Knife Sharpening?

What do you use to sharpen your knives?
Are you a do it yourselfer or do you send them out?
Man, my blades are dull.

Never had the knack of sharpening a blade. About twice a year I take those in need to a (quite literally) little old man not far from the Carmel Market (the shuk) of Tel Aviv. Charges NIS 5 (about US$1.40) for each blade. And I always tip him with a cigar.

I have a very old Chef's Choice Diamond Hone Sharpener that works well for me. I'm sure there are much better units.

http://www.amazon.com/Edgecraft-0100000-Diamond-Electric-Sharpener/dp/B000ND79US

Stone and steel.

I use synthetic japanese waterstones, and do it myself.

Winger I think that Kroger will sharpen knives for free. I suspect they use an electric sharpener, and I wouldn't taker my Warther Knives there but would take my old Chicago cutlery knives to them. I first heard of Warther knives from Anders. http://www.warthercutlery.com/catalog/

I use a steel routinely and stones when they start really getting dull. None of that is a substitute for having them professionally sharpened, though. There's a guy with a mobile sharpening service who sets up in the parking lot of the corner market once in a while. When he does, I'll grab a couple of my blades that are most in need of attention and have him revitalize them.

i use a steel each time I use my knives, almost. When needed I call the knife guy who comes to my house with his truck and shop built over the back end. He takes care of my knives, very well. The joy of living in a smaller city, where locals take care of each other.

I use my Son, he is a chef. He generally uses a stone and steel sharpening shaft rod.
He has told me never to use any of those handheld or electrical devices. They do sharpen, but they are not good for the knives.

If my grandfather was alive, he would have only said a leather strap. He was a barber and with all his straight edge razors thats all he used. I still have his leather strap and about 5 pearl handled straight edge razors (from early 1900's)

I use ceramic rods and, if the knife is in good shape to begin with, have little trouble getting almost any knife "shaving sharp."

I use a whetstone and water after every use.

I use ceramic rods and, if the knife is in good shape to begin with, have little trouble getting almost any knife "shaving sharp."

I had a couple of ceramic rods years ago and they did work really well.

I’ve got a bunch of knives for specific purposes—yeah, I blew the bird’s beak / tourne in the name-that-knife-shape quiz like everyone else because of the unfamiliar term, but I own a bird’s beak and all the rest. And they are of a variety of steels, from stainable carbon to crappy German knives of ChroMo 15 to Japanese and now German VG-10. They are all wicked sharp.

A 12-inch oval diamond-studded steel is the first step. Yes, I know that it’s gradually wearing away the blade, but really, the same can be said of the finest Arkansas novaculite and it’s just easier to get the right angle on a vertical plane. The hair-shaving edge comes from ceramic rods. Too bad there’s not a 12-inch steel-core ceramic “steel” for sale.

Controlling the natural tendency of the human to twist on longer blades takes practice, but I’m a pool player and can do that!

We entertain casually and often guests want to join in the prep of salads and other last-minute fare, but only those we know can handle our cooking knives get the nod. Most people have never experienced truly sharp knives—if the knife won’t cleanly sliver any cooked or raw meat or vegetable by the weight of the blade alone in drawing it across, that knife is dull.

I periodically use a steel, but, eventually, pay a local shop (Cook's Companion) a few bucks to do the sharpening.

There is a guy in a truck who comes through the neighborhood. He's good enough for scissors and scut knives but not good kitchen knives.

So, it sounds like the little machine like I have is not used and not desirable. Why is that? I don't have outragesously expensive knives but its always works well for me. Is the issue that it removes too much material?

Tom, you sound pretty happy with what you've got. That's desirable! BTW the latest version of the Chef's Choice includes "revolutionary flexible stropping discs" in stage three.

So, it sounds like the little machine like I have is not used and not desirable. Why is that? I don't have outragesously expensive knives but its always works well for me. Is the issue that it removes too much material?

Tom, what is the little machine you have? I think I have a Chefs Choice four slot electric knife sharpener around here someplace, but I guess I never learned how to properly use it as I never did notice a lot of difference in sharpness after using. The four slot is supposed to have 2 coarse grinding wheels, (one for each of the blade, and 4 fine wheels. One simply drops the blade in the slot and pull the knife toward himself however many times until the desired sharpness is achieved. Maybe I never pulled the knife enough times.

Tom, what is the little machine you have?

Chef's Choice with 3 slots - one course and two fine.

I almost never use the course but, yes, you need to run it through each fine slot several times (maybe 5-10).

I ALWAYS sharpen a knife when I'm just about to chop something so, for example, I can test the chef's knife on a tomato and go back to the machine if I'm not satisfied. I don't just sharpen the knife and place it back in the storage block. Of course I don't sharpen the knife for each use. Maybe 2-3 times per year.

Chef's Choice with 3 slots - one course and two fine.

I almost never use the course but, yes, you need to run it through each fine slot several times (maybe 5-10).

I ALWAYS sharpen a knife when I'm just about to chop something so, for example, I can test the chef's knife on a tomato and go back to the machine if I'm not satisfied. I don't just sharpen the knife and place it back in the storage block. Of course I don't sharpen the knife for each use. Maybe 2-3 times per year.

Sounds good Tom, I will get my 4 slot (it's an older model) out and try it again on my Chicago Cutlery chefs knife and see what happens. The CC hasn't been sharpened in a looooooon time so it might require more than 5-10 times in each slot. My Warthers I can send back to the maker for free sharpening. I say free, but it is not really free as I have to pay shipping.

I steel my knives regularly. For a real sharpening I have sent them out


Mr. Leonard's Sharpening Service
13507 Riverton Drive
Midlothian, VA 23113
www.MrLeonardKnifeSharpener.com
facebook- Mr. Leonard's Sharpening Service

This all reminds me of two questions:

1. What do folks think of Kyocera ceramic knives?
2. Do you sharpen Kyocera ceramic knives and, if so, how?

Tom, I have the Kyocera 5" ceramic chef's knife. I really love it. If memory serves, it was $20 at Bed, Bath & Beyond and then I used a 20% off coupon. I don't know what I'll do if/when it needs sharpening but until then, it has impressed me very much. I gave several as Christmas gifts. It will slice a warm loaf of French bread with little or no compression of the bread. It slices through raw meats and hard veggies with almost no effort. I had to put a lable on it, however, noting that it was for slicing only so my daughter would not smash garlic with it. But one at a store that'll take it back if you don't like it.

Thanks! And I understand that you should never use a Kyocera ceramic knife on bone (e.g., cutting up a whole chicken)?

I use the Lansky Sharpening System for all of my blades. The angle guide allows for sharpening of traditional Western knives, as well as the lower bevel Japanese styles. For those that will use them quite a bit, a move up to the diamond line might be advisable.

http://www.lanskysharpeners.com/LKCLX.php