Why so much hate for pull sharpeners?

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I can freehand sharpen pretty decently however I run into problems when it comes to removing larger amounts of steel to change a screwy edge angle. Doing so to an AEB-L blade using standard stones and rods was taking forever I seemed to be getting so close but was so far.

After reading this I gave an old Benchmade pull through sharpener or should I say ripper a try. It actually quickly created some sort of jagged rough edge that I am sure can cut maybe even well in rusty jagged metal type of way.

I really want to be able to sharpen anything freehand but that will be another day. I broke out the edge pro and got a barely shaving edge in much less time but I may have a couple of chips from using the both the benchmade and a coarse grit hand sharpening stone I first started out with.I am now happy it cuts decently.

I have used pull through sharpeners before this and they always produce rippy edges. I even saw a blade with vertical hairline breaks anlong a very thin edge produced by a cheapo pull through disk kitchen knife sharpener. I generally don't use pull through sharpeners.
 
Pull-through sharpeners remove too much material for how sharp you get your knife, as a result it will also make your knife not last as long because of how much material it removes. In my opinion it’s better to learn how to use a stone, it’ll not remove as much material as a pull-through sharpener and you’ll get a better edge. Just learn how use a stone with a cheap knife (like an opinel). A 800-1000 grit stone and leather strop is all you need to maintain your knives (in my opinion).
 
To me "pull through" sharpeners are like using hessian as toilet paper...is it better than nothing? Absolutley!! Will you be satisfied with the results? Depends on your desired outcome. Are there better ways to do it?! Yes.
 
JayDeep said:
Fair enough. Yes Sharpmaker sounds right. I read many good things about it as an overall solid choice so I bought it. Buying things isn't my problem. My disposable income is very large. It's the time and effort that bothers me. I value my time to an extreme degree that most do not or cannot understand. I'm thinking I'll try taking my knives to a local Cabelas as first attempt. I like going there weekly to buy ammo for my supply anyway.
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once you know how to sharpen and have a partially established edge i bet you could sharpen a blade in less time than a drive somewhere. unless you live next to cabelas that is. even then if your edge isnt destroyed i bet i could sharpen it faster than you can get in your car go next door walk inside and either wait or come back for it. to each their own. i like to learn things. learning typically takes a little practice and theres a level of satisfaction that follows learning things. ymmv
 
I just sharpened all 3 of our primary prep knives in the kitchen in less than 5 minutes using a Norton Economy stone and a vertical guide block to hold the angle. There was some initial preparation but that would have happened anyway unless the edge exactly matched or were lower in edge angle than the pull through.
 
Snort.

A few years back, I took the plunge and INVESTED in a high end sharpener. We used the knives for well over a year before wifey mentioned she thought there was something wrong with the potatoes, because the knives went through them so easily.

Like you described, we, both, grew up in a household in which you attacked a potato with a large kitchen knife by rocking your way back and forth through it. Then you cleaned it and tossed it in a drawer with a bunch of other knives and metal objects.

After trying my hand with guided sharpening, the knives seemed to all but fall through the potatoes.

Now, my wife draws my attention to that a knife is dragging a bit.

SIDE NOTE: I laugh at people who mock me for not free handing, and invite them to come to my shop and try their muscle memory expertise sharpening my carving knives, draw knives, hand planes, mower blades, chisels, lathe knives, pocket knives, hunting knives, kitchen knives (thin and thick) and so on. Needless to say, they'd quickly reveal they cannot get the blades to the point I need them to be for a given task.
Ourorboros said:
1: Burrs. An edge with a burr or wire edge seems sharp until it breaks off. Have to remove the burr. I didn't read about your sharpening method.

2: I'm not a pro, but then again I don't have a video. It's not as contradictory as you think. Hold knife at constant angle to abrasive. Move around until you form a bur on the entirety of the side. Flip around and do the same. Remove burr.
Sure, everybody moves their blade around differently, but they all hold at a constant angle and move around to wear off steel to apex the edge. Those are the essential parts.

3: I thought it was confusing until I did it for real. It cleared up then. Like any skill, it takes repeating and observation.
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CutterBoi said:
JayDeep,
I think I understand where you're coming from. Growing up, we never had sharp knives in the house. We mistreated our knives. All edges were damaged to a heavy degree. We didn't cut; we sawed.
I eventually acquired a fillet knife that I kept somewhat sharp with a tiny soft Arkansas stone. I eventually found myself using it to cut meat in the kitchen. It cut so smoothly and easily, the difference between it an our kitchen knives was astonishing.
Then I acquired a cheap Chicago Cutlery chef knife. Oh man, what a difference on the veggies! It quickly went dull but too late: I was spoiled. No way was I going to spend gobs of time sharpening my kitchen knife on that dinky Arkansas stone. So I began my quest to find a sharpening system.

I purchased a cheap electric sharpener, and ran a trash knife through it for testing. That sharpener totally ate up the knife, making it worthless. It was horrific. Be very cautious with cheap motorized sharpeners!

Then I purchased a WorkSharp Ken Onion sharpener. It could easily sharpen my kitchen knife to the degree I wanted (Note: the WorkSharp machine has other issues making it a less-than-optimal sharpening system that I'll not get into here.), but it was so much of a hassle to pull out and setup that I didn't use it all that often, and my edge was soon dull again.

Then I found the "perfect" sharpener. It was the Rada Quick Edge, a pull-thru wheel sharpener. I could easily keep my kitchen knives (I had multiple by this time) sharp enough for my taste with just 5-7 light, quick swipes of the blade through the sharpener (after initial re-profiling, of course, which took anywhere from 100-200 strokes on my kitchen knives, but more than 300 on my beloved fillet knife).

Then I started questioning why it was that so many people on the internet were claiming "I sharpen my knives, then I don't have to do anything to them except a few swipes on a steel once every week or two, until they get dull enough that I resharpen in 8-12 months." Why did I need to run my knives through the sharpener after each use to keep them sharp? And why was it that attempting to use a steel on my knives made things much duller? I suspected the edge produced by the pull-thru sharpener was weak, easily deformed and damaged. And steeling didn't work for me because 1) I didn't know how to do it properly, and 2) the edge produced by this pull-thru sharpener is convex.

Then I began to ask myself, "what will I do if I ever purchase a knife utilizing harder steel?" I decided I didn't actually need harder steel, didn't want to spend the money required for a sharpening system that could handle harder steel, and didn't want to waste time learning how to use that sharpening system. Well, guess what - I purchased an expensive knife constructed from harder steel, and research indicated none of the systems I had on hand could properly sharpen it. Sigh... Time to upgrade and learn.

Some people claim that learning to sharpen freehand on stones isn't all that difficult. This has not been the case for me. YouTube sharpening videos make it look soooo easy, but the guys doing it are pros, and many warn that it's harder than they make it look. The internet is full of confusing, contradictory information on the subject. I could have reached the skill level required to freehand sharpen my kitchen knives on stones to the same level as my pull-thru in less than two hours if I'd had an in-person tutor guiding me through the process. But I didn't have that luxury, and so wasted many, many fruitless hours trying to learn. And it's all because I missed one fine point. I'm still learning but I've far surpassed what could be done with the pull-thru sharpener. My experience on stones made it easy to figure out how to properly use a honing rod. Now, rather than sharpening my kitchen knives with a pull-thru sharpener, I use stones for sharpening and a ceramic rod for maintenance. I'm still a bit slower on a rod than I was with the pull-thru (both require care to maintain proper pressure and angle for best results, FYI), but I'm improving, and I don't have to hone the knife after each use. So I now have much sharper kitchen knives and spend less time on maintenance. But the cost... ouch. And the time... ouch. And the frustration... ouch. Is it worth it? You'll have to decide for yourself. If you decide to go this route, do yourself a favor and find someone who can train you in person. You might save yourself a lot of time and some money too.

I'm a newb. Take everything I say with a grain of salt. YMMV.
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DeJure said:
SIDE NOTE: I laugh at people who mock me for not free handing, and invite them to come to my shop and try their muscle memory expertise sharpening my carving knives, draw knives, hand planes, mower blades, chisels, lathe knives, pocket knives, hunting knives, kitchen knives (thin and thick) and so on. Needless to say, they'd quickly reveal they cannot get the blades to the point I need them to be for a given task.
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Snort, indeed.

Just because you can't doesn't mean others can't.
 
DeJure said:
SIDE NOTE: I laugh at people who mock me for not free handing, and invite them to come to my shop and try their muscle memory expertise sharpening my carving knives, draw knives, hand planes, mower blades, chisels, lathe knives, pocket knives, hunting knives, kitchen knives (thin and thick) and so on. Needless to say, they'd quickly reveal they cannot get the blades to the point I need them to be for a given task.
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You’re bringing a year old thread back from the dead.
 
I've been around for more than a day. Actually, over twenty six thousand of them. I was around long before the Net. In fact, I used BBC's in my business before the Net was a thing. From that experience, I would say, if information was valuable when I landed on this earthly coil and remains no less valuable today, that someone would think it worthless, or should be abandoned, because someone posted it on a thread on the Net a set time back would defy reason.
 
karnaknives said:
Snort, indeed.

Just because you can't doesn't mean others can't.
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Yep. But I doubt I will ever meet someone who can free hand all the things I mention without making something short of a career of it, while the rest of us are using those tool to actually work.
 
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DeJure said:
Yep. But I doubt I will ever meet someone who can free hand all the things I mention without making something short of a career of it, while the rest of us are using those tool to actually work.
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I’m a hobbyist hand tool wood worker and wood carver. I sharpen all my tools freehand and they all cut great and leave chatoyant finishes and clear end grain.

I’m glad you found your method that works for you, but don’t fool yourself into thinking the precision of a guided sharpening system is required.
 
Not everyone has the knack for it, but people have been getting real world work done and maintaining their tools freehand since practically the dawn of humanity. Very few cutting tools truly require the precision of jig-based sharpening, and for that work there are, indeed, places that have made an industry of it--mostly in industrial knives and shears. I would personally not be boastful of requiring a guided device to get my knives to adequately cut something as forgiving as potatoes, but ultimately it's good that you found a way to get them there.
 
EngrSorenson said:
I’m a hobbyist hand tool wood worker and wood carver. I sharpen all my tools freehand and they all cut great and leave chatoyant finishes and clear end grain.

I’m glad you found your method that works for you, but don’t fool yourself into thinking the precision of a guided sharpening system is required.
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Good for you. I'll remain like those who make and sell veneers you can't sand without blowing through them thanks to guided sharpening systems without which such would not be possible.

That is not to say I don't freehand mower blades, draw knives and so on. Even the many angles of the many lathe knives sitting near one of my lathes require a bit of freehand control during the use of jigs. It is to say no one can compete with jigs and machines in every sharpening project.
 
Inappropriate Behavior / Minor Trolling
FortyTwoBlades said:
Not everyone has the knack for it, but people have been getting real world work done and maintaining their tools freehand since practically the dawn of humanity. Very few cutting tools truly require the precision of jig-based sharpening, and for that work there are, indeed, places that have made an industry of it--mostly in industrial knives and shears. I would personally not be boastful of requiring a guided device to get my knives to adequately cut something as forgiving as potatoes, but ultimately it's good that you found a way to get them there.
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All you got out of the post was boasting about using jigs? Says much.
 
DeJure said:
Snort.

A few years back, I took the plunge and INVESTED in a high end sharpener. We used the knives for well over a year before wifey mentioned she thought there was something wrong with the potatoes, because the knives went through them so easily.

Like you described, we, both, grew up in a household in which you attacked a potato with a large kitchen knife by rocking your way back and forth through it. Then you cleaned it and tossed it in a drawer with a bunch of other knives and metal objects.

After trying my hand with guided sharpening, the knives seemed to all but fall through the potatoes.

Now, my wife draws my attention to that a knife is dragging a bit.

SIDE NOTE: I laugh at people who mock me for not free handing, and invite them to come to my shop and try their muscle memory expertise sharpening my carving knives, draw knives, hand planes, mower blades, chisels, lathe knives, pocket knives, hunting knives, kitchen knives (thin and thick) and so on. Needless to say, they'd quickly reveal they cannot get the blades to the point I need them to be for a given task.
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We are getting into a golden age for not only guided systems but also for the information available to free hand sharpeners thanks to several notable people who are showing us highly magnified images of what is really going on at the apex and experimenting with different abrasives and techniques.

No offense, but it sounds like your freehand technique could use some refinement if you are describing such a contrast in performance between what you were doing before to the results you are getting with the guided system. Not that there is anything wrong with that; if you are happy with the guided system then carry on I would say. Don't worry what anyone says. I hope the people who "mock" you are just having a good natured dig at your method, so there isn't really a need to get defensive about it. My advise is just enjoy the fact you can get the results you are after, but claiming guided systems are far superior in most practical situations is misguided.
 
DeJure said:
All you got out of the post was boasting about using jigs? Says much.
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You may interpret may statements however you'd like, and I can't stop you, but I think if you review what I wrote you missed a great deal of the intended message.
 
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