New Knife or Quality Sharpner???

[Judge_Blackhawk]

Here is my delima. I am very new to knives, only have two good production knives so far that were bought within the last week.

Is it better to get a great sharpner (ie. edgepro apex) or use that money for another knife?

Thanks

 

[e_utopia]

Assuming that the two knives you have are in the same price range as an EdgePro, I'd go with the sharpener. If they are significantly less, and your thinking of buying a better knife which would cost about what the EdgePro does, I'd go with the knife. Of course, these are my opinions.

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com

 

[TOMBSTONE]

I don't know how much an edgepro costs,but a Spyderco 204 is a decent price and good system.I would say get the sharpener if your
quality knives get alot of use and need an edge put on.If all you own is pakastani knives than I wouldn't worry about the sharpener.Maybe go for a new knife for now.Later,Ralph

 

[smithd]

I'd go with a sharpener. It has more advantages over a new knife, particurarly in the long run. Get a good sharpener also. It never hurts to read a book called The Rezor's Edge Book of Sharpening. It is very insightful on sharpening. There will always be more knives to choose from.

respectfully,

doug

 

[Crayola]

There is no point in getting good production knives without having a good sharpener. Without a good sharpener you either a) never use the knife, afraid that it may get dull or b) use the knife and a month later it sits in a drawer because it is dull. Congrats for getting into the real knife world (i.e. "surgical stainless steel" makes you laugh instead of saying "WOW"). Get a good sharpener now so you can take care of all of the good knives you have and are soon to get.

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"Come What May..."

 

[Roger Blake]

I would also advocate getting the Sharpmaker. Its very good at maintaining a sharp edge. Get the Razor Edge book too. Later on if you find you have the need, get the Edge Pro.

I own the Sharpmaker, the Edge Pro and the Skarb and that is what I would do.

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Roger Blake

 

[Larry in KY]

I would just go ahead and buy the Edge Pro because it will save you money in the long run. Why? Because you will buy inferior sharpers and want better ones...with the Edge Pro you will have the best available, IMHO.
Also, sharpening knives is fun with the Edge Pro and you can even make some change should you decide to sharpen knives for a fee. I do!

 

[Mykl Clark]

I'd go with the edgepro. Later down the line you're going to have many many knives and not enough time to keep thm all sharp the edgepro will make this task much easier. Besides if worse comes to worse you could aways charge to sharpen other people's knives to pay for your habit (something I seriously need to do)

 

[Johan]

Go for the sharpener and go for the EdgePro. The Apex is about $125. A lot of knives cost more than that.

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"Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n"
John Milton
There are only two types of people; those who understand this, and those who think they do.

 

[RLR]

Another suggestion: 2 benchstones medium and fine (assuming no serrations) and a steel. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can come close to the feeling of hand sharpening your edge without 'assistance.' The steel (buy a good one) will significantly reduce the need for 'from scratch' sharpening. Sure, I do use some systems to sharpen, but it always feels like I'm cheating on a longtime mate.

Once you master the hand technique, make a strop and you've got the Trinity of 'S': stone, steel, strop.

That's all I have to contribute.

Cheers,

RLR

 

[johno]

If you don't want to bother with learning how to sharpen tools, knives included, or if you only plan on buying pretty knives and don't want to chance buggering any of them up while learning how to sharpen, a sharpening aid probably makes sense as they can work very well in a given set of conditions. Otherwise learning how to sharpen freehand makes sense, and you can get started with a modest investment. In my opinion a good coarse stone is the foundation for a sharpening system, and so far I find that a set of three combination silicon carbide stones work well, as I can flatten them by grinding them against one another. They were about $6 at Sears. I sharpen chisels, planes, scissors, pruning shears, machetes, Xacto blades, lawnmower blades, axes, hatchets, etc., as well as knives.