[Closed] Knife sharpening

Taylor's Eye Witness Chantry
Proper steel (I use Wüsthof)
Wet stone, once or twice a year for a proper going over.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KLS9UCY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qP2GFbY5KRRQ H"> http://BearMoo Sharpening Stone, 2-IN-1 Whetstone, 400/1000 Grit Knife Sharpening Stone - Waterstone - Rubber Stone Holder Included https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KLS9UCY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qP2GFbY5KRRQH

This and some patience and practice

I’ve got one of these:
https://heinnie.com/lansky-turn-box-4-rod
It works very well, it’s got coarse and fine ceramic rods that fit inside the box so it’s very portable. There’s another one that has a pair of diamond rods for really blunt knives.
Lansky also do a sharpener that’s small enough to hang on a keyring, and which is only £5.95. I’ve got a couple of them, I keep one in the kitchen on a hook, that I use for a quick touch-up of the edge of any of my knives.
https://heinnie.com/lansky-mini-crock-stick
It works really well, and is really easy to use, and cheap enough to have several around in handy places.

Taylor’s Eye Witness Chantry

This is surprisingly good. You'd think it like those old hand held types in use the last thousand years but its not, and you can achieve and maintain a very keen edge.

I'm ex butcher, retired after a total of 12 years in that trade.
Last shop I worked in was a big shop with 7 butchers. I started and the first hing I noticed were these chantry sharpeners everywhere, so i was kind of stuck using them.
First impressions poor but i got the hang of the pressure and if it gives a knife the edge to cut through flesh, then thats good enough for anything else. Meat production needs a razor shape blade.

As above also got a whetstone, though mine is a sharpenset.

NOTE TO ALL - You must always wipe a knife with a damp cloth after any sort of sharpening, even a steel. The action of friction of the metal has a magnetic effect and small ground particles can stick to it, you should always give it a wipe after..

Blade tech

Life is too short for Japanese wet stones.

Taylor’s Eye Witness Chantry

Got one of the original chantry ones that we got on clearing out a relative's old house. It's brilliant. Easiest and most consistent sharpener I've used. It's less aggressive than those suction cup anysharp ones.

To get rid of nicks and rolled or damaged edges, a 240 grit waterstone. Rough profiles the edge but will not be razor sharp.

Progress to a 600 grit, then 1000 then 4000. And now the clever bit.

Get a piece of leather. I use a bit of chrome leather welding apron stuck to a handle made of flat plywood. Apply some chromium oxide paste to the leather. Youll know the stuff, its the bright green waxy sticks. Not expensive at all.
Draw the blade at a shallow angle (around 10 to 20 degrees,depending on your blade) BACKWARDS ,ie drag the spine of the blade first, not tbe cutting edge. Do this 10 times a side, lightly, at the same shallow angle. Repeat 8 times a side, then 6 then 4 then 2 then 1 . You should end up with a mirror finish , razor sharp, and I mean you could shave with it, knife blade. Using this method I have always got my grafting knives, kitchen knives and even my felling axes razor sharp.
Top tips for you. Keep your waterstones saturated in a bucket of water, do not wipe away the slurry, keep them flattened by rubbing against a flat surface with a sheet of emery stuck to it.
Oh, and if you find yourself without chrome paste, a piece of corrugated cardboard makes a fair approximation of a strop. Use the same method.
Sounds labour intensive but takes minutes to get a good edge on my knives.
Plenty of youtube videos and instruction online to help you.

Global knife sharpener

Had one of these as a free gift when I bought my knives a few years ago. Piece of cake to use, gives me a great edge repeatedly and takes no time at all to sharpen all my knives.

Comes with two grades of stone, more can be bought of and when required.

@johnny, I'm going to try the leather strop later, thanks!

Depends on what you're looking for as the end result, something sharpened quickly for minimal effort but with the downside you'll be taking more metal off the knife than you need + an edge that won't last too long. Or sharpening than takes 5-20 minutes per knife, removes less material, allows for correcting chips and produces (with a fair bit of practice) a long lasting edge (unless the knife is a soft steel and you use too low a sharpening angle).

If the former then go for a decent pull-through sharpener (plenty of reviews out there, I'd say ideally get one with three different progression slots so you can touch it up a bit easier on the last progression slot). Bear in mind as well that generally they leave micro-serrations on the edge, this actually helps with cutting but they quickly disappear with use so the blade seems to dull quickly.

If the latter than whetstones are the thing to get, possibly start with a 1000/3000 or 700/2000 combination stone. 1000 grit is generally all you really need unless correcting damage or thinning but on a very blunt knife can mean it takes more time to get a sharp edge than starting with a lower grit. Going higher than 1000 is just about getting it even sharper but generally only worth it for very hard steel otherwise it won't hold for long. Not sure about costing a fortune but it can get spendy, I have 4 Shapton glass and a Naniwa Pro stone now (but started with a £25 combination stone off Amazon).

As above, it's surprising how much difference a leather strop can make. I've only used one after sharpening with whetstones though, not sure how much it helps after a pull-through

but with the downside you’ll be taking more metal off the knife than you need +

You'll remove more material with a whetstone than you ever will with a pull through sharpener, that's the point of it, to take all the high metal off at chipped areas.

That Global one looks a tad spendy, there are many similar on the market for less. Do the paper test intermittently when sharpening as most knives will never feel as sharp as chisels but they do cut the paper. A bit of autosol on the strop can help.

Whetstone then wipe the blade across the top of a open car window.

One of those Lansky kits to get a proper edge.

Leather and metal polish strop to keen them shaving sharp.

The advantage of a Lansky system is the consistency of angle, but you need to learn to set it correctly. I use one for the knives I need to keep surgically sharp, and for the kitchen knives to put a working edge on them.

Once you've sharpened it strop it for perfection if you really need a razor sharp edge. I use a piece of flat 3x1 lath with a piece of leather from an upholstery sample glued onto it, fleshy side up. Loaded with smurf poo or jewellers rouge it adds a final polish and a really keen edge. Out of the kitchen I'll use the inside of my belt to strop it if necessary. Once sharpened the kitchen knives are steeled after use to tidy the edge back up, until such time they need redoing. Especially important if they're going anywhere near bone.

I only use a whetstone for the big stuff like the carving knife, as the limit of the Lansky system is the length of the blade. Oh, and a butchers boning knife that is already half the width it used to be, and can simply be ground and reground every time it needs it.

I've got some Japanese knives and non Japanese ones.

Will the Taylor’s Eye Witness Chantry work on both?

I've got a whetstone and I have had enough of 1/2hours spent sharpening knives.

I'm clearly not very consistent with how I hold a knife while sharpening it.