Best Sharpener for an Inexperienced Sharpener

AreBeeBee said:
OK, not to take the thread in a weird direction, but what would be a good sharpener or sharpening system for someone who has no interest whatever in learning how to use stones freehand or with clipon angle fasteners or the like?

He is fairly impatient by nature, mainly interested in getting an edge back to sharp working order, and has little desire to dive deep into complex processes for their own sake. (I.e., utility wins over the zen of edges.)

As for the cutting tasks the knives are used for, they're mainly cutting cardboard, small pieces of wood, some plastic strapping, yard and garden work, that sort of thing. Not cutting metal. The blades to be sharpened are stainless (of commonplace varieties) and carbon (ditto), and have grinds that run the common gamut.

This is not a snark — it's a serious question. While the blade community contains many hobbies and fields of interest, among these are people who use ordinary knives in a pretty utilitarian way and just want to get on with a job after putting a working edge back on the tool.

What sharpener or system should such a person use?
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They shouldn't, if they have no interest in learning then nothing is going to work. It's difficult to motivate someone to do something they have no interest in.

This is probably your best option http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002ZYLJAY?pc_redir=1404155928&robot_redir=1
 
Jason B. said:
They shouldn't, if they have no interest in learning then nothing is going to work. It's difficult to motivate someone to do something they have no interest in.

This is probably your best option http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002ZYLJAY?pc_redir=1404155928&robot_redir=1
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Well, thanks — I think.

The point I was trying to make is that many people, inexperienced in sharpening, are looking for a tool or system that they can use to restore a blade edge. Some are looking for a method that involves a lot of craftsmanship, others are focused more on the end result rather than on the way of getting there.

Both are valid. My concern was that the discussion was focusing heavily on the craftsmanship approach and skimping on the utilitarian one.
 
From what I gather, the Work Sharp would be your best bet AreBeeBee. Seems to incorporate the best end result for the least amount of up front learning curve.
 
AreBeeBee said:
Well, thanks — I think.

The point I was trying to make is that many people, inexperienced in sharpening, are looking for a tool or system that they can use to restore a blade edge. Some are looking for a method that involves a lot of craftsmanship, others are focused more on the end result rather than on the way of getting there.

Both are valid. My concern was that the discussion was focusing heavily on the craftsmanship approach and skimping on the utilitarian one.
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In all honesty, the carbide scraper is made for that exact niche.
 
AreBeeBee said:
Well, thanks — I think.

The point I was trying to make is that many people, inexperienced in sharpening, are looking for a tool or system that they can use to restore a blade edge. Some are looking for a method that involves a lot of craftsmanship, others are focused more on the end result rather than on the way of getting there.

Both are valid. My concern was that the discussion was focusing heavily on the craftsmanship approach and skimping on the utilitarian one.
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As HH said, that's why the draw through sharpeners are made.

There is no simple way to get around learning to sharpen, if you don't put in the effort then your not going to get the results.
 
AreBeeBee said:
Then thank you all — drawthrough it'll be.
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Hmmmm now maybe not as :D

Sharpmaker would be a better choice than that. Or at least look at Fred's ERU (haven't used one but seems to be getting decent reviews).
 
AreBeeBee said:
Then thank you all — drawthrough it'll be.

(hfrog — thanks for the tip, but the Work Sharp is priced out of my range.)
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At the very least, pick up one that is held together with screws instead of being molded or glued in place so you can fix it up a bit. Follow this tutorial

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-(with-micrographs)?highlight=Carbide+scraper

or at least give a read and understand some of the things you can do to make it work less bad. You could also check out Fred's ERU, which is head and shoulders above any other examples of this sort of sharpener. Out of the box, most of them are going to be pretty rude.
 
If cost is a factor and you do not have interest in learning free hand sharpening, grab a dmt aligner + a good strop (can be homemade). When you think you want to start learning freehand, you can add a high grit stone to your sharpening tools and sharpen off the bevel made from the aligner.
 
Jason B. said:
Your never going to perfect hand sharpening in a week, month, or maybe even in this lifetime. It's a constant learning experience that always changes and presents new challenges. Your not going to have dull knives between, you might even find them to be sharper.

Freehand is not hard, it's the idea that you NEED a system that's complicating your decision.
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I agree to some extent. I have been sharpening and re-profiling knives for years, I have had a few kits, I have had countless stones, including high end Japanese wet stones, DMT duosharp (love these), spyderco ceramic bench stones (love the fine, hate the medium), and the list goes on and on, basically enough to make suggestions to friends, but not to make me a pro. And i can tell you that to some extent i am still learning. For example it was only recently that i mastered sharpening the tip. But for me i get great satisfaction out of sharping without any guides, i can feel the steel, i know how different steels feel or should feel, and i just love the activity, its some what therapeutic.

My Advice
Get a lanky system if you want sharp NOW! But don't be discouraged form getting a couple of nice stones and just practice, and have fun! What i did was, practice on my cheap knives, then offered to sharpen all my friend's cheap knives. (most people don't know if you have cocked it up a bit)
 
Get a sharpmaker. Its easy to use, it works well, and its pretty cheap. That is all I used for a few years. Now I use an EdgePro AND the sharpmaker, and a strop. Maybe I'll get to using stones someday, but for maintaining an edge the sharpmaker is really hard to beat. I would definitely recommend getting ultrafine triangles at some point.
 
Ordered one of Fred's EDU's...will post a review once it arrives. I swear by a WEP, but I know its on the expensive side and may not appeal to everyone. Still, its an incredibly easy system to learn and yields incredible, nearly hair splitting results. The Lansky version is much cheaper and I believe should be fairly close in results (though admittedly I have not used it). I am generally wary of pull-through V sharpeners (like Fred's EDU) because they tend to remove too much steel. Fred addresses this in his dvd and I am excited to try his system.
 
I just ordered the DMT Aligner kit with the extra coarse, coarse, fine and extra fine diamond hones to try to sharpen some dull blades. My first align kit so hope it works and it should help a sharpening noob like me figure angles and such. :)
 
fnzeee said:
Ordered one of Fred's EDU's...will post a review once it arrives. I swear by a WEP, but I know its on the expensive side and may not appeal to everyone. Still, its an incredibly easy system to learn and yields incredible, nearly hair splitting results. The Lansky version is much cheaper and I believe should be fairly close in results (though admittedly I have not used it). I am generally wary of pull-through V sharpeners (like Fred's EDU) because they tend to remove too much steel. Fred addresses this in his dvd and I am excited to try his system.
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Send me a PM on this please, Fred
 
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