How do you Sharpen your Knives and how often?

[sixdogs]

After years of trying different things I settled on a diamond stone from Harbor Freight. I leave in in a drawer in the kitchen and touch up on the coarse side every few days for my pocket knife and when needed for other knives. The coarse side works best for me and, in effect, leaves a very tiny "serrated" edge to the knife. I touch up dry with no water lubricant, it only takes a minute and it works great.

The HF stone works for a while but eventually gets dull or something so I may switch to a Norton coarse stone from Ebay for $24. Norton makes great stuff.

 

[Eric Salop]

Married for almost 40 years and still haven't found a way to deter my wife from sometimes cutting things on a ceramic plate instead of a chopping board. Instead of a long time with the steel, I now use a small belt sander with 3M Trizac belts to restore an edge.

With this I found I was struggling to keep a perfectly consistent angle and the clamps they sell for the purpose look slow to use. Instead I made a little jig to help me "feel" the correct angle and remove only the minimum amount of metal.

 

[keegs]

This guy knows what he's doing: How to Sharpen a Knife with Paul Sellers - YouTube

 

[newbury]

I classify knife sharpening as making and keeping things sharp, but that includes axes. lawn mower blades and machetes. My Dad was big on keeping knives SHARP. He would use a whetstone and the final test was to shave the fine hair on the back of his arm. I was probably 12 or 13 before I had enough hair to shave but that's how I learned with my Buck knives.

But since I am frequently gone for weeks it's important to have a relative idiot and fool proof sharpener that those that don't know how to sharpen can use in the kitchen. For that I bought a "Chef's Choice Electric Knife Sharpener" in about 1985. It's still plugging along and does fair duty on the kitchen knives. But my "oldest" sharpener is built out of a grinder stand with a circa 1930's refrigerator motor cobbled together by my Grandfather in the 1940's. That sees limited duty, mainly lawn mower blades, axes and machetes.

But for personal use on pocket knives to 10 inch blades I've gravitated from the whetstone to the Shop Smith 2 step with a foray into using the HF 1 in. x 30 in. Belt Sander for $40.
(coupon)

I bought a bunch of the Shop Smiths at Lowes for ~ $2.50 and spread them around the houses and toolboxes so I have a knife sharpener handy. Small, handy, bright yellow and easy to use. The HF BS is widely reviewed on the web and with the right belts is good for sharpening small pocket knives to machetes.

 

[hawkeye08]

Not often enough, my wife should not notice when I sharpen the knives, they should be sharp always, but like so many things, I wait until I use one and notice it is dull and then I drag out the electric sharpening machine and sharpen them all.

 

[forgeblast]

I do a lot of wood carving, greenwood mostly spoons, but also bowls etc and turn on a spring pole lathe.
I use a tormek if the edge is needed to be re profiled.
Other wise its water stones i have a 3/8k one I like a lot and then strop.
I put the strop compound on a piece of mdf and every half hour of carving strop.

 

[RobertBrown]

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

This^
Makes short work of it.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I also use the AccuSharp knife sharpeners. They do a great job on household knives, fast and easy. And cheap. Keep it in the knife drawer in the kitchen, any blade that is a little dull gets a couple swipes and that is all it takes.

 

[TheeKb]

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.

Love to see tutorial vid when u have a chance! Nothing like everlasting knowledge!

 

[JRobyn]

I like using the Harbor Freight 4-sided diamond hone for quick restorations on pocket knives. Usually use either the 400 or 600 grits. Maybe once every couple of months unless there's been unusually harsh usage.
But I guess like many folks, I am not too accurate at holding a precise angle, so occasionally pocket knives (and definitely the expensive Henckels kitchen knives) get treated to a "Lansky job". Maybe once every year or two. I've collected 4 different diamond grit stones for that, plus at least 4 natural stones of different grits. After the Lansky job on the kitchen knives, they get an occasional steeling, maybe once a month. Axes, hatchets, machetes get the bench belt sander as needed. I can make a pretty good edge on things like scissors and pruners with a small hand-held diamond hone. Lawn mower and bushhog blades get the 4" disk grinder.