What is the easiest knife sharpener for a novice?

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nim145

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What is the easiest knife sharpener for a novice? The knife sharpener will be used primarily on kitchen knives both large and small.

I showed my spyderco sharpmaker to my friend but she wants something that is easier to use.

Would the CRKT Slide Sharp Knife Sharpener be the best choice for a novice?
 
The Chefs Choice electric sharpeners are very easy and fast. They remove allot of steel if you are not careful, but if you have sone old dull knives it will get them back into shape with no issue.
 
You really can't get much easier than the Sharpmaker. What about it does she feel is difficult to use?
 
I think the easiest is the Edge Pro, but its $200+. It turned my sharpening skills from zero to hero.
 
No offense, but if your friend thinks the Sharpmaker is too hard to use then she's probably never going to be able to sharpen her own knives. The ceramic (not carbide!) pull through devices are simple but won't restore a heavily worn edge without a lot of effort. That's the only thing I can think of that's simpler than a Sharpmaker unless she would use a crock stick setup without multiple stones or angles. Those are pretty simple and just as effective as the white stones on the Sharpmaker.
 
I could never get a Sharpmaker to work for me. I tried and tried, researched the proper technique, and believe that I was doing it correctly. But I could never get a sharp edge. I know it was user error of some sort. 99% of folks find it pretty easy though.
 
powernoodle said:
I could never get a Sharpmaker to work for me. I tried and tried, researched the proper technique, and believe that I was doing it correctly. But I could never get a sharp edge. I know it was user error of some sort. 99% of folks find it pretty easy though.
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There are some knives that it just didn't work with for me either, but I attributed that to the possibility their initial angles were just so different I hadn't completely reprofiled them to the Sharpmaker angle before giving up. I don't think the Sharpmaker is the best choice for heavily damaged or terribly dull knives because even the brown stones aren't very aggressive.

I don't own an Edge Pro (yet) but I have most everything else. Truth be told, I do most of my sharpening these days with a 3M micron belt on my belt sander followed by a leather belt loaded with polishing compound. The exception is if my wife isn't home and I want to watch TV. In that case I drag the Smith's, Lansky, Sharpmaker, and all my stones into the living room and have a big manual sharpening party on the coffee table.

Even then, I usually end up taking the knife out to the garage for a final polish with the leather belt.
 
elkins45 said:
I don't own an Edge Pro (yet) but I have most everything else. Truth be told, I do most of my sharpening these days with a 3M micron belt on my belt sander followed by a leather belt loaded with polishing compound. The exception is if my wife isn't home and I want to watch TV. In that case I drag the Smith's, Lansky, Sharpmaker, and all my stones into the living room and have a big manual sharpening party on the coffee table.
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Lol. When I whip out the Lanksy stand for the bracket I get excited.
 
I took a look at the CRKT Slide Sharp the OP mentioned. It's essentially the same principle as the Sharpmaker but with a single rod and a sliding angle guide. I think it would work just fine and it certainly wouldn't be complicated to operate.

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sharpmaker. i've tried all the cheaper options and never could get a good edge. it was the sharpmaker that made me realize how to sharpen and get them scary sharp. it took some time, but i am a slow learner, i admit...once i grasped what the issues were with most knives and why i wasn't hitting the edge....it was like an eureka moment. for the money i'll take a sharpmaker over even the expensive systems. although i do like the wicked edge setup. it's looks super easy, compared to the competition. not saying it's better as i have no idea, but it does look easy to master, from their video. too pricey for my blood, but if i was going to invest in a more expensive system i'd likely go that route, and hope i was right in my choice.
 
elkins45 said:
There are some knives that it just didn't work with for me either, but I attributed that to the possibility their initial angles were just so different I hadn't completely reprofiled them to the Sharpmaker angle before giving up. I don't think the Sharpmaker is the best choice for heavily damaged or terribly dull knives because even the brown stones aren't very aggressive.
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and you nailed the issue with the sharpmaker for most, myself included...when i couldn't get a knife sharp with it. if the angles are uneven or off from one another, which most production knives are from the very start...this makes the sharpmaker seem not to work easily or at all. it made me pull my hair out until i figured out when the edges are setup wrong, still sharp, but wrong, it takes time to sort it all out. i use the diamond rods for badly done knives and it works pretty well, just takes a long time to wear down the deep scratches from them with the brown, white, and ultra fine stones. i use the marker trick and i can very easily see what is going on on a couple of quick passes down the stone. i adjust from there and it makes any knife scary sharp. it's a learning curve or was for me though. i am sure some get it faster than i did, but once i figured it out, it was a piece of cake getting any knife sharp.

i do agree about badly damaged knives though, i use my belt sander for those. reprofiling a knife even with the diamond rods takes far too long on the sharpmaker, imho. getting or keeping a not quite sharp knife back to scary sharp on the sharpmaker is it's strong point, ymmv.
 
elkins45 said:
No offense, but if your friend thinks the Sharpmaker is too hard to use then she's probably never going to be able to sharpen her own knives. The ceramic (not carbide!) pull through devices are simple but won't restore a heavily worn edge without a lot of effort. That's the only thing I can think of that's simpler than a Sharpmaker unless she would use a crock stick setup without multiple stones or angles. Those are pretty simple and just as effective as the white stones on the Sharpmaker.
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I agree with elkins all the way.
Pull-throughs suck on so many levels, and a Crock Stick set is about as easy as it gets.

I got the large Crock Sticks with coarse & fine (gray/brown & white) rods. Good for fast sharpening in the kitchen, but not so great for supersteels or trying out new angles. You get 40 or 45 and even those are dubious given the mass-produced sloppy fit. I wish I'd spent the extra $ on a Sharpmaker with diamonds. But now I'm eyeballing the EdgePro.
 
I would send all the knives to richard J so that they get nice and sharp, and then buy some butcher steels so that she can maintain a good edge. if she ever really screws something up, then you can help her out with the sharpmaker.
 
If you don't mind can you ask her why the sharpmaker was too complicated? Was it the counting of strokes or the technique in general? I just can't imagine why anyone could find this confusing.
 
Send your knives to a professional sharpener to set the angles at 30 degrees and then the Sharpmaker will be easy and efficient to use. If that doesn't work or your friend doesn't want to invest the time to acquire basic sharpening skills, just send the knives off from time to time to a professional.
 
Why don't you just offer to sharpen her knives for her? It would be the easiest way to keep them in cutting shape.

In my experience, even the easiest or best sharpening system you recommend still won't get used by someone who doesn't happen to be a knife person.
 
Sharpening is a skill, and like any skill it requires an investment in time and effort to learn. But time after time, we get some version of the same question: How do I learn this skill without investing any time or effort on my part? Either invest in the effort needed to learn the skill or hire someone to do it for you.

If you you're unwilling to take the time and effort to acquire a basic understanding of sharpening theory, the Sharpmaker will often lead to poor results and you'll be clueless as to why it isn't working. But if you take a little time to learn the theory -- and we're not talking quantum mechanics, here -- the Sharpmaker is as easy as it gets.
 
Smiths three stone kit? Coarse diamond, fine diamond and a serration sharpener. It is set with 20 degree and 25 degree angles. Its a good sharpener and I found it at Lowe's Home Improvement.
 
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