Let's talk knive sharpeners

[mycox 582]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

Note that that model uses 15 degree/side edge bevels, common on Asian knives and probably OK to great for the kitchen.  But a little on the thin side for utility knives or choppers or hard-use kitchen blades.

Some of the other Chef's Choice give you an option of bevel angle

Smith's Adjustable Angle has this option. It's a good sharpener and has 6 angles. Anything from kitchen knives to pocket knives. It also sharpens serrated knives.

[dcbc 14525]

I just ordered a Chef's Choice 4643.  Seems like a decent manual sharpener for the money.  We'll see.  I still have my whetstone, but I need to have sharp knives while I practice getting better at that skill.

[Gladeite 375]

I have the Chef's Choice also.   Remarkably good at sharpening kitchen knives.  Leave it in the drawer below the knives.  When I use one or three, get the sharpener out and give it a few strokes.  It is not particular about the stroke pattern and knives are pretty sharp.

I have the Ken Onion Work Sharp, electronic Chef's Choice with polishing wheels, and others.  But the manual gets the most use.

[Celery Man 21003]

On 10/29/2021 at 7:11 AM, deadshank said:

Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker.  
 

Simple and extremely effective. Good knives will be like razor blades.  Cheap knives will be very sharp. 
 

 

Got one of these for Christmas. I feel like the stones are a little short for big kitchen knives, but it certainly worked. I also feel like I kinda “get” it now and might feel confident working my way towards just using a stone.

 My little kershaw I keep in the kitchen for boxes and shit is also SHARP now. Need to do the bucks.

[deadshank 24653]

23 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

Got one of these for Christmas. I feel like the stones are a little short for big kitchen knives, but it certainly worked. I also feel like I kinda “get” it now and might feel confident working my way towards just using a stone.

 My little kershaw I keep in the kitchen for boxes and shit is also SHARP now. Need to do the bucks.

The key to using the Spyderco product is moving your whole arm left and right while keeping your forearm perpendicular to the sharpening triangle  and not keeping your elbow in the same spot and just moving your forearm at left and right angles. 
 

 

[TwiceHorn 31554]

20 minutes ago, deadshank said:

The key to using the Spyderco product is moving your whole arm left and right while keeping your forearm perpendicular to the sharpening triangle  and not keeping your elbow in the same spot and just moving your forearm at left and right angles. 
 

 

Also true of whetstones.  The more of your arm you use (easier with bigger stones), the easier it is to hold an angle.  If you're using a smaller stone and working mostly with your wrist, you're probably fucking up.

[dcbc 14525]

On 1/7/2022 at 7:15 AM, dcbc said:

I just ordered a Chef's Choice 4643.  Seems like a decent manual sharpener for the money.  We'll see.  I still have my whetstone, but I need to have sharp knives while I practice getting better at that skill.

It arrived today and I tested it on my 20 year old wedding gift Henckels chef's knife before trusting it with the better stuff that I keep in a roll away from the rest of the family.  This one has disks instead of rods and requires a back and forth motion.  Between the 20 degree and polishing slots, it puts a compound beveled edge on the knife.  Since this knife needed some attention, I gave it 10 back and forth swipes through the 20 degree slot and 8 in the polishing slot.  Sliced through paper like nobody's business.  We'll see how long the edge lasts with regular honing, but I"m pretty pleased so far.  Supposedly the discs don't remove quite as much material as pull through sharpeners with rods.