How do you Sharpen your Knives and how often?

[dmccarty]

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....

I have not been married 40 years but I do not think it is possible to get the wife to use a proper cutting board. <sigh> :confused3: We have four cutting boards but she still will use a ceramic plate with the good knives. We have some cheap steak knives that can be used on a ceramic plate or even digging in the yard :shocked: and I don't care but lordy treat the expensive knives with some respect. <sigh>

I use the steel on the chief knife almost every time before use. Every decade or so I use a whetstone.

Later,
Dan

 

[newbury]

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.
<snip>

I'd rather see my wife using a knife on a plate than my pate.

 

[turnkey4099]

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.

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A steel is not meant to "restore" and edge, it is used after the knife has been sharpened to align the edge, it really doesn't remove metal. Procedure is.

Sharpen
Steel
use
Steel again every few uses will usually keep them scary sharp for a months in the average kitchen use.

 

[TheeKb]

I received a machete with a custom grip and sheath as a groomsmen gift. Keep it right beside me in the truck. Never know what kind of brush I might need to chop down. My buddy said he could sharpen it but he really messed it up and thinned it quite a bit but it's still salvageable. I also have a couple different knives that I use for cleaning and processing wild game and cleaning fish. I steer clear of bones but sometimes we all mess up. I have always wanted to learn how to sharpen them efficiently. I have one small and one large round Whetstone with square holes in the middle, I'm assuming they went to a grinding wheel??? Great thread!

 

[Zerk]

I use lansky. with 5 or 6 stone, for serious knives, sometimes kitchen. Kitchen usually one of the gadgets. I also got super fine stone for occasional touch up of my everyday knife.

Wouldn't mind getting more lansky stones. But I do like the super fine stone, cause quick and no set up. I do a guide system but never used it yet.

I do use cutting boards. But I still eat off plates

 

[PILOON]

Good old fashioned oil stone and a few drops of 3 in 1 oil for me.
I do all our knives about once a month and can test just by the feel on my finger. (and never cut myself)
Generally they only need a couple of strokes in a swirly motion.
A nice clean slice on paper is a nice test but you know its sharp when you get a clean slice on a ripe tomato.
Most of our better knives are German Heinkle or French Sabatier.
I collect them at yard sales and like to restore them however my best is a hunting (skinning) that I crafted from a Nicholson file and man that blade keeps an edge.
I also have a blade that I fashioned from a big power hacksaw blade.
I also have made carving gouges from 4130 chrome molly tubing.
Shucks I even sharpen my OLFA blades when I work on leather projects, only need one or 2 swipes to do so. Leather really dulls a blade really fast.

 

[SandburRanch]

This stone was my Grandfather's and I'm 76 so we can just assume it's about 100 + years old. I've had several in my life but this one is a favorite even though it appears to be worn out from sharpening knives to castrate pigs, calves, butcher chickens to skinning squirrels and raccoons for a century. Coarse side, fine side and in one area the coarse has worn through to the fine side but it's still a good Ole stone.

When the knife angle gets too steep, I have a nice old bench grinder with a fine stone at about 1,725 rpm that corrects the angle quickly.

And of course the wife cuts into the china.

 

[downsizingnow48]

Good old fashioned oil stone and a few drops of 3 in 1 oil for me.
I also have a blade that I fashioned from a big power hacksaw blade.

My uncle gave us a knife he made from a power hacksaw blade in 1973 as a wedding present. Mesquite wood handle from a bush in his back yard. I sharpened it once. We only use it for bread or roast beef, never on a hard surface or where there might be bone. An amazing knife!

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

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.

That's because a steel doesn't actually sharpen a blade. It just straightens out the microscopic bends, so that it cuts better. It extends the time between sharpenings, but they still need to be sharpened.

I also have a Lansky knife sharpening kit if I want to get precise angles. Usually use that on hunting and utility knives.

Yep. I use a Lansky on good knives. My family is too careless with blades to buy good kitchen knives, so they get cheap knives sharpened on a ceramic rod gizmo from HF. Works well enough.

 

[GLyford]

I sharpen whenever the lack of cut annoys me, which is about twice as often as the wife does.

I used to use a HF 1x30 belt with either 120 or 80 grit, just a couple of quick passes and then a touchup with a cheapy coarse-ish diamond hone to kill the burr.

While I might still do that now and again when I notice they're all dull, I figured out that same diamond hone worked pretty quick by itself so I just moved it to the kitchen drawer and touch them up at the sink without having to haul knives into the shop.

My basic test is to look at the edge straight-on in bright light. When I can't see it anymore, I'm done.

While nowhere near perfect, it is quick and no complaints.