Best Sharpening System for $100 or Less?

[carlx]

I've been browsing the forums here, and while there's lots of great info, I'm a little overwhelmed with all of the options and opinions.

I have a number of kitchen knives that I've owned for a few years, and many of them need to be sharpened. I've used a honing steel with almost every use, so they're not in terrible shape. They just need some TLC to get them back into excellent shape. The knives I need to sharpen run the gamut from two 8" German chef's knives, three German paring knives, and a few single bevel usuba knives.

I tried using a friend's Wusthof diamond steel on one of the chef's knives yesterday, and it seemed to scuff up the edge more than sharpen the knife. I followed the standard 20 degree suggestion, but just didn't get good results.

I've looked at the Lansky and Gatco systems, but they appear limited in that they don't handle long knives well, and don't appear to work well for single bevel knives. Is that an accurate conclusion?

I'm also considering getting two whetstones, one around 300 grit, and another around 1000 grit, and using those for sharpening.

I don't need hair shaving precision, so what I really need is something that will give a good, sharp edge, be versatile enough to handle single and double bevels, and cost less than $100 or so.

Any advice?

Thanks in advance for your time!

 

[wilejoe]

KME system a little more then you want to spend but we'll worth it $125 for regular stones $150 for the diamonds. Great product. Made in the USA great customer service. Watch the video on the website.

 

[Jason B.]

I've been browsing the forums here, and while there's lots of great info, I'm a little overwhelmed with all of the options and opinions.

I have a number of kitchen knives that I've owned for a few years, and many of them need to be sharpened. I've used a honing steel with almost every use, so they're not in terrible shape. They just need some TLC to get them back into excellent shape. The knives I need to sharpen run the gamut from two 8" German chef's knives, three German paring knives, and a few single bevel usuba knives.

I tried using a friend's Wusthof diamond steel on one of the chef's knives yesterday, and it seemed to scuff up the edge more than sharpen the knife. I followed the standard 20 degree suggestion, but just didn't get good results.

I've looked at the Lansky and Gatco systems, but they appear limited in that they don't handle long knives well, and don't appear to work well for single bevel knives. Is that an accurate conclusion?

I'm also considering getting two whetstones, one around 300 grit, and another around 1000 grit, and using those for sharpening.

I don't need hair shaving precision, so what I really need is something that will give a good, sharp edge, be versatile enough to handle single and double bevels, and cost less than $100 or so.

Any advice?

Thanks in advance for your time!

"I've used a honing steel so there not in terrible shape"

Over honing can cause all sorts of damage, your knives are probably in pretty rough shape if they have not seen a stone in some time.

If it was just German knives I would recommend some simple oil stones by with the usuba's I highly recommend japanese waterstones and to NEVER steel them. I've seen japanese traditional blades ruined beyond repair from such habits. If your usuba has never been properly stone sharpened I would probably recommend professional sharpening first to orientate you with how it needs to be sharpened. Please send me a email if you have any questions on this process.

Stay away from diamond steels, they will grind your blade down to a toothpick in short order.

Small clamp systems are no good for large knives, small stones take a long time to sharpen.

For waterstones between $100-$120 I would recommend the Shapton Glass 500 and 2000 or, the Shapton Pro 1000 and 5000. And for a few pennies more the Naniwa Professional 400 and Naniwa 2k Green Brick.

Closer to the $100 and less mark you have the new Naniwa traditional stones, Arashiyama stone, and many others that can be tailored to your needs.

Lastly, hair shaving sharp is a simple goal and most any edge should be able to do this from 100 grit to 100,000 grit. Don't sell yourself short, shaving sharp should be a bare minimum requirement.

 

[carlx]

I asked a coworker what he would recommend, and he suggested buying a DMT Duosharp system for around $70. Would that be in line with using a waterstone, or should I stick mainly to using a waterstone instead of diamond?

Also, would I need a holding base for the Shapton stones, or could I just put them on a towel on a table top?

One more edit: on the Naniwa stones, would something like this work? http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Naniwa-Economical-Waterstone-Set-P561.aspx

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Jason B.]

Diamond plates work best on very wear resistant steels, they would be a bit too aggressive on the German knives and I for one would cry if you used a Damond plate on a usuba.

Stone holders are great to have but you can get buy with a towel. The Shapton Pro stones cause be placed on top of their plastic case which doubles as a stone holder.

I think most waterstones would work for what you want to sharpen but the stones I recommend will create less headaches and sharper edges. There are no beginner stones, just lower quality stones and higher quality stones.

 

[Benuser]

After years of steeling your Germans will require a lot of thinning behind the edge before recovering their initial performance.

 

[carlx]

I ended up buying this kit http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/3-Stone-Naniwa-Traditional-Set-with-6000-Grit-P566.aspx

Three Naniwa traditional stones in 220/1000/6000 grits with a stone holder.

Can someone direct me to a simple, straightforward Youtube tutorial on setting a bevel and then sharpening using stones? I see a lot of stuff out there, and I can't figure out which videos are relevant for me and which aren't.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[yepimonfire]

I ended up buying this kit http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/3-Stone-Naniwa-Traditional-Set-with-6000-Grit-P566.aspx

Three Naniwa traditional stones in 220/1000/6000 grits with a stone holder.

Can someone direct me to a simple, straightforward Youtube tutorial on setting a bevel and then sharpening using stones? I see a lot of stuff out there, and I can't figure out which videos are relevant for me and which aren't.

Thanks again for the help!

Just hold it at a consistent 20 degree angle and sharpen on the 220 until you raise a burr on both sides for the German knives, they probably have a factory bevel of 20 per side, and reprofiling with little experience sharpening is a bad idea. If they've gone a few years without sharpening I wouldn't be surprised if you spend at least an hour on the 220. You can tell when you've raised a burr by running fingernails along the edge opposite you sharpened, if there's a burr your fingernails will get caught on the end of the edge. Check along the whole blade for this, as sometimes it takes longer to get the tip end sharp. I would alternate 30 passes per side as this seems to be enough constant grinding on one side to raise a just noticeable burr, but not so big it's a pain in the butt to remove. Also don't rotate the blade to reach the tip, just increase the horizontal angle, its too easy to get an inconsistent angle this way.

Once you've got the bevel restored I'd just polish with the 1000 and 6000 until the scratch patterns are replaced. At the 1000 I'd go no more then 10 swipes per side to avoid raising a big burr. At the 6k I'd alternate sides. It could take up to 200 passes on the 6k to completely polish the 1k scratches out.

Also a helpful tip is once you've got the angle going you should be able to feel if you're being consistent, the knife should glide smoothly across the stone with little drag, if you're not maintaining the angle, it will feel rough. If the knife will cut phone book paper cleanly its done, if it gets snagged in it there's probably a residual burr, you can either go back to the fine stone with ultra light passes but if that doesn't work, I'd get a strop and some white/green compound. Idk what sort of steel you've got in this knives but I've had no luck removing a burr from softer steels without a strop. Even the 8k is enough to raise a small burr.

 

[Jason B.]

This is my youtube channel.


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfsHYm19KjjnUlpG8WVMZOA?app=desktop&persist_app=1

 

[awestib]

I ended up buying this kit http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/3-Stone-Naniwa-Traditional-Set-with-6000-Grit-P566.aspx

Three Naniwa traditional stones in 220/1000/6000 grits with a stone holder.

Can someone direct me to a simple, straightforward Youtube tutorial on setting a bevel and then sharpening using stones? I see a lot of stuff out there, and I can't figure out which videos are relevant for me and which aren't.

Thanks again for the help!

Looks like a nice setup and very good price. Hope the stones perform well. Remember to use the whole surface of the stone (which is a bit trickier for beginners) or keep them flat regularly. Let us know how they work!

Jason's youtube channel is highly recommended IMHO, also check out HeavyHanded's sharpening videos. Also check out Chefknivestogo and their sharpening tutorials: http://www.chefknivestogo.com/knife-sharpening-tutorials.html

Good luck!

 

[carlx]

I really can't thank you guys enough. I really appreciate your help!

 

[mainaman]

I ended up buying this kit http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/3-Stone-Naniwa-Traditional-Set-with-6000-Grit-P566.aspx

Three Naniwa traditional stones in 220/1000/6000 grits with a stone holder.

Can someone direct me to a simple, straightforward Youtube tutorial on setting a bevel and then sharpening using stones? I see a lot of stuff out there, and I can't figure out which videos are relevant for me and which aren't.

Thanks again for the help!

Here
https://www.youtube.com/user/JKnifeImports

John has a lot of videos on sharpening kitchen knives.