This is my Rapala knife sharpener. I can get a pretty good edge with it.

Anybody have insight or special tips for best results with this?

When I use this sharpener, there are a couple things I've noted.
Once sharp you do not need to use the coarse side of the sharpener. You can feel the drag on the knife letting you know its sharp.
I also bring a very small leather strop to get the final edge. Usually I end up using just the strop during the trip.

I have a 20 yo CUTCO filet knife and that is the only sharpener I have ever used on it. I run it through wet a dozen times after every cleaning and it is good to go. I only clean walleye with it however.

Loony_canoe: "Once sharp you do not need to use the coarse side of the sharpener..."

What?? There are two different stones? This sharpener?

Which is which? Look the same.

bobbernumber3: "

Loony_canoe: "Once sharp you do not need to use the coarse side of the sharpener..."

What?? There are two different stones? This sharpener?

Which is which? Look the same."

I believe that Loony_canoe is referring to a similar-looking device that has two sets of sharpeners. One set has the fine, white ceramic pieces similar to your sharpener while the other set (dark gray in color) is quite a bit harder and is meant to take off more metal.

Correct. I did not look at the picture closely. Sorry for any confusion.

Loony_canoe: "Correct. I did not look at the picture closely. Sorry for any confusion."

OK... not a problem.

The only "trick" given me was to twist the blade to put more pressure on the grinding edge, alternating left and right. Seems to help some.

bobbernumber3: "The only "trick" given me was to twist the blade to put more pressure on the grinding edge, alternating left and right. Seems to help some."

Hmmm... The only "trick" given to me was to keep the knife blade perfectly vertical and let the set angle of the stones do its work.

Knife nerds cringe at pull-through sharpeners like that because they brutalize blades and have poor, obtuse angles, but if that's what you use and don't want to get into other methods of sharpening, the proper way to use it is to keep the blade at 90 degrees and do not apply any of your own pressure. Do not twist the blade to one side or the other. Do not tilt the blade to one side or the other. Do not press down. Just pull the blade through perpendicularly and slowly and let its own weight do the rest.

mschi772: "Knife nerds cringe at pull-through sharpeners like that because they brutalize blades and have poor, obtuse angles, but if that's what you use and don't want to get into other methods of sharpening, the proper way to use it is to keep the blade at 90 degrees and do not apply any of your own pressure. Do not twist the blade to one side or the other. Do not tilt the blade to one side or the other. Do not press down. Just pull the blade through perpendicularly and slowly and let its own weight do the rest."

Totally agree with what mschi772 shared. Make sure the blade is pulled through perpendicularly and without pressing down. Our fillet knives hold a nice sharp edge with this technique.

mschi772: "Knife nerds cringe at pull-through sharpeners like that because they brutalize blades and have poor, obtuse angles, but if that's what you use and don't want to get into other methods of sharpening, the proper way to use it is to keep the blade at 90 degrees and do not apply any of your own pressure. Do not twist the blade to one side or the other. Do not tilt the blade to one side or the other. Do not press down. Just pull the blade through perpendicularly and slowly and let its own weight do the rest."

Knife nerd here and agree with quality steel blades. Most fillet knifes are a thin stainless steel more noted for flex than quality steel. The pull thru Rapala is fast and fine for inexpensive filet knifes. Blade straight up and down no side twist and little to no force, basically re-aligning the edge. A leather strop to finish produces a quite serviceable edge. It does not need to be large. small sharpening fine diamond with leather strop and my Old Timer 1095 carbon steel Sharpfinger.
I do use a variety of diamond bench stone/plates, strops, even glass mounted wet/dry fine sanding papers, at home.

butthead

mschi772: "Do not press down. Just pull the blade through perpendicularly and slowly and let its own weight do the rest."

Well, my old twist method worked on a batch of bluegills. I'll try the above method next, which seems would be standard. I have maybe pressed down too much.

The only knife I would use one of these pull sharpeners on is a less expensive Rapala knife. Don’t get me wrong, Rapala knives are good for the cost. I prefer to bring a knife that has the flexibility and edge longevity that I need to last a week long trip. I bring two super sharp knives with on my trips. That way I don’t have to wreck my knife edge on one of these. If you were to run your knife on one of these pull through sharpeners and then inspect the edge under a microscope it would look jagged and horrible compared to a stone or belt. These pull through styles remove too much metal and leave the edge jagged.

But if you use one of the pull through sharpeners get your edge on the carbide side and then go to the ceramic side. Then after a few fish you want for touching up only use the ceramic side. The carbide side is to establish the correct angle of sharping to start. The ceramic side is to touch up after it gets dull. This might sound like second grade information that I’m giving but trust me, I’ve seen many fillet knives wrecked at a fish camp because of these sharpeners used wrong or used in the first place.

This makes sense. Think about the single point of contact between the knife edge and the sharpening rods. If there are any nicks or irregularities in the blade....the rods will just echo and magnify them. Using flat sharpening surfaces will re-establish a flat edge and remove burrs, dents and irregularities.

Falliniven makes a nice pocket-portable sharpening combo stone perfect for taking on trips. The rougher side is carbide, the fine side is diamond dust plate. It's about an inch by five inches and works quite well. It's called DD4 or something like that. The leather sheath it comes with is rough on one face so you can dress it with some green buffing compound and get that final razor edge in the field. For all your knives, not just filet knife.

I've never heard of such sharpeners.
My boyfriend uses a Worksharp sharpener and he's happy with it.
Read the reviews on google

I use two different sharpeners, depending on my trip and such.

DMT Sharpener

Worksharp

"Think about the single point of contact between the knife edge and the sharpening rods. If there are any nicks or irregularities in the blade....the rods will just echo and magnify them."

Actually just the opposite. V-rod shareners do little sharpening but much more edge straightening. Much the way a butchers steel works. Fist step to sharpen is a flat grinding surface stone/sandpaper and such. The steels or V stick used to straighten the edge as used to keep is sharp. On a Rapala fillet knife (or similar quality) the S-steel is soft enough to be honed in V stick sharpeners.
The orriginal post by bobbernumber3 shows a Rapala filet knife and a Rapala pull thru that has V ceramic rod inserts. Such a sharpener is more for maintaining the edge profile of a matching knife.

butthead

butthead: " "Think about the single point of contact between the knife edge and the sharpening rods. If there are any nicks or irregularities in the blade....the rods will just echo and magnify them."


Actually just the opposite. V-rod shareners do little sharpening but much more edge straightening. Much the way a butchers steel works. Fist step to sharpen is a flat grinding surface stone/sandpaper and such. The steels or V stick used to straighten the edge as used to keep is sharp. On a Rapala fillet knife (or similar quality) the S-steel is soft enough to be honed in V stick sharpeners.
The orriginal post by bobbernumber3 shows a Rapala filet knife and a Rapala pull thru that has V ceramic rod inserts. Such a sharpener is more for maintaining the edge profile of a matching knife. butthead"

I've been thinking about the comment you referenced and wanted to point out that with the offset sharpening rods there are two points of contact with the blade. I was not understanding the comment about magnifying nicks in that regard. Anyway, I have had good luck with this sharpener by using less downward pressure when drawing the knife. LOTS of bluegills cleaned this winter!

As mentioned I do use 3 different sizes of Rapala fillet knifes and the sharpener in your original post. I am not new to sharpening knifes and axes, use a variety of natural stones man made stones and diamond bench stones (my favorite) along with other methods. Wet or dry sandpaper works great, tape a sheet to a glass panel, work your way from 240 grit to 1600 or more. Leather strops to stropping razor heads for bow-hunting on glass.
The very thin flexible filet knife came with a set angle blade profile, the pull thru from the same maker is mated to that profile. Material removal at this point is undesirable, instead the weight of the blade in hand is enough to align it back to the original profile.

butthead

I think the little ceramic pull through is fine to pack and use on the trip. Smith makes a little one that has the course/fine slots and a tapered rod for serrated blades. Light strokes as others have stated...Now at home, I have gone to the Warthog classic for most of my knives. Not a pro but have tried most methods listed on here with the sandpaper method my favorite until finding the Warthog. Comes with 325 grit and finishing steel which will do well. For filet knives you may want to add a set of the 600/1000 combo rods...this would get you shaving sharp if you wanted.

bobbernumber3: "This is my Rapala knife sharpener. I can get a pretty good edge with it.

Anybody have insight or special tips for best results with this? "

I have that same sharpener you have pictured. I prefer a set of sharpening sticks. My only advice is to make sure you clean stones occasionally in yours (run a rag through it). You are also using it backward in the above picture. It wouldn't affect how it sharpens, but it's easier to not cut yourself while sharpening if you turn it around.

Buck makes good fillet knives also.

I love my Worksharp Field Sharpener, that is linked above. I used to only use the ceramic sticks and the pocket version of them, but the worksharp is much better.

There are thousands on knife sharpeners out there and most have one thing in common - some undocumented sharpening angle. A small easy to use knife sharpener that is great for your pocket knife is crap for a kitchen knife and even worse for your fillet knife that has a much narrower angle requirement. At home I sharpen my fillet knifes using a set of good sharpening stones, but on the water I bring an AccuSharp unit. The company makes simple hand held sharpeners designed specifically for pocket knifes, hunting knives, axes, kitchen knives of various types and yes...even a great little fillet knife sharpener for $11!

GREAT $11 FILLET KNIFE SHARPENER

Hub: "

bobbernumber3: "This is my Rapala knife sharpener. I can get a pretty good edge with it.


Anybody have insight or special tips for best results with this? "

....You are also using it backward in the above picture. It wouldn't affect how it sharpens, but it's easier to not cut yourself while sharpening if you turn it around."

Needed to sharpen a blade today. I still think I'm using it as designed...

For those that prefer a belt sharpener, I've been thinking about getting one. What would be a good option? To clarify, I'm referring to the electric sharpeners you use at home before the trip.

I used to sharpen manually with DMT sharpeners, and have a keychain fine grit for touch ups, but with hunting, fishing, and kitchen knives, I'm falling behind and don't have time for it all.