I need a decent knife sharpener... suggestions?

[tRidiot]

I'm not a Tactical Operator, and I'm not a knife guru by any means. I don't want to spend hours sharpening one knife. I'm talking mostly kitchen knives, maybe a little pocket knife here and there. My nicest knife (other than the safe queens randalss made me!) is a ZT, but someday if that one needs it, I'll send it on to ZT for sharpening. I think they have a lifetime sharpening service.

Anyways, most of my kitchen knives aren't great, just basic Farberware stuff I've picked up at WalMart or Target. Not worrying about serrated stuff, I think that's way over my skill level.

Currently, I just spent about 30 minutes outside sharpening most of my kitchen knives with something like this:

Obviously, it's sub-optimal, but I'm looking for something that will put a nice, consistent edge on from base to tip relatively quickly. I don't want to spend a couple hundred bucks or anything, like I said, I don't have any great knives. Although I would like something that isn't going to butcher them (haha), as I intend to start looking for deals on some nice individual knives to use in the kitchen that will be great performers for many years. I've gotten into bbqing and smoking meats alot and I love to cook, so I want something good. I sliced my thumb the other day cutting some tomatoes, in large part, I think because my knife wasn't very sharp and I was in a hurry to try to get things ready for our friends who were coming for lunch.

So... what's a great, quick and relatively inexpensive knife sharpener that will do a good job on my crappy mass-production knives, but will still serve well on higher-end quality kitchen knives in the future?


Also open to some great deals on great knives? And maybe some good places to learn proper sharpening techniques? Can't believe everything you see on Google, right?

 

[excat]

It's all about the angle of the dangle!! lol

Different knives have different angles on the blade. Kitchen knives have a very sharp angle, along with skinning knives (why they have to have the edge touched up more frequently). Your general EDC knives will have a fatter cutting surface (less angle) to allow it to take more daily abuse between touch up's. The closer to a sharp angle you get, the closer to "razor" edges you get.

That being said, a Lansky sharpener is pretty easy to work with, and gives you the different angle options

something like this: http://www.casa.com/p/lansky-deluxe...S-74069&ca_gpa=pla&ca_kw=&CAWELAID=1468251026

I do all my knives by hand, though I do have a Lansky kit like this my father handed down to me. I mainly use it to repair a blade when it has had trauma to it, or fix an angle, or change the factory angle of a new knife, etc, the maintain them by hand with my diamond, whetstone, and steel.

This isn't the "fastest" approach to sharpening a knife, but it is one of the most accurate ways of doing so. I don't like the "auto" or "easy" sharpeners, they will wear a blade down quickly in my opinion due to over sharpening.

 

[tRidiot]

Yes I remember playing with one of those a few years back they kept in an office I worked in.... it does seem very precise and certainly offers superb control of your sharpening. But MAN does it take forever to do a single blade.

I'm even open to a decent electric system I can spend some cash on. I realize that this is a great way to "overdo it" as well, but I can also learn to do it "right" and take care of my good blades. I just don't see myself spending an hour or more sharpening a single blade, which I think using something like the Lansky system above (again, I know it's a great system if you're patient) is going to mean. I just don't have that much patience, lol.

 

[amcardon]

If you've got the cash you could go with a Tormek T7... I've never used one, but have heard good things. I do it by hand on a belt sander, but you can mess up a knife really quick if you aren't paying really close attention and keeping the blade cool. I dip in water every pass and even that isn't enough sometimes. 240 -> 400 -> 600 -> 1200 -> leather loaded with pink compound results in a hair-popping mirror finish every time. If it's not sharp, it's not worth using.

 

[excat]

I totally understand. That's why I do it by hand. Unless the edge is damaged and I need to repair it, I can put whatever desired edge on most any blade in just a few minutes or less. The key to knives is not to let them get dull. Sharpen them before they need it, and you should never have to actually repair the angle any. A few swipes on a stone, steel, and/or strop and it's good to go again for another month or two depending on use.

I've heard decent reviews on this http://www.amazon.com/Chefs-Choice-...d=1403211799&sr=8-13&keywords=knife+sharpener

http://www.amazon.com/Hybrid-AngleS...=1403212234&sr=8-145&keywords=knife+sharpener



I also own this : http://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-WS...d=1403211915&sr=8-12&keywords=knife+sharpener

I only use it on rough items, shovels, hoes, machete, axe, etc., and knives with cheap steel that you'd spend an eternity or grinder on trying to get an edge to it. Since my dad is older now, he has one and uses on his pocket knives, and he likes the end results.

 

[Brandi]

I use a Chef's Choice 130, was rated number one in the America's Test Kitchen tests. It's really popular with chefs so I figured it would work well. I've had it about 5 years now and I love it. Makes quick work of even the dullest kitchen knives, you know the one's that sit in a drawer because they are useless... this will make them like new. It doesn't take off crazy amounts of steel either like a lot of others on the market.

Check out the reviews on Amazon, it's a great little machine.

 

[SoonerP226]

IIRC, Alton Brown's advice is to a) buy a quality knife; b) buy a quality steel; c) hone the quality knife on the quality steel regularly; and d) send the quality knife out to be sharpened by a professional once a year (or thereabouts).

Of course, he tells it better. I'm sure the video is out there on YouTube or the Food Channel's Web site.

 

[otis147]

a few grits of wet/dry sandpaper and a block to put 'em on make for a decent cheap system.

 

[Mr.Glock]

Spyderco.

http://www.amazon.com/Spyderco-Tri-Angle-Sharpmaker-Sharpener-204MF/dp/B000Q9C4AE

 

[1911Sooner]

Yeah I use the Spyderco sharpmaker. It really is very easy and does a great job. I have some old blades from Finland and Japan my Grandfather gave me that where used to death and I was able to bring them back to new no problem.