How good are you at sharpening your knives?

C

cards94

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As I continue to look at more knives to buy, today I asked myself, what's the point of buying more knives if I don't have a true sense of sharpening them? To be honest, I get buy on my sharp maker and I'm happy with it, but do I really get the most out of sharpening? The answer for me is no and I have alot to learn. So does it make sense to drop alot of money on more and more knives if one isn't truly proficient in sharpening them?
 
How good are you at sharpening your knives?
Pretty good. Good enough for my needs.

So does it make sense to drop alot of money on more and more knives if one isn't truly proficient in sharpening them?
No.
 
I do the best I can free hand. I'm not very good. Since I use knives so little, I try not to destroy my new ones by sharpening them. That way the factory edge is usually sufficient for my needs. I can always practice on old ones and kitchen knives.

Not sharpening is also a good reason to buy more knives. The more knives you have for the rotation, the less use, ..........
 
I say learn how to sharpen your knives. It will take some time and practice, but it is quite satisfying when you can put a great edge on your knives. Once I get mine sharp, it just takes a minute to touch them up on a fine stone.
 
I'm terrible at freehand sharpening, would like to get better. I have a Sharpmaker and it works as long as the knife has a decent edge profile and hasn't gotten too dull. I try to stay on top of them and keep them touched up.

One of these days I'd really like to get an Edge Pro Apex as it seems like the best system for getting a really good edge without the freehand skill.
 
Markesharp said:
I say learn how to sharpen your knives. It will take some time and practice, but it is quite satisfying when you can put a great edge on your knives. Once I get mine sharp, it just takes a minute to touch them up on a fine stone.
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Yea but now that I step back and look at it, I'd rather have maybe 4-5 not too expensive (<$60) decent knives in the rotation, especially if I'm not proficient at sharpening, than to have $100 + knives collecting where all they do is look good but look better than than they cut because of my lack of sharpening skills.
 
Deleted.
Not traditional= not welcome. Understood. Won't happen again
 
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I'm decent enough freehand to keep mine sharp.

Was working on an old Schrade stockman factory second yesterday. It had been abused and need a new bevel on the main blade and kicks on two blades adjusted. Dad was watching me and told me that my late uncle used to say "that boy could sharpen a mule if he wanted to".

Made my day! :D
 
I have a Wicked Edge and after a learning curve I can get my knives hair popping sharp. I have learned that the angle you put on your bevel is important to the tasks your using the knife for. I am a maintenance tech and have found a 25 degree bevel works well for me. My kitchen knives have a more acute bevel to them. There are several knife collectors and users that send out their blades to be sharpened, if I were to do this I would never have any knives around. After a good day of work I usually need to touch up the edges. I would say if your going to use your knives and like them sharp learn to maintain them. As well, I enjoy sharpening them. Strop often.
 
Being able to bring the edge back makes me less concerned about using my knives. Took me some time to get really good at it. Practice on some old carbon steel kitchen knives. You can find hundreds of them at antique malls for very little money. They make great users in the kitchen when you are done. Plenty of good relatively inexpensive sharpening systems with guides that work well also. This forum has an excellent how to section on sharpening. As far as buying more, can you really have too many?
 
I think I just feel better not going above a certain price range. I use all of my knives and there's no such thing as keeping it safe in a drawer but especially because I'm not great at sharpening yet and can't justify paying alot for a knife.
 
My Grandfather taught me how to freehand sharpen with a small Norton India stone as a kid. Then I got older & fancier & bought a Lansky. Never got where I could do any better than I was doing freehand. Bought a Spyderco Sharpmaker after I sold off the Lansky. It worked OK, and was great for quick touch-ups, but I still did just as well freehand sharpening. So I bought a Spyderco medium grit ceramic stone and just went back to freehand sharpening.

Freehand sharpening I can get my knives to where they shave hair & slice free-hanging paper. More than good enough for my knife needs. I do get a bit envious when I see those shiny mirror polished edges that look like you could split an atom with that people are getting using the Wicked Edge system. I just can't bring myself to spend around $400 to buy one.
 
I am a profoundly mediocre sharpener. I can, however, keep them in fighting trim if I have a good edge put on them by a professional first. This goes for my kitchen Wusthofs, my Bucks, and my SAKs. I don't have any special kits or sharpening "systems" (why is everything a "system" now, anyway?) just a couple of ceramic sticks, an Arkansas stone, and a massive medium-grit DMT block I inherited with most of my knives. They do the job when the main bevel has been set. If I need more than these can provide, I'm off the Parker Farmer's Market on Sunday to visit the knife man. My Dawson Sheffield Bowie was IMPOSSIBLE for me to put an edge on and two knife pros told me the hardness of the steel was more than they had encountered in some time (it's shaving sharp now, thanks to one of them). I think you want to decide how good you need to be and then work from there. Buy the knife you need/want/can use and then learn to do what you need to do to keep it in shape. If you want to be an auto mechanic, learn to be a mechanic. If you only want to change your oil and air filter, then just learn that. But you'll still get the vehicle you need/want/can use, right?

Zieg
 
Give me a sharpening stone ,and I can turn a blunt knife into a butter knife.Thanks to my DMT Aligner kit the edges are sharp enough to slice newspaper with ease.
 
Let's keep the sample pictures and specific knife comments about traditional knives guys. Traditional forum=Traditional knives. Thanks!
 
I think I just feel better not going above a certain price range. I use all of my knives and there's no such thing as keeping it safe in a drawer but especially because I'm not great at sharpening yet and can't justify paying alot for a knife.
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Nothing wrong with that. Makes perfect sense to me.

I don't have any special kits or sharpening "systems" (why is everything a "system" now, anyway?) just a couple of ceramic sticks, an Arkansas stone, and a massive medium-grit DMT block I inherited with most of my knives.
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I believe the term "system" is pretty accurate as there are multiple parts used in conjunction. If you are new to sharpening an angle guided system makes it pretty easy. Nothing wrong with freehand sharpening on a stone. Been using a big blue DMT diamond stone for about 20 years and it works great.
 
I thought it applied to all knives, but I neglected to see I was in the traditional section. My mistake for posting pictures of non traditional knives.
Won't happen again guys.
 
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