Slightly OT - kniFe sharpening

[Chris]

I practice scary sharp on my chisels and planes, and even have sharpened my handsaws, but I don't know how to sharpen our kitchen knives.

So I am thinking of buying a sharpener - one of those automatic sharpeners. I have heard that they are mostly crap. However since sharpening is mostly a matter of putting a consistant angle on the blade it should be very well suited to a mechanical sharpener.

There are some electic diamond wheel sharpeners that sharpen in 2 or 3 stages. Anyone have any experience with any of these?

Please don't suggest that I learn to sharpen them by hand. It doesn't work. It's not a matter of technique it is more a matter of motivation. It just doesn't get done. The knives sit there dull and SWMBO complains about it. I need a quick, simple sharpener that I can run the knives through quickly when they are dull.

Thanks,

-Chris

[Doug Miller]

OK, I won't suggest that. Even if it *is* the best way to get them sharp. :-)

Since you prefer quick and simple to sharp, just use the knife-grinder on your electric can opener. Or buy a can opener that has one. It's not a very good way to sharpen knives, but it's a darn sight better than leaving them dull. If you strop them with an old belt afterward, you can get a decent edge.

We sharpen ours on the Tormek grinder in the workshop, and hone them occasionally with the ceramic hone that came with my fish-filleting knife.

-- Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

[nospam]

Chris-

a sharpening steel is a very quick way to keep an edge on kitchen knives. if they are very dull you'll need to do something more agressive, but for the most part a file works great for that.

yes, there is some skill involved. not much, but some. it's worth it, though. the steel lives with the knives. I check the sharpness as part of the dish washing- the idea is that no knife gets put away dull, so they are ready to go when needed... Bridger

[Juergen Hannappel]

[...]

... but should not be used on laminated japanese knives, and some of the more fancy western knives (like ceramic or specially coated) might also get problems with them. Otherwise it's a *very* handy and quick thing, only a few strokes are needed at a time.

[Lew Hodgett]

IMHO, you are correct.

It is.

I don't.

OK, I won't.

Several years ago got a knife sharpening kit developed by a guy in his garage.

It is still available, but just not from him.

Found this link on Google.

Check out the "rod guided systems" section.

It works for me.

HTH

[Steve Knight]

oops I almost replied (G) well the chef's choice pro is not too bad. I used one till I wore it out.

[John Thomas]

[e-mail] (Chris) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Chris,

For quick and simple, I found this for SWMBO last year:

(watch for wrap). The item is Fiskars 'Roll Sharp Knife Sharpener', #

40127097

It was about $8 at a kitchen gadgets shop. This works really, really well

-- you guide the knife blade through at 90 degrees; the wheel is 'canted' at the correct angle to get an edge.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

JT

[Wood Butcher]

Check out the Lansky system. I've been using one for years and highly recommend it. It is not as fast as the motorized gizmos, but the resulting edge is far superior. In just a few minutes I can put a scary sharp edge on SWMBO's knives. The stones may look wimpy but it took me 10 years to wear out my first set.

Art

[Luigi Zanasi]

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 16:53:59 GMT, "Lew Hodgett" suggested:

Me too. The Lansky system is the one I use, after trying stones, belt sanders, the LVT guide. Coarse diamond stone to shape the angle, then though the coarse, medium and sometimes fine stones. Perfect edge you can shave with. The only problem is that the stones are pretty small for my big paws. A few licks with a steel keeps the edge good for a while. No, if only I could convince the LOML to use the f... steel!

Luigi Replace "no" with "yk" for real email address

[Luigi Zanasi]

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 18:48:31 GMT, "Wood Butcher" scribbled

I did wear out (actually put a bow) in the coarse stone when I redid the angles on all the kitchen knives. I now use a diamond stone first for that reason. I haven't been able to flatten the coarse stone. Sandpaper just glazed it, no matter how coarse. The concrete floor didn't work either.

Other than that, it's a great system.

Luigi Replace "no" with "yk" for real email address

[Stan Graves]

Not in my experience. Mechanical aids (including any kind of device used to hold the blade at a constant angle) are *the* best way to sharpen any blade. "By hand" is not only too ambigious for most discussions, but it is highly overrated for almost every machining operation.

I use the Chef's Choice three wheel sharpener.

is to set the angle of the bevel on the blade. In between times, get a good hone steel - use it before every use of the knife.

--Stan Graves [e-mail]

[Jeremy Brown]

Something to be careful of is the angle of the edge wrt the face. I have read that different types of knives have different angles and using a sharpener that tries to put a different angle on the edge than what is already there can be trouble.

If your knives are not very good quality, I'd recommend considering a new set. You can get a 7 piece set of Henckels 4 star, 5 star, pro s or Wüsthof classic or grand prix on Amazon for around $200. I got mine there for $140 because someone else had returned it. You could probably do the same after christmas. The 7 piece sets only have 4 knives, but that really is enough for most cooking. The only thing I've added is a bread knife. If you use the sharpening steel once in awhile, the knives stay very sharp. It only took me a couple tries to figure out how to use it, and it takes just a few seconds. I have had my set more than a year and use one knife in particular almost daily. It's still very sharp.

A lot of sharpeners can cost as much as a set of nice knives, so I think buying new is good option for lots of people.

My other suggestion would be checking your local grocery stores. Sometimes their butcher departments will sharpen your knives cheap or free. One near me even advertises free knife sharpening on the radio.

Chris wrote:

[Larry Bud]

The BEST sharpener I've ever owned and still own is a $8 item which have a "V" groove made of some sort of hardened steel that you draw over the knife.

Here you go, I found it

have sharpened knives which barely could slice through butter to a point where they glide through a soft tomato.

[Rossmoor Don]

Chris,

I recommend you go to

Lansky makes reasonably priced knife sharpening systems that work great with no learning curve involved. I am not affiliated with them but I am a very satisfied customer. I think I bought mine through Amazon. I sharpened all of my kitchen knifes in a little over an hour after years of putting up with dull knives.

[Jay]

I'd suggest taking them to a professional to get a really good edge on them then keeping up with them by using a sraight steel (The rough rods that come with most knife sets).

I know you don't want to do it manually, but...

If you have good knives and they start sharp, maintaining the edge is nothing more that running the steel over them every time you wash them. This will keep a good edge for about a year, when you can bring them back to the sharpener for a tune-up.

Before you hand dry them, run them over the steel 10 times, alternating sides and maintaining an eyeball 20 degree angle. Speed doesn't matter.

If you have average knives, they sell these hand sharpeners that have overlapping wheels that take care of the angle for you. Just start at the handle and draw backwards, keeping the knife at perpendicular. The good ones have two wheels, usually a brown, coarser whell, and a white finish wheel.

[DCH]

Greeting...

I too use a Lansky to sharpen my pocket knives, and I think it works very well, for the kitchen knives I use couple of long whetstones, followed but a ceramic rod, the results are pretty nifty, sharpening by hand is just being able to do the same thing over and over, much like using a jig, except your hands become the jig...and IMO it just takes practice...and patience...lots of that....but once you get it..it becomes much easier...

hope this helps...

DCH

Luigi Zanasi wrote in news: [e-mail]:

[Phil Crow]

the word wrap. That's the Knife Sharpening FAQ in rec.crafts.metalworking. I learned a lot from it, and I consider myself kinda in the know on sharpening.

A word on steels...They don't actually *do* any sharpening. As the fine edge of the knife gets "folded over" the knife feels dull. The steel stands the edge back up again, for a little more use. When the edge actually gets dull, no amount of steeling is going to do you any real good.

-Phil Crow

[Dean Baumgartner]

I've found that for kitchen knives and even most general use pocket knives that a diamond steel followed by a few passes on a ceramic stick is the best way to get a shaving sharp edge. Usually about 4 or

5 passes on the diamond get the edge good and then the ceramic smoothes the roughness out of the edge.

Dean

[Wood Butcher]

DCH's post reminded me of something else.

Lanskys systems come with one Multi Angle Knife Clamp and it works great for short knives like paring knives. For the longer knives I bought a second clamp and use 2 when sharpening them.

Art

[Wood Butcher]

Yup, that's how I wear mine out. I put a dish in the middle of each stone. However I found that the cheap diamond hones from HF (#36799) level them right out. They do leave small scratches in the fine stone but it doesn't seem to affect it's ability to give a razor sharp edge.

Art