Sharpener for Travel

C

CraigTbone

Joined
Mar 4, 2019
Messages
131
I have hesitated to ask this question because there are so many threads about sharpeners. There are so many sharpeners available these days I am boggled at the number of choices. I did some searching but did not find answers.

I need a sharpener to occasionally travel with in my small camper van. When I visit my son his kitchen knives need sharpening. I have a Spyderco Sharp Maker. It does a good job but son's knives are sufficiently dull that even with the diamond rods it takes a long time sharpen his knives.

One solution would be for me to learn how to free hand sharpen with bench stones. Several times in my 60 plus years of using knives I have tried to learn but that skill has eluded me.

So I need a sharpener that can quickly take a rather dull knife to sharp, and pack up reasonably small.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
 
CraigTbone said:
I have hesitated to ask this question because there are so many threads about sharpeners. There are so many sharpeners available these days I am boggled at the number of choices. I did some searching but did not find answers.

I need a sharpener to occasionally travel with in my small camper van. When I visit my son his kitchen knives need sharpening. I have a Spyderco Sharp Maker. It does a good job but son's knives are sufficiently dull that even with the diamond rods it takes a long time sharpen his knives.

One solution would be for me to learn how to free hand sharpen with bench stones. Several times in my 60 plus years of using knives I have tried to learn but that skill has eluded me.

So I need a sharpener that can quickly take a rather dull knife to sharp, and pack up reasonably small.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Good afternoon.
Have you looked at the KME sharpening system?

www.kmesharp.com
 
I have a few questions.

Would you care to share a budget?

What do you consider packing up fairly small?

For the most part the system you are using does check those boxes. Maybe getting some additional rods for it that are more aggressive?

I know others have already suggested freehand options and there are hybrid set ups like the Sharp Maker that may fit your needs.
 
Thank you all for the input. Most helpful.

No specific budget in mind. I can manage up to $300 or more if needed.

The Sharp Maker that I have works quite well for my needs. It just takes a very long time to reprofile other peoples knives that are dull. I have the diamond triangle rods from Spyderco but as mentioned, reprofiling takes a long time. Are there extra coarse rods that I have not found?

Some more research found many positive reports about the DMT Aligner. I purchased the Pro kit with a carry case, and an Extra Coarse and Extra Extra Coarse whetstone for severe reprofiling.

It might be time for me to try freehand sharpening again. Maybe all my previous attempts were not with proper stones. I always created rather convex edges. Possibly not too bad a thing but the edges are not very sharp.

Will see how the DMT Aligner system works for me.

Further input is most welcomed.
 
CraigTbone said:
Thank you all for the input. Most helpful.

No specific budget in mind. I can manage up to $300 or more if needed.

The Sharp Maker that I have works quite well for my needs. It just takes a very long time to reprofile other peoples knives that are dull. I have the diamond triangle rods from Spyderco but as mentioned, reprofiling takes a long time. Are there extra coarse rods that I have not found?

Some more research found many positive reports about the DMT Aligner. I purchased the Pro kit with a carry case, and an Extra Coarse and Extra Extra Coarse whetstone for severe reprofiling.

It might be time for me to try freehand sharpening again. Maybe all my previous attempts were not with proper stones. I always created rather convex edges. Possibly not too bad a thing but the edges are not very sharp.

Will see how the DMT Aligner system works for me.

Further input is most welcomed.
Click to expand...
:thumbsup: In seeing your preferences for something quick, effective and compact, I had immediately thought of the Aligner used with the DMT hones recommended by others (Blue/Red, i.e., Coarse/Fine).

Only other suggestion I might offer is, for edges that need extensive regrinding or reprofiling, it's always best to get that done before traveling, at home. On that note, the Aligner guide can also be used with larger bench stones, which greatly speeds up the heavy work. Reprofiling or other heavy grinding usually only needs to be done once, assuming the knives aren't used extremely hard each time they go to work. Once good edge geometry is set for the blade, the maintenance sharpening afterward becomes much, much simpler.
 
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Work Sharp has a few additional options for you to look at, if the Aligner doesn't work out off the bat. I think you have all that would would need for most sharpening jobs, even some of the heavy duty jobs.

I don't have any experience with the work sharp stuff, but many here seem to think they do a decent enough job. DMT is quite popular as well.
 
On E-Bay they sell various 10 inch flat diamond files for not too much money.
On our travels i mostly take a 300 grit version with me, as this will make short work of even the most neglected kitchen knives we encounter.
Next to this i also take 2 DMT diafolds (black/blue & blue /red), but most knives in rental homes are way too far gone for these.
A 300 grit edge will work just fine on cheap kitchen knives, even better and longer than more refined edges.
 
There are many out there. Depends on you.
I took an Apex Pro to my son's house last visit.
Worksharp has some decent powered options that would travel as well.
 
It's a camper van, no need to worry about something pocket sized.

work-sharp-blade-grinder-attachment-4__38379.1409968104.jpg
 
That Saturn Module looks very well made. Have any BF folk purchased one or seen one in person? Is there a sources to purchase other than directly from Russia?
 
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