Recommendation? Knife Sharpener for a beginner

000Robert said:
Freehand is fine if all you need to do is sharpen a blade. But it can take forever it seems if you need to reprofile a blade or grind out some chips or something. I am disabled and getting old so I need to try to make it easier on myself. And I decided to just buy a Wicked Edge and get it over with.
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I don't understand this statement. How is freehand slower than a Wicked Edge? I think it should be the other way around.
 
Mr.Wizard said:
I like to sharpen with water rather than oil. My new favorite stone is the Zandstra Foss speedskating stone which I got for under $40 shipped; if you can get one at or near that price it's a great value for a large, fast cutting, dual grit water stone.

For an oil stone the Norton JUM3 is highly regarded but I haven't used it. There are smaller, cheaper versions but I like big whetstones, especially on the coarse end.

Either of these combination stones should set you up well for a fine-grit stone. If you have or plan to get high vanadium steels a plated diamond "stone" may be best, but I find the feedback on those poor, so if not I prefer the feel of vitrified-bond ceramic stones.

What are your knives used for? Do you prefer an edge with "tooth" for slicing or more refinement for push-cutting?
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Thanks for replying I was thinking of getting a ultra sharp dual grit diamond stone it's 52 dallors with 400/1000 grit and it has a stone holder included, is it worth going for 400/1200 grit?
I mostly use my knives for general purpose cutting and also for small cutting tasks.
 
AlexSav, see those edges Night Rider posted? That's what a guided system is great for. However on most knives the behind-the-edge thickness is too great to cut really well so you need to thin them out, scratching up the beautiful stonewashed finish, and a mirror polished edge is the wrong choice for lasting slicing aggression. That's the choice I attempted to present you with.
 
AlexSav said:
Thanks for replying I was thinking of getting a ultra sharp dual grit diamond stone it's 52 dallors with 400/1000 grit and it has a stone holder included, is it worth going for 400/1200 grit?
I mostly use my knives for general purpose cutting and also for small cutting tasks.
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I haven't used that one but it was recommended by HeavyHanded who recommended the FOSS to me, so I'm sure it is solid. You'll need a coarse stone to go along with it still. I think an 8" x 3" Crystolon coarse should do well, used with oil. (With the diamond plate you don't have to worry about contaminating water stones with oil, so this is a good pairing.)
 
Mr.Wizard said:
I haven't used that one but it was recommended by HeavyHanded who recommended the FOSS to me, so I'm sure it is solid. You'll need a coarse stone to go along with it still. I think an 8" x 3" Crystolon coarse should do well, used with oil. (With the diamond plate you don't have to worry about contaminating water stones with oil, so this is a good pairing.)
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I see thanks I was gonna just use water on the diamond stone and get a much coarser stone later on in a couple of months to try to reprofile some cheap blades but thanks for the tips and afive will take screenshots ;)
 
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Mr.Wizard said:
AlexSav, see those edges Night Rider posted? That's what a guided system is great for. However on most knives the behind-the-edge thickness is too great to cut really well so you need to thin them out, scratching up the beautiful stonewashed finish, and a mirror polished edge is the wrong choice for lasting slicing aggression. That's the choice I attempted to present you with.
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I like nice polished edges and things but truthfully I think for me usability and durability come first plus I want to learn the proper way to sharp a knife without a guided systems pretty much and then in a bit like half a year for more if I'm still interested in buying a good system I'll probably drop the cash to buy the edge pro but till then I think I'm gonna try freehand thanks for the help
 
AlexSav said:
I was gonna just use water on the diamond stone and get a much coarser stone later on in a couple of months to try to reprofile some cheap blades
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Diamond plates can be used with oil, water, or dry, and they cut the hardest steel, so they are versatile. A caveat some will disagree with is that to me they lack "feedback" which makes holding an angle more difficult, so I did not want to recommend a diamond plate to a new freehand sharpener.

Regarding the coarse stone I encourage you not to make it an afterthought. In someone else's words:

bgentry said:
What you may not realize is this: You do 90% or more of your grinding on the FIRST most COARSE stone you use. It's going to get all of the wear and tear. Ceramic stones like the Spydercos, or finer diamonds like the DMT EF and EEF just barely, barely get any wear at all. They will last forever and ever and ever. As long as they are used for finishing like they are intended.
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Mr.Wizard said:
I don't understand this statement. How is freehand slower than a Wicked Edge? I think it should be the other way around.
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Well, maybe you can hold your knife perfectly every stroke at a precise angle every single time, but I can't. If you can do a perfect job faster freehand than someone can with a WE, then you deserve applause, sir, and I stand in awe! :cool:
 
Mr.Wizard said:
Diamond plates can be used with oil, water, or dry, and they cut the hardest steel, so they are versatile. A caveat some will disagree with is that to me they lack "feedback" which makes holding an angle more difficult, so I did not want to recommend a diamond plate to a new freehand sharpener.

Regarding the coarse stone I encourage you not to make it an afterthought. In someone else's words:
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I see even if I don't intent on reprofiling you recommend me to get it? I guess I will look into it do you have a link to a reliable website to buy it? If possible I would like it on the cheaper side like 25 bucks max if possible thanks
 
000Robert 000Robert I see. No, I'm not claiming that; no need to be snarky. I thin freehand, removing the bulk of material, then finish on an Edge Pro if I need a hair whittling edge. If I work on a blade with a finish that must not be scratched everything becomes much slower.
 
AlexSav said:
I see even if I don't intent on reprofiling you recommend me to get it? I guess I will look into it do you have a link to a reliable website to buy it? If possible I would like it on the cheaper side like 25 bucks max if possible thanks
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Brand new diamond plates start off quite aggressive but quickly break in (and produce better edges), and once there 400 grit is too fine to shift much metal. Using high pressure to try to compensate can damage them. Forum rules include not linking to retailers but I believe I can still name them; check Sharpening Supplies for a CJB83 or MJB83, coarse and medium respectively. If you don't expect to do a lot of reprofiling I suggest the medium for being kinder to your knives.
 
Mr.Wizard said:
000Robert 000Robert I see. No, I'm not claiming that; no need to be snarky. I thin freehand, removing the bulk of material, then finish on an Edge Pro if I need a hair whittling edge. If I work on a blade with a finish that must not be scratched everything becomes much slower.
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I wasn't being snarky - I was serious. Anyone that can do better freehand at any angle like someone can do with a WE would definitely deserve applause. There is nothing snarky about that.
 
Mr.Wizard said:
Brand new diamond plates start off quite aggressive but quickly break in (and produce better edges), and once there 400 grit is too fine to shift much metal. Using high pressure to try to compensate can damage them. Forum rules include not linking to retailers but I believe I can still name them; check Sharpening Supplies for a CJB83 or MJB83, coarse and medium respectively. If you don't expect to do a lot of reprofiling I suggest the medium for being kinder to your knives.
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Allright thanks it's 20 bucks so I will probably buy that as well and see how this all goes together, thanks again for the help, this is making it so much easier to pick what to get :) For clarification I've decided to go for the ultrasharp diamond 400/1000 grit and plastic guides with angles from 10-30 just for starts so I know what that angle feels like and lastly I will probably get this Norton stone meduim 180 grit :)
 
AlexSav said:
I see I was gonna get into freehand from another post by buying the worksharp diamond stone with 400/1000grit double sided and start from there and buy more stones. All my knives don't really need reprofiling so I think I should be fine ;)
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Your knives will need re-profiling. You need to understand that term in full context. It is commonly associated with changing angles and such but it also means changing the factory grind to yours.

Factory grinds are notoriously uneven but even the best will be difficult to match precisely with your method.

I always look at my first few sharpenings of a knife as profiling. The Sharpie on the edge will show this to you. Some need less work and some need more.

The 400 might be a little slow for some steels but will get you there eventually. The 300 will be quicker but I'd still recommend keeping a truly course stone in consideration. I would really encourage you to right now focus on lower grits rather than higher grits.
 
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I tried for many years to learn how to freehand sharpen.

I was never successful.

I bought an Edge-Pro, and after a couple of weeks, I was getting edges that were actually sharper than my straight razor.

Is the Edge-Pro worth it???

To me it is.

BTW, the Wicked Edge is also a truly superb machine. I've owned both. I like the EP a bit better, but that's personal taste. No one could ever go wrong with either machine.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
Ben Dover said:
I tried for many years to learn how to freehand sharpen.

I was never successful.

I bought an Edge-Pro, and after a couple of weeks, I was getting edges that were actually sharper than my straight razor.

Is the Edge-Pro worth it???

To me it is.

BTW, the Wicked Edge is also a truly superb machine. I've owned both. I like the EP a bit better, but that's personal taste. No one could ever go wrong with either machine.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
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Yea I was thinking but I think it's too much of an investment, honestly I really wanna try freehand and see what happens, hopefully I succesed
 
AlexSav said:
Yea I was thinking but I think it's too much of an investment, honestly I really wanna try freehand and see what happens, hopefully I succesed
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Nothing wrong with that at all. I enjoyed sharpening freehand when I was younger.
 
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