What, on the BBS? C’mon, it was only a matter of time 
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Honestly I’ve lost track of the knife sharpening fights I’ve cheerfully heard… they are much better in person, though. Eventually somebody whips out his daily carry or boot knife and proves he can shave with it, and then it inevitably moves on to the “dry falling leaf” competition. It’s great!
For mere mortals unwilling to use graded talcum powder as the last step in a lengthy process, I second @Dave_Rudolph’s recommendation of a cheap chinese 1"x30" belt grinder. Mine’s a Delta with a 5" disc on the side that I rebuilt from trash; even with the disc it takes up very little bench space and is easily shelved. It’s a more useful tool than any electric knife sharpener, and with the right belts and a little practice it’ll do a great job on your knives.
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I really quite enjoyed that to and fro.
It actually made me want to go and sharpen my knives. I have stones.
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Since nobody seems to have commented on it yet, the DMT diamond hones are indeed great tools for sharpening knives, and that set of 3 for $20 is a great bargain. I have their “Diafold” folding handle sharpeners, which have a similar sized hone, in medium/fine/extra fine and have used them for everything from tiny pocket knife blades, to 10" chef knives, to bolo knives, machetes, and axe blades.
You do need to have your technique down, but it’s a nice skill to learn. Just think, after the apocalypse you can roam around offering your services to put the edge on the swords of the local warlords! (“What, you’re going to chop my head off? You should let me put a proper edge on that thing first.”)
The diamond stones have two considerable advantage over traditional stones. The first is that they’ll grind fairly fast and you don’t need to put any significant pressure on it to take metal off - you can do repeated strokes with very light pressure, which makes it easier to keep a consistent angle. The second is that they don’t require attention to keep the “pores” of the stone from clogging, as more traditional stones do, and they won’t dish out after years of use which again makes it easy to keep the angle consistent.
BTW, the video’s a little misleading as it’s showing their bench “stone” type hones which are much larger and considerably more expensive than these, but as I said for $20 these are really a steal.
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Wolf Baginski, eh? Didn’t I meet you when I was passing through the Spontoons one time?
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Those will help you maintain a consistent angle, which is arguably more important than a correct angle. The guide is a fixed size so the width of the blade will determine the angle these things provide; a cleaver will be at a completely different angle from a boning knife. And you’ll still have to freehand the tip if there’s any curve to it.
That being said, training wheels ain’t perfect either, but they can make a huge difference in the learning curve for an almost purely physical skill! Book-learning and Internet forums won’t teach sharpening the way a few ruined knives and nicked fingers will, it’s a feel thing.
I use a rolling guide and eight different grades of sandpaper glued to a glass plate when I sharpen my big framing chisels, to get two separate mirror-bright precision surfaces on the cutting face and a dead flat back. But for axes and kitchen knives I don’t need that… too much work for too little return. Food and firewood don’t require micro-precision cutting.
Get a stropping belt to finish up. There are 1x30’s on Amazon. Takes a minute and puts a great edge on a blade.
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That’s why I said to get the Spyderco kit. Super easy, nice results.
My Shun knives don’t date belt sanders. My Forschner scimitar might be interested though,
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I wonder how that set compares to this one at half the price. http://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-2-inch-x-6-inch-diamond-hone-blocks-36799.html
I have 2 8" chefs knives and 1 7" santoku I’ve used these on. Did I do the kind of amazing, perfect, razor sharp job the angle grinder guys are talking about here? Unlikely. Was I super pleased? Yes.
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All this talk just makes me feel more ashamed I have some good stones from 2 grandpas, and dull knives, but too darn lazy…
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I’m really bad about dull knives, and am a firm believer in whetstones. It’s how I know how to get a good edge anyway. I’ve been known to sharpen entire sets of cutlery while house sitting. (No, I will not house sit for you.)
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Thanks! I’ll give them a try.
I use one of these for everything around the house:
I worked in a cutlery shop for a while during college sharpening, primarily, knives and scissors, but I also did axes and even a sword - once. I used belt grinders, stones and ceramics - which, and in which order, depended on multiple factors. I understand and appreciate that sharpening is something people are passionate about - as this thread indicates - so I have no opinion as to which method is best. Whatever works for you is what’s best…
I got this while I worked there which was about… wow, 20 years ago now - what I like about this ceramic setup is it sets the angle for you, all you need do is draw the blade straight down while pulling it back towards you, holding it at a ninety degree angle from the surface and, bingo, Robert’s your fathers brother. It also works with straight or serrated blades. Both pocket knives pictured are serrated, the one on top is a Harpy but I’m not sure what the other one is called (anyone?). It belonged to my brother who has since passed.
BTW, the copper rods coming off the sharpener to the left are safety guards, and I have a goodly sized scar on my left hand from using this without them…
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I think that’s the
a.k.a. “Sharpmaker” that Seamus recommended, is it not?
The knife on the right might be the older Spyderco “Police” model, or it might be an Endura model with the metal handle, or possibly a smaller model; I can’t really tell the blade length from this picture.
Yes, all products are from Spyderco. Both knives are about the same age as the sharpener.
It’s 8.5" overall with a blade length of 3.25".
Not angle grinders (wince) small belt grinders. Very different from those bench grinders with the lightweight stone wheels you used in high school metal shop - easier and safer to use, for two things. And let’s never mention angle grinders again.
But yeah, I totally grok ya. When I said I sharpen things with rocks earlier I was totally not kidding - I’ll literally wade into a stream, pick a good rock, and put a fine edge on a machete, axe or boot knife. You use what does the job! A set of small diamond stones like that seems very appropriate to the kitchen. I love industrial diamonds for sharpening.
Yeah, me too. Last fall while visiting with a couple friends in the Bay Area, we went to visit some of their friends for a sushi-making party, and since the latter folks couldn’t find a sharpening stone I ended up quickly sharpening virtually all of their kitchen knives using the bottom-of-a-coffee-cup trick. It was just too irksome trying to work with dull knives or seeing others do the same. “You need not suffer like this!”
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