Which Sharpening system do you recommend for someone that..

FOG2

FOG2

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Nov 1, 2007
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Has never had a system. I've always used sandpaper, but as I've just ordered a Custom Chef's knife, I,m thinking I should get a tool for sharpening it. This Knife will be about 9inches long and a bit over 2 inch at the heel, so keep that in mind when suggesting.

Thanks
 
There are many great sharpening systems out there. I find that for larger knives, kitchen knives for me, that my Worksharp K.O. Edition works really well. At least is does for me, but being a powered belt sharpener it is easy to screw up a knife. For my smaller pocket knives I have been using an older Spyderco Sharpmaker. It is tough to go wrong with the Sharpmaker, easy to use and maintain.
With that said I am switching over to ceramic bench stones because I simply want to learn how to sharpen freehand on old school bench stones.
If I had to choose only one sharpening method I would go with the Sharpmaker. I find it to be easy to use and pretty versatile.

Knowing what your budget is will go a long way in sharpening equipment recommendations.
 
For most of my knives, I use a Wicked Edge system.

But for my chef's knife, which has hard steel (Vanax) and a very thin edge (about 0.006 inches BTE), I just use a fine/extra fine diamond stone and freehand it. Fast and easy to sharpen a thin edge.
 
Twindog said:
For most of my knives, I use a Wicked Edge system.

But for my chef's knife, which has hard steel (Vanax) and a very thin edge (about 0.006 inches BTE), I just use a fine/extra fine diamond stone and freehand it. Fast and easy to sharpen a thin edge.
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Vanax Superclean? Just in case you didn't know, it's normally about 60-61 HRC max with low carbide volume so any basic stones will sharpen it easily. You definitely don't need diamonds for Vanax. (Apologies if you knew that already)

FOG2 FOG2 I don't know much about guided systems, but it will probably be fairly expensive to get a system that handles the bigger blades. What steel is your custom? Depending on that, what about a couple of decent bench stones if you already freehand on sandpaper?
 
FOG2 said:
Has never had a system. I've always used sandpaper, but as I've just ordered a Custom Chef's knife, I,m thinking I should get a tool for sharpening it. This Knife will be about 9inches long and a bit over 2 inch at the heel, so keep that in mind when suggesting.

Thanks
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If it is just going to be for a Chef's knife/knives i would be looking at an edge pro. Their design really suits larger knives and you have the different stones option and not proprietary stones which is a huge plus. Also there are good reports about the Hapstone systems, a few good posts in this thread, have a read of them. And look at some of the demo videos on the Edge Pro website. But look at all your options before you commit.
 
Go look at Gritomatic, they have a variety of systems. They’ll have a system for a large knife.
 
FOG2 said:
I've always used sandpaper
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I take that to mean you free hand sharpen. So why not go with whetstones? It would cost about the same, you have the skills, and it certainly won't take more room to store.

I wouldn't say that for somebody who doesn't free hand and wants a system, but the situation looks different.
 
I guess it depends on your budget. And the frequency that you need to sharpen or resharpen several knives There are good ones that start at $75 and go up from there........I've been pleasantly surprised with the Worksharp Precision guided system. If I were to do it again, I'd save up a little more $$ and get the KME. Once I've reprofiled a knife, its pretty simple for me to touch up the edge with a 1200 ceramic rod.
Good luck!
 
I don't mind spending a coupla hundred bucks if needed, and yes I freehand on sandpaper.
I guess it would be mainly used on chef knives.
My Shiro is R2 I believe.
 
I don't know of a Shirogroov in R2/SG2 steel. But if you're going to sharpen a Shiro, I would go with the Wicked Edge or something similar.

A knife of that quality deserves a high-quality, near-perfect edge.
 
FOG2 said:
I don't mind spending a coupla hundred bucks if needed, and yes I freehand on sandpaper.
I guess it would be mainly used on chef knives.
My Shiro is R2 I believe.
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If you are already freehand sharpening then go get yourself a nice set of bench stones and you will be set.
 
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There are a lot of great options out there. I've used/owned Gatco, Lansky, Worksharp Ken Onion and the Wicked Edge. I'm a big fan of the Wicked Edge for it's simplicity and speed. Watch a few videos on various systems out there that have been suggested and see which one would fit your style the best.
 
FOG2 said:
I don't mind spending a coupla hundred bucks if needed, and yes I freehand on sandpaper.
I guess it would be mainly used on chef knives.
My Shiro is R2 I believe.
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Nice. I believe that the Japanese Knife Gods would be disappointed if you didn't sharpen that on good Japanese bench stones ;)
 
FOG2 said:
I don't mind spending a coupla hundred bucks if needed, and yes I freehand on sandpaper.
I guess it would be mainly used on chef knives.
My Shiro is R2 I believe.
Click to expand...
Waterstones handle that just fine.
You can get a set of Shapton Pros for about $130 (320-1K-5K) or Chosera (400-1K-3K Choseras are finer than Shaptons) for like $215 if you shop the right places.
You'd still need a flattening plate, which can serve as your coarse stone (or use a cheap SiC for coarse work) for about $50.
 
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