Knife Sharpening Tool - Suggetions Please

J

JohnnyFlake

Joined
May 4, 2012
Messages
8
I usually prefer to hand sharpen my better knives, so I am not familiar with any of the sharpening tools that are available. I would appreciate suggestions on a few that are known to work well.
 
What's your budget?

Sharpmaker's probably my favorite cheaper system. Also kinda depends on what your needs are. The one I'd MOST like to try out is the Wicked Edge system, but I'm doing fine with slotted paper wheels and the Sharpmaker with UF rods.
 
crimsonfalcon07 said:
What's your budget?

Sharpmaker's probably my favorite cheaper system. Also kinda depends on what your needs are. The one I'd MOST like to try out is the Wicked Edge system, but I'm doing fine with slotted paper wheels and the Sharpmaker with UF rods.
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Just got my "Wicked Edge" the other day and it IS my answer to having perfecty angled and sharp knives. From kitchen choppers to filet knives......this system does them all to perfection. Besides the standard package and diamondstones, I also ordered the optional 800/1000 grit diamondstones as well and have found them to be very useful. Truly, after purchasing several of the highly rated sharpeners over the last several decades, this sytem is by far........superior.

Money well spent and best of all...........I'm done looking for a better sharpener. If a new system can supposedly do a better job than the Wicked Edge system sometime in the future and unless it comes with a person to do the sharpening for me, I'm thinking that I'm now as content as I could ever be.

YMMV..........................but I doubt it..........;). I can honestly say that I now look forward to sharpening knives............now THAT's sayin' something!!!

Good luck on whatever you choose.
 
I think the big three are the Sharp maker(Reasonable price but not good for re-profiling and your choice of angle is limited) the Wicked edge which is pricy but you can get, well...Wicked edges and of course the Edge Pro. The latter is also expensive and you need to learn how to use it to it's maximum potential (which is not too difficult and there are plenty of resources). I used the Edge pro and love it. I can get some ferociously sharp edges with that rig. They are all fun.
 
newcoyote said:
I think the big three are the Sharp maker(Reasonable price but not good for re-profiling and your choice of angle is limited) the Wicked edge which is pricy but you can get, well...Wicked edges and of course the Edge Pro. The latter is also expensive and you need to learn how to use it to it's maximum potential (which is not too difficult and there are plenty of resources). I used the Edge pro and love it. I can get some ferociously sharp edges with that rig. They are all fun.
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Great summary. I've enjoyed excellent results from the Edge Pro Apex for many years. The Wicked Edge system looks intriguing, but I have no first hand experience.
 
For a system that works and won't break the bank I like the GATCO Professional with the addition of the extra fine and ultimate finishing hones.

Finished with a stropping step it works great for me.
 
I make my own knife sharpner and I have been useing it since the kershaw leek came out on the market.if I cant shave my arm then it is not good enough
 
Thanks for the replies so far. All the systems that have been mentioned certainly seem very effective and if it were for myself I'd be looking hard at them. Unfortunately, I did not explain well enough. What I am looking for, not for myself, but for a few friends (one relative), is one of the simple to use systems where you have a few slots and you pull the blades through them a few times, or even dozens of times, at least for the sharpening part of it and then move to another slot to fine tune/hone the blade.

There are the hand pull designs and then similar units that have motors. I took a peek yesterday for the first time and to my amazement, there are literally dozens and dozens of them. I found one that may fit the needs I am looking for and it has a few 5 star reviews. The link below shows the unit I found. It's cheap enough and seem like it will fulfill the needs of my friends, however, I would rather have some input of this type of unit from the members here.

http://www.amazon.com/Chefs-Choice-...I6/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&qid=1336416827&sr=8-24
 
When Chef's Choice came out with their "Top Of The Line" model, electric sharpener many years ago, I bought one.......the 110 IIRC. It had more sharpening slots than the one pictured in your Amazon link and cost more as well.............many years ago.

I mention the "cost" and "many years ago" as a comparison between the 2. Mine never lived up to it's hype and it was really hyped up back then. Perhaps the one you linked is heads and shoulders above that 'ole top of the line electric sharpener that I bought...........don't know. But my experience with such sharpeners is that unless you can manually hold your knife (and edges) perfectly straight and/or at the preferred angle on each and every pass through an electric or non-electric sharpener, your results will reflect your inability to do so. With the electric sharpener, I was always worried about how hard I was passing the blades through and trying to keep it perfectly straight and it became very frustrating.

One could starve to death trying to cut a steak with any of the knives that I sharpened with that electric sharpener.

Good luck in your pursuit, but it is often pointed out here that it is better to spend a bit more $ up front than to purchase a system you're not happy with or have to buy several systems over a number of years when one efficient system could last you a lifetime, perform as you would hope and expect and possibly save you (friends, relatives, dog, cat.....) some of your hard earned $ in the long run.

Just a thought..............
 
magnumb said:
When Chef's Choice came out with their "Top Of The Line" model, electric sharpener many years ago, I bought one.......the 110 IIRC. It had more sharpening slots than the one pictured in your Amazon link and cost more as well.............many years ago.

I mention the "cost" and "many years ago" as a comparison between the 2. Mine never lived up to it's hype and it was really hyped up back then. Perhaps the one you linked is heads and shoulders above that 'ole top of the line electric sharpener that I bought...........don't know. But my experience with such sharpeners is that unless you can manually hold your knife (and edges) perfectly straight and/or at the preferred angle on each and every pass through an electric or non-electric sharpener, your results will reflect your inability to do so. With the electric sharpener, I was always worried about how hard I was passing the blades through and trying to keep it perfectly straight and it became very frustrating.

One could starve to death trying to cut a steak with any of the knives that I sharpened with that electric sharpener.

Good luck in your pursuit, but it is often pointed out here that it is better to spend a bit more $ up front than to purchase a system you're not happy with or have to buy several systems over a number of years when one efficient system could last you a lifetime, perform as you would hope and expect and possibly save you (friends, relatives, dog, cat.....) some of your hard earned $ in the long run.

Just a thought..............
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Thanks for the very good input. I understand where your coming from. I most certainly do not want to recommend an electric unit for fear they will destroy the blades very quickly. I think and sometimes that a dangerous thing, but I think, I can teach them how to pull a blade through reasonably well. At least well enough not to ruin the blades too quickly and maybe put a half way decent edge on them. I hope to find one that some of the members here have used and think it's okay.
 
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