thread led me to purchasing the DMT 4" Whetstone set of 4 kit, and I really like them. I used to use the Lansky kit, but this is so much easier to use, especially in the field. I think I paid around $60 for the DMT kit on Amazon.

4" Diamond Whetstone™ Kit

Get yourself a ceramic rod or a leather strop. Unless you've got nicks or dents in the blade you don't need all the fancy stuff, you just have to improve the edge. Once a knife is sharp, you rarely have to use a stone that removes material, you just need to improve the edge a little with something very mild. I've heard the edge of your car window will work in a pinch, but I've never tried it.

Seriously - it doesn't much matter.
Do both and see which one works best for you.

quote walleyevision: "When using a steel rod to touch up, do you push the knife edge into the rod or pull the edge away from the rod. I see so many conflicting methods. "

any new sharpeners you like or technique update?

The “gas tube” from a High Pressure Sodium lamp, as a steel. When all the street lights are LED these may become collector's items.

still looking,probably go with what Karl says,he is the expert.

Got one of those DMT diamond- metal alloy sharpeners and never had such a sharp knife in my life. So much difference and easy to use-even for me.

A butcher friend turned me on it this.

Tri stone

quote Northwoodsman: "I use a Tormek but at around $1,000 for the machine and the necessary jigs, it isn't feasible for most people. I can sharpen a knife to a razor edge and polish it with the leather wheel in about two minutes. The edge lasts a good year or more even with using them daily. My wood chisels and turning tools are actually so sharp that they scare me sometimes."

Dang. Can I bring some of my edged tools to your place? I'll bring food/beer

quote Grouseguy1: "

quote Northwoodsman: "I use a Tormek but at around $1,000 for the machine and the necessary jigs, it isn't feasible for most people. I can sharpen a knife to a razor edge and polish it with the leather wheel in about two minutes. The edge lasts a good year or more even with using them daily. My wood chisels and turning tools are actually so sharp that they scare me sometimes."

Dang. Can I bring some of my edged tools to your place? I'll bring food/beer"

Your knifes have to be good steel quality also to get lasting results like that.
Cutting up like a deer etc. my knifes get dull I guess much faster than they should?

I have used this one for about twenty years.
Razor sharp system

Best post I've seen in a while. Probably re-read it many times. Damon it's time to get out my stuff and get to work...

I've read if you blow on the blade the longer the mist stays on the blade the better quality knife it is

The Buck way

I can put a great edge on my every day knife with the spyderco sharpmaker and a leather strop

getting better sharpening. Old thread but still something we have to do.

So those little 3 dollar Rapala sharpeners don't work?

I've had the Spyderco and Lansky and I personally am more comfortable with the Lansky. MANY use either and I think between the two it's what fits your head.

From ideas above I went with

DMT

My knife stays sharper longer and instead of shaving the knife metal off in one of those V sharpeners.

Also took Karl's advice and try not to let the knife get dull in the first place.

I thought i could do well with a tri-stone set if I practiced, but I wasn't that good at it. I sprung for a KME sharpener , which is really just a set of diamond stones with a precision jig to keep the same angle as you sharpen. Not for re-profiling edges or anything, but its 5-10 minutes to take a blade from dull to shaving newspaper and armhair.
I do enjoy hand-working it versus using a power tool.

I bought a good knife over the winter, and this tool was great included: Fallkniven CC4 sharpening tool

It's pretty low tech, portable, and simple to use. It got my knife sharper than I've been able to get a knife before, so I'm happy with it. I also find it kind of relaxing to do. It's a perfect relaxing by the fire activity.

Old thread but I will add to it. I bought the Ken Onion Work Sharp sharpening tool a few months ago. I really like it. It does not sharpen a flat ground knife like a Swedish Mora because it is a belt system. You start with a course belt to get the edge and then put finer belts on until you get to 6000 grit or a leather strop. It works on any knife I own from butcher to fillet to hunting. I told my wife that I sharpened the kitchen knives and to be careful, last month we had to spend some quality time in the emergency room. The knives are scary sharp now.

quote amhacker22: "I bought a good knife over the winter, and this tool was great included: Fallkniven CC4 sharpening tool


It's pretty low tech, portable, and simple to use. It got my knife sharper than I've been able to get a knife before, so I'm happy with it. I also find it kind of relaxing to do. It's a perfect relaxing by the fire activity.


"

You know same here.
I actually enjoy sitting down and slowly sharpen knifes now to see how sharp I can get them. Since I went with the diamond grit they seem to not dull as fast either.

Not sure if it has been mentioned yet, but my buddy had a RADA sharpener. That thing works magic. I have sharpened knives that have gone through other sharpeners and each person says they are impressed with how well they sharpen for the price. We now have like 3 or 4 of them at deer camp and are a sharpen as necessary when it comes to taking meet of a carcass. Link not working check it out here:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_8_4?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rada+knife+sharpener&sprefix=rada%2Caps%2C274&crid=3LLEC7ELXFNFC

://sharpener

No thread like an old thread. For knife sharpening anywhere anytime just use an good oval diamond sharpening stick. Personally I like Hewlett-Jewel stick. I only use the fine since I don't let any knife in my house get dull. Learn to use them and any quality knife will shave ya'.

smiths or lansky rod, both cheap and do the job.

you look at many of the quick sharpeners thay just shave the metal off and if you look close or under a microscope how jagged it is on the knife. But their quick and if it is god enough,that is what it is all about.

I use a Mayan obsidian sacrificial knife, it never needs sharpening. Every few years I just crack a new edge onto it. I made up every bit of that.

I can keep my blade sharp but really have trouble keepi f the tip really pointy

This was a blast from the past... Still a lot of good info here though.

Wicked Edge

butthead: "" if I wanted to strop my Mora in the field would a leather belt work?"


I have with good results. Making and using a strop. Leather strop why what how.


My field touch up set, DMT fine pocket stone and 2 sided leather strop, shown with an "Old Timer Sharpfinger" size reference.


butthead"

WOW! I had this exact same knife 35 years ago - when I was in my late teens.

This is my baby now...



...an AA Forge Mutt in Spalted Maple with black Micarta Liners. I designed this knife from a One-Off blade design Adam had done prior, and added that to the 4" Hiker handle design. ...so it was a bit of a hodge-podge of two knife designs to make one - hence "The Mutt". This holds and edge like a M-FER.

For this knife, a simple strop will keep it sharp in most cases. If I have to grind a new edge, then I use a stone.

For my kitchen gear, I have a couple of Japanese knives from Chef Knives To Go :

Masakage Honesuki with a custom handle

Anryu Blue #2 Hammered Bunka

These two knives do about everything I need to do in the kitchen. I have one beater knife if I really need to chop through bone. But cutting through joints, the Honesuki is outstanding. Fine mincing, chopping and slicing, the Bunka is perfect.

These really hold an insanely sharp edge unlike anything I've ever used before. I've had these two Japanese Knives for three years, and I still haven't had a need to sharpen them - though its... getting close to that time. When it's time, I'm just mailing them back to Chef Knives To Go, and having them to do, then forgetting about it for another couple of years. I'll send them in one at a time.

I bring the Honesuki with me on camping trips, as it's more durable than the Bunka, and it does everything I need it to do. Some tasks just aren't as good/efficient as the Bunka when I'm at home.

If you happen to visit the Chef Knives To Go website - be careful. That's a rabbit hole that goes VERY VERY deep. Shun, which I've owned in the past, just gives you a little taste of what fine handcrafted Japanese Cutlery really is. I could buy so much more from this website... but have really held it together. LOL

I should mention too, when I bought my two Japanese knives, I sold all of my Wustof, Henkels, Zwilling, and my Shun Japanese (Santoku) knives. Probably a good 10-12 knives over all. There were all replaced with the two knives above, and my life in the kitchen has been absolutely better for it.

Cheers

Since I work for this company.....:) Razor Edge Systems

That's a great point about keeping a blade touched up instead of alternating between sharp and dull.

In the woods, a rolled up piece of 600 grit sandpaper helps when the edge is really needing a touch up. Otherwise a piece of leather with green compound already applied...

But yeah at the kitchen table, can't beat stones for sharpening a flat edge. Just takes time to learn. But I use sandpaper and leather for convex grinds, which I mostly have.

Oh and when I just want to get it done quick I use the belt sander and then leather...

This one & an axe stone.

My field sharpener is a benchmade rod/strop tool. Its small with a deep carry pocket clip. I only use it for pocket knives.

A warehouse chef recommendations, including a handy device to help maintain the edge. :)