I've got a few nice kitchen knives that I feel I should be looking after a bit better than I currently do. I also fancy having a go at using a whetstone or similar as I like a nice sharp knife. Currently I've got one of those sharpening gadgets that you drag the blade through.
Would a cheap £20 double sided job be a good starting point and are there any brands I should look at or avoid?
Ta.
That depends on the grit and what you intend to do ...
£20 double sided is fine if you just want to mess around and to train your sharpening skills.
Plenty at [url= http://www.axminster.co.uk/sigma-japanese-ceramic-waterstone-3-000g ]aximinster [/url]
I would get any of the Japanese stone with the following grits:
1. 800
2. 1000
3. 2000
4. 4000
5. 8000
6. Leather
😀
If your knives are already sharp then you don't need a Whetstone, a sharpening steel would be of more use as they are designed to keep an edge rather than to actually sharpen.
That being said I've got something like this
http://www.johnlewis.com/kai-shun-combi-whetstone/p491217
for sharpening knives although I rarely use it. Whilst I have been tempted to get a leather strop (just because) it really isn't necessary.
