How do you Sharpen your Knives and how often?

[TomSeller]

Curious what everyone uses to sharpen their knives? And how frequently. More interested in hunting/utility/kitchen rather than baler knives, etc.

 

[turnkey4099]

Curious what everyone uses to sharpen their knives? And how frequently. More interested in hunting/utility/kitchen rather than baler knives, etc.

Mostly kichen knives. Sharpen on whetstone and steel them every few uses. Most of them are, and stay, scary sharp.

 

[IXLR8]

About every 3 months I gather up all the knives in our household and sharpen them on a whetstone. Some knives are still sharp after 3 months, some knives are dull as a hoe. All slice cleanly thru a sheet of paper when I am done.

 

[motownbrowne]

I have a couple of American synthetic stones in low grits from the hardware store. They work good to take out chips or put a bevel on a badly dulled edge. After that, though, I have Japanese synthetic stones, which are the best way to sharpen a knife in my opinion. Shapton and Naniwa are a couple of brands to look at if you're interested. Chefknivestogo.com is a great place to buy from and Mark, the owner is happy to help you get started.

 

[TractorGuy]

I just use the steel rod that came with my kitchen knives as needed. Gets them scary sharp with a few swipes but they don't seem to stay that way long. I also have a Lansky knife sharpening kit if I want to get precise angles. Usually use that on hunting and utility knives.

 

[s219]

So we looked into this back in 2008 or so, when my wife invested in some fancy kitchen knives (expensive but well worth it). One source we trust immensely for everything about cooking is America's Test Kitchen, which is a show on PBS. If you don't know about them, they investigate old/classic recipes and come up with new recipes by scientifically varying ingredient amounts, cooking times, etc, to figure out the best way to cook stuff. It's pretty fascinating and their recipes are always a home run for us.

They have a segment reviewing kitchen tools and equipment, and it's very helpful. They are good at weeding out the gimmicks, and the junk, and the overpriced tools. When it came to sharpening knives, they ended up recommending a very simple knife sharpener you can find in a hardware store:

AccuSharp 1 Knife Sharpener - - Amazon.com

We've had one of those for 9 years and it continues to do an awesome job. I think it was $7 when I bought it at the hardware store years ago. We also have a truing bar, which is used to straighten the blade edge periodically between sharpening.

My dad is a traditionalist and likes using a whetstone, but I showed him the sharpener and even he was surprised. It got the knives noticeably sharper than he could. It gets them razor sharp, so be extra careful (although dull kitchen knives are more dangerous than sharp ones from what I have heard).

 

[RBLapham]

I bought a "Work Sharp" to do my knives. It's a little belt sander with different grades of belts. Very sharp and quick. Best sharpener I ever bought and I've had quite a few. Knife & Tool Sharpeners - Work Sharp

 

[Looking4new]

I use a steel on the carving knife.
My skinning knife gets a swipe or two with a tungsten steel sharpener called Speedy Sharp. It is razor sharp! There is no such thing as a knife that is too sharp.

 

[oosik]

I have only Chicago Cutlery kitchen knives. Sharpen them approximately every third use on a synthetic diamond stick.

 

[brown40]

I have a couple of stones with varying grit--nothing fancy, or brand name. A larger green double sided from Harbor freight Also have a small, flat diamond embedded steel that really does well considering its tiny. I usually pull them all down a couple times a year and check the edges (no sense in removing metal for sport). The steel that comes with a lot of sets is nice for a quick dress or tuning the edge/burr, but isn't really a sharpener so much as an edge straightener.
I think as far as a surgical edge goes, the sushi/samurai guys have got it down on materials & technique--the folks that can afford it pay big money for a set of natural stones. I do not have a strop, which is the way to abrade away the little wire/burr that form on the edge during the sharpening process, then flops from side to side as you try and remove it. I end up hitting them with the steel when it seems like they need a tune up.