best knife sharpener?

T

timothy1

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Sep 1, 2023
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I am fairly novice to knifes, I have a 3$ knife sharpener i got from Walmart like 6 years ago. it makes knifes sharper but not very sharp at all, I am hoping to spend less than 100$ but this is not a strict budget at all. I need it to sharpen down to at least 10 degrees.
 
There will be many opinions here. If you are willing to learn freehand, there are several stones that are under 100. I believe the Lansky is under 100.
 
You're probably not going to find any kind of fixed angled system or machine below $100 that will get you down to 10 dps, unless you want to try a Harbor Freight 1x30. If you want to learn free hand sharpening on stones, I'd recommend the Sharpal 325/1250 diamond plate, which you can find on Amazon for $70. Great value, there.
 
I have a wicked edge that is good but expensive and after using it for a 2-3 years at the end I prefer using my Spyderco sharpmaker
 
Spyderco sharpmaker is very versatile for the money I have a KME and love it I can sharpen anything from K390 to vg-10 and put a mirror edge on them even with my novice skills!
 
timothy1 said:
I am fairly novice to knifes, I have a 3$ knife sharpener i got from Walmart like 6 years ago. it makes knifes sharper but not very sharp at all, I am hoping to spend less than 100$ but this is not a strict budget at all. I need it to sharpen down to at least 10 degrees.
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If you just want some gadget that will take the work out of it for you so that you can avoid learning how to sharpen a knife freehand, then I recommend the Worksharp Precision Adjust. For 65 USD, it's cheap and it works well enough. It doesn't go below an edge angle of 15 degrees per side, but I wouldn't recommend for a novice to go much lower than that anyways.

Fixed angle systems are popular with people who spend a ton of money on expensive folding knives and who are terrified of messing those knives up while trying to sharpen them. The Precision Adjust is a really nice deal. Similar guided systems are usually a lot more expensive.
 
10 degrees per side is a very acute edge my friend. Not many people go that low, unless you're plan is to sharpen some scandi ground knives or something. I've got benchstones, a Sharpmaker, and a KME. The Sharpmaker is nice if you already have a nice edge from a previous reprofiling job, or a really good, thin factory edge, and you want to keep it sharp. It's not fun at all for reprofiling, especially if you want to go down to super acute angles. I'd recommend choosing between either the Worksharp Precision Adjust, or freehand benchstones. The Worksharp is fantastic for the price, I constantly see people saying they love theirs.
 
You have got some good suggestions already.
Freehand with a decent stone (decent does not mean expensive) is a great skill to learn.

The Sharpmaker is good, too. It is very versatile.
But: It is not good for reprofiling. You would need a coarse stone, too.

10 degrees are possible although the Sharpmaker only has slots for 15 and 20. You can find a solution for example on YouTube.

Good guided system are very expensive. As you don't want to spend a fortune on sharpening systems (or stones) there will be a conflict between "best" and "~100$". In my opinion it is not necessary to spend alot of money to get more than decent results. So you will have to find the system that is best for you.
What kind of steel are you going to sharpen? How often are you going to sharpen? Once a day, a week, a month?
 
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timothy1 said:
I am fairly novice to knifes, I have a 3$ knife sharpener i got from Walmart like 6 years ago. it makes knifes sharper but not very sharp at all, I am hoping to spend less than 100$ but this is not a strict budget at all. I need it to sharpen down to at least 10 degrees.
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Hmmm ... Walmart .... $3 sharpener .....
I bet we are talking about one of those pull-through sharpeners. As far as I know they all are 40 degrees inclusive if not more.
I wonder where those 10 degrees came from.
 
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