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A not too pricey but effective one please but not a sharpening stone and oil ta.
Thanks
Sabatier professional for speed, Fallkniven DC4 for portability and finishing, or a fixed angle system such as a Lansky, or similar for a consistent and pretty much perfect edge.,
Just have a look at what is popular on a few knife store or forum, there are loads of good options
But you know you really want a set of stones ...
Shinkansen MinoSharp.
Japanese water roll sharpener, I've been using a KC1OO for going on 10 years now, it's great.
The purists will be doing to disagree in a minute mind. 🤣
Ta, I'll have a look at those.
Annoyingly this is one of my saved threads that's disappeared into Internet space...
But you know you really want a set of stones …
Which is where I'm being drawn to. I have a decent steel & one of those ceramic wheel things but I also now have 3 decent knives (& some less decent ones) My mrs got me a Japanesey Damascusy steely one for my birthday & I actually shaved some arm hairs off with it, It's like a scalpel in sharpness, but I need to keep it that way so, what stones do I need?
Defo no stones for me but any links to those others recommended would help thanks
I used to use steels to sharpen my knives (my father was a butcher) but was recommended the MinoSharp by a friend. Is it as good as the steel? No, but it’s bloody close. Less than a minute will leave the knife sharp enough to slice through a Peach under its own weight and will easily slice the stone of an Avocado.
They require little>skill to use.
I've been using them on a set of Globals for going on 5 years.
what stones do I need?
Couldn't really say as they get to be a bit of a personal choice
But have a read Here
Ignore the Diamond stones as they cut really fast making it quite easy to bugger an edge with a bad stroke, then work to budget and practice with your older knives first!
It sounds like a nice knife so should only need touching up every now and then unless you use it all the time, so a ceramic rod to keep it tidy would be useful too.
Wet stone. I switched from one of the MinoSharps after it broke there's a world of difference. No oil needed.
I've ordered the one I linked as I want something quick and easy to use.
Thanks all.
I use a MinoSharp Plus 3
From this site ages ago i start using the unglazed bottom of a cup. Works great for some kitchen knifes.
Global Minosharp in the kitchen - three wheeled version. Quick and easy to give your knife a quick sharpening. Steels take oiff too much.
there’s a world of difference
There really isn't, or the world of Drac is very, very small.
I've had a Mino sharp 3 wheel version for a long time and it's had good results, almost 'razor' sharp and certainly sharp enough for any kitchen task. However, I my knifes were beginning to look a little ratty with a few nicks in the edges so wanted to get them honed properly to give a proper 'base' again (this is after something like 10 years for the oldest decent knife) so I bought a Lanksey diamond sharpener set. It takes a while if starting with a 'wrong' angle but once done, the cutting ability is better and the durability also seems a lot better. I was skeptical, but it does really, really work. I'm going to invest in a ceramic 'steel' to keep them in tip top condition but the minosharp has been put to the back of the drawer.
Question on steels - do the hone or do they take the burr off?
I thought this was going to be about the death of the forum
A steel only maintains an edge, it doesn't create one. Watch a butcher at work and you'll see them give the edge a couple of strokes every few cuts to de-burr and straighten any little deformities in the edge, especially if they're going anywhere near bone. That edge will have been created using a stone, a technique I'm not ashamed to say I'm not patient enough to learn.
I use a Lansky system for my knives, from pocket knives to kitchen knives, for the simple reason the system means I can control the angle of the edge I'm creating. It's not a simple process, but once you learn how to drive it, it will make any blade razor sharp.
Once I've got the edge something like I then use a stropping board to finish it. This is a piece of wooden lath about 3"x 1" with a piece of leather glued to it, "fleshy" side up, rubbed over with smurf poo (jeweller's rose) and used to polish the edge to shaving sharp.
Stropping board also on the shopping list!
Victorinox hand-held. Six passes through with the knife and you can shave with it.
Simples.
Stropping board also on the shopping list!
I used an offcut - sanded the top flat and glued on a piece of leather from an upholstery sample using gorilla glue. Smurf poo comes in bars from ebay. Needs to be warmed up a bit ( I wave mine over the hob for a few seconds to loosen the wax base), then load it onto the leather by simply rubbing it into the nap.
Steels take oiff too much.
Steels take off almost nothing?
I used to use steels to sharpen my knives (my father was a butcher) but was recommended the MinoSharp by a friend. Is it as good as the steel? No, but it’s bloody close.
Steels aren’t for sharpening (creating an edge) they are for honing (straightening an already sharp edge)
You will never sharpen a dull blade with a steel.
^ this.
That was my understanding of a steel also, which is why I asked the question.
Yeah I know you said no stones, but if you want to actually sharpen your knives and not mess them up in the long term you're going to want to get a whetstone. They're cheap and you can look up the technique on youtube, took me all of 20 minutes and the difference is incredible. You only need to do that twice a year, and unlike those other sharpening machines you can buy on amazon, you won't be messing up the blade. Pair a stone with a honing steel and you won't need anything else ever.
Stones are the best way to sharpen knives but it’s all in the technique. Which can be a long hard laborious process to learn. Given that the stw massive have difficulties using prester valves, this probably isn’t a good idea.
The drag though sharpeners are pretty fool from but not exactly sympathetic to the blade.
i think the best compromise is something like the Ganzo sharpener system with replaceable stones and adjustable angle depending what you’re sharpening.
Easy to use. Really effective at getting a nice edge and works on most bladed objects.
I have a set of DMT diafolds. Generally use the red/green double sided one. Prefer to sharpen freehand (have had many years of practise now) but I have a Spyderco TriAngle which is good if freehand isn't good
I use a double sided Global water stone. Part of the fun is in the craft. Use it every couple of months and a steel to maintain between.
On a related note, does anyone have any good resources on how to sharpen a knife - youtube videos, etc?
Precisely Tetrode.
A crock stick sharpener is quick to use and works well. The spyderco triangle sharpmaker is expensive though. There are cheaper wooden ones off ali express and the like. if it comes with coarse and fine stones the coarse can be for more agressive sharpening and the fine can be used gently as a steel would to realign the edge.
Pick these up pretty cheap these days. It's a Skyline pull through. Still use mine for all my sharpening needs...
Found this site which may be of use to the whetstoners...
So...what's the difference between whetstones & oilstones? Apart from one uses water & the other uses something else. I have a very very old oilstone (I think It's an oilstone cos It's oily) it's seems like a really really fine grit but is slightly damaged in that it has a groove running down it. Do you reckon I could have it surfaced so I could use it properly with my knives?
Swiss isotar sharpener; had mine for 25 years still works perfectly. I use it to sharpen everything from kitchen knives, secateurs to hunting knives. Takes really dull blade to sharp in seconds.
Easel, you can reset your stones with something like a relatively cheap diamond flat and then start using it again. I make small hand carving tools and knives as a part time job/hobby and a have to reset some of the wetstones occasionally using this method.
I’ve had a Spyderco Tri-Angle sharpening kit since 1993, bought it in LA, but what I use most is a Lansky TurnBox 4-rod kit, which is much smaller but really easy to use and easy to carry around. Heinnie have them, and a slightly more expensive erosion with two diamond rods. I’m going to get the latter one as well, for getting a quick edge on abused old knives which can be given a finer edge with the ceramic sticks afterwards.
https://www.heinnie.com/lansky-turn-box-4-rod
https://www.heinnie.com/lansky-turn-box-4-rod-diamond-ceramic
On a related note, does anyone have any good resources on how to sharpen a knife – youtube videos, etc?
This is probably the one I found most useful;
Stellar sharpener with 2 diamond wheels.
Have worked our way through steels, diamond steels, the 'anysharp' style with the metal v (which seem to take loads of material off the blade and leave a slightly serrated edge). Katie has stones/diamond stones etc for her chisels but in the kitchen something quick and easy just works.
inspired by this thread, I went and dug up my old, but almost unused Lansky set...
After about 20 minutes of practice, I managed to turn a really dull small santoku knife into a blisteringly sharp weapon of telephone page destruction!
No doubt that the good old whetstones are very good, when you have proper technique, but when you don't have the time or patience to learn, the guided sets are very effective.
It took me a few minutes to learn but I suppose I'd also used oil stones for pen knives for years so that may of helped.
This is shaping up to rival the mighty ‘DE shaving’ thread.
Although I find myself on the ‘Mach 3 and a dollop of squirt foam’ faction this time around... 😉
I use a Lansky system for my knives, from pocket knives to kitchen knives
I find my Lansky is good for small knives but not great for bigger kitchen knives.