Fastest way of sharpening and touching up?

L

LEE IN VA.

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Jul 3, 2011
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I'm looking for an inexpensive (under$100), least time consuming, good edge holding, sharpening system for EDC and kitchen knives. I don't want to spend a half hour on a knife edge, 5 minutes would be ideal. Any suggestions? Thanks
 
Check out paper wheels, with a little practice really fast. Richard J here on the forums can help out if needed.
 
Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to sharpen a knife so 5 minutes for a touch-up should be easy.

Good stones can make a world of difference, and they don't always have to be expensive.

Here's my example of cheap and easy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VPCvd5hUVQ
 
Sweet! Double post....
 
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There have been a lot of sharpening threads lately. You could do a search and soak up some info.
You can get a Work sharp that will do the job or skip that and get a Harbor freight 1x30 belt sander.
You will need a little practice with both but I recommend the 1x30 since it retired my Work Sharp.
Once you get used to it you will get professional results in minutes. For me it has become a hobby or almost an addiction, I just love using it.
Its something I can do and be successful at every time. I always offer my friends and family to sharpen their knives. I can't get enough.
 
Harbour Freight buffer for about $40. Paper wheels, 8 inch, about $50 or less. Half dozen $1 thrift store kitchen knives to practice and learn on. Total = less than $100 and you still have 6 knives to use/sell or play with. Takes a relative small learning curve to turn out good sharp blades. Just don't start out with your Sebenza to learn on. Takes me about 5 minutes to sharpen a kitchen knife, and I am slow. Have to go down in the basement where I have it set up. Could set it up on the kitchen table if need be. I take about 10 minutes on a good folder just because I want to do an excellent job for the owner. Once sharpened, my kitchen knives get a good run on the slotted wheel to tune them up about once every 2 or 3 months without having to re grind them. Check out the paper wheel stickie at the top of the page here.

Blessings,

Omar
 
Well, I think there is only one system that is literally made for your needs, it is the Spyderco Sharpmaker, which really should be called the Sharpkeeper. Once you have the right edge angle set, anything less or equal to 20 dps, your touch up takes seconds. You can leave it on the countertops, it is small enough and not too ugly. You leave the rods in, it is ready to go any time. Even for camping or traveling, it is light enough (maybe for backpacking a bit bulky) and you only need a flat surface => ready to go. You read a lot about the sharpmaker here on the forum and the biggest critic is the slow reprofiling ability. Sure, that is what it was not invented for. Reprofile your knife on a coarse Crystalone or diamond stone to an edge less than 20 dps, produce a burr, use the Sharpmaker from then on and you will never look back. I love freehand sharpening, no doubt, but this device is well made and thought out.
 
I have great success with paper wheels also, but if I just need a quick touch up my ceramic rod is just seconds away from a working edge...Herb
 
Sharp maker is good for light touch ups but if you have to grind any metal-not so good. paper wheels or a belt sander can't be beat for speed.
 
Even less expensive than the Sharpmaker is the very effective Smith's 3-in-1. That and a couple old Smith's Arkansas stones are all I've had for years. I've recently added the Sharpmaker and a Double Stuff stone but both were more because I wanted to try them out and the Sharpmaker's rods are 7" vs. the 3-in-1's which are 4". The 3-in-1 is available for $15-20 and also has a rough cut preset carbide shaper as well as small medium grit, interrupted diamond stone. It will put a keen edge on most knives and I've used it quite successfully on my Wusthof kitchen knives as well as SAK's , Bucks, and Benchmades.

As far as the Sharpmaker not being able to reprofile, you can opt for a set of Spyderco's diamond rods. But for $40 you can also get a coarse grit stone from DMT or whatever medium you prefer.
 
I use a ten dollar 4"X 1" diamond plate, one side rough, one side fine. I use it for everything from my para 2 to my 10" choppers to my hatchet. Never spent more than two or three minutes on an edge, and I can touch up most small knives in less than a minute. There's no one magic product. Find something that works and practice, that's what I did with the diamond sharpener.
 
lee, go with the paper wheels. you have seen what they can do. (i'll give you a call tomorrow sometime).

in the time you get set up with a set of stones set up you can be done and doing something else. in the time it took you to type out your post, i could have sharpened a knife (or 2) shaving sharp. i also touch up my knives on the slotted paper wheel. i had a rockstead knife sent to me and all i did was buff the edge back to shaving sharp.

here is a vid of a knife i made and sent off on a private passaround. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q_eMwRaHYg when i got the knife back, it was still somewhat shaving sharp and all i had to do to bring the edge back was give it a few passes on the slotted wheel. you can maintain an edge for quite some time before needing to work up a burr again.
 
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