I have tried a steel and a whetstone and have manged nothing else but to serially blunt every knife we own. 😳 Is there an idiot proof gizmo that the hive mind can recommend to put a decent edge back on my knives?
If it’s a cheap knife then a “foolproof” but ugly method is to use an allsharp sharpener. If Im lazy I use it on my crap knives, but I also a steel EVERYTIME I use the knife to minimise the times I have to sharpen.
Remember a steel doesnt “sharpen” a blade, it merely “unfurls” the curled leading edge to regain the sharpeness.
Thanks all. I’ll go with the ‘ugly method’ to kick off with. The knives are old and ‘well loved’ but are certainly nothing special. Once I have established a decent edge to them, I’ll practice with the steel until I get the knack!
there are loads of fakes about, (although they still kind of work, it’s not rocket science – you drag a long bit of metal between two sharp bits of metal like a die and scrape off spare metal. v v ugly!)
but the originals have a nicer weight and feel to them.
You need a very shallow angle for kitchen knives, only 10 or 15 degrees between the blade and the steel. A few heavy draws straight across the steel should get them useable again unless they are really done.
Once you get an edge again, a little and often works best, as above. Storage is also important, if they are stuffed into a container or rattling around in a drawer with other metal utensils they will get dull very quickly.
Being something of a luddite I prefere a whetstone, the problem is finding a good one – most that you can find in the shop are useless. If you’ve got a good one, the best method(I think) is to use an action that imitates slicing a very thin slice off the top of the stone. Ie cutting edge forward, around 30 – 25 degrees ideally.
Course if your knives are totally blunt this might take a while! ( in which case a pot of elbow grease is a good addition)…
it’s not rocket science – you drag a long bit of metal between two sharp bits of metal like a die and scrape off spare metal.
Exactly. So why pay stupid money for one when you can get one for a few quid and try it out? I don’t get it.
Just checked, I paid £1.26 + £1 postage, to try it out, and it works a treat. I guess its blue plastic and not pretty stainless steel, but I’ve had it 2 years now.
I use a Minosharp and gives a sharp and long lasted edge to the knives. The edge you get from sharpening is also down to the quality of the knives so whilst you get a sharp edge it may not last long on lesser quality blades.
So nobody uses a bench grinder? Must be just me then.
I’m happy to use a handheld grinder but didn’t want to recommend that option. I’m assuming if the OP had a bench grinder, they would have figured it out by now, or have no knives left.
Diamond stones, easier than an old whetstone get a couple one courseish one fine they sometimes come in packs of different grades usually for just a few pounds.
As with most things these days youtube is a wash with instructional videos on knife sharpening.
I’ve used an ikea one for the past few years. Simple to use and gets knives ridiculously sharp in a few seconds. You will have to go into ikea to pick it up however.
I’ve used a couple devices similar to the Anysharp device (Stoner’s link). They are OK but don’t work well on blades that aren’t straight. So give the knife a good session on the steel beforehand to get the blade straight and then use it on the Anysharp device. The original has a better feel than the copies but they pretty much work the same.
But I found the Mino Sharp device (Drac’s link) to be much much better. It gets the blades sharper, is more tolerant of damaged blades and easier to use. I have the 3 wheel version (rough, medium and fine wheels). The rough wheel essentially does the same job as steel but its easier for the less experienced user to use and get consistent results. Its very quick to use, every now then you just have to drag the blade over each wheel 10 times, it takes seconds to do and you get a consistently sharp blade each time.
I have seen copies of the Mino sharp at cheaper prices but not used them. Again its not rocket science, so the copies probably work just as well.
Buy a decent sharpening stone and learn how to use it. There are various helpful youtube videos out there. I reckon the Japanese know a thing or two about sharpening blades so I bought a Naniwa combination stone. Now I could almost shave with my knives.
Stoner is spot on re steels- they can restore a sharp edge but can’t sharpen an already blunt knife
FWIW
it depends on the quality of the knife and what its being used for as to how often you need to sharpen it
we have a range of different knives on the knife block…some get used more often than others
my wifes favourite was a big kitchen devil knife…its about 9 years old now and needs sharpening quite regularly
my favourite knife is my stellar samurai sanktoku it will cut through anything and needs sharpening once every blue moon
the wife was never that keen on using it but recently has started to use it more often after she realised how good it was and is now her favourite
we also have another stellar santoku knife that is as good as the other one.
I use an idiot proof minosharp ceramic sharpener and keep the knives separate so they don’t hit metal to metal.
Quick to use and has maintained a good edge on my favourite knives for years. If I had a dull knife that needed more attention I would take it to the place in soho the chefs use for a new edge.
So how come our butcher just goes ‘swish swish swish swish’ on a steel & ends up with an edge that would take a terrorists head off with one slice?
I was always amazed as a kid watching the Co Op butcher sharpening his knife. (don’t worry, I wasn’t THAT amazed)
Agreed – I used to work in a chippy and was taught how to fillet and de-skin fish which meant a very sharp knife. I used to get a great edge but sometimes now I fail miserably as I am out of practice.
I got a diamond-coated sharpener off ebay for all of about 2 quid. One of these little metal sticks – smaller than I expected. Works a treat. Seems quite a bit more effective than a plain steel and easier than a sharpening stone. Maybe there is a downside somewhere along the line but for sharpening kitchen knives and scissors (plus garden tools) it seems to be just the ticket.
Ok if you are useless at sharpening, don’t mind it eating away the knife and then spending another 10 minutes making the bevel nice! Useless!
I have tried stones (very expensive stones), steels and machines, they all have their place, but not a single one does everything.
Stones: Great for getting that that razor sharp edge
Steels: Great for renewing a knife that is still ok
Machines: Great for screwed knives, chips and dents
I’ve just ordered the AnySharp.
Rusty: Nice link, but a bit OTT for kitchen knives!
best method i have found is to use a bit of porcelain… find a china cup, turn it upside down. now that bit where it is unglazed, drag your knife at a shallow angle across it doing both side of the blade.
bingo.
was shown to me years ago by a chinese guy… not this one:
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQAiyanQf8c[/video]