I used to suck at it.  I would relegate myself to the fact that every once in awhile I would need to visit that odd man sharpening knives out of the back of his van, at Farmer's Markets.  

 

I'd buy the occasional stone, try it, and then put it away, and look for my friend with the van.  

 

eventually, I figured it out.  angle, and pressure.  I usually use nothing more than the Spyderco Sharpmaker for maintenance.  but when things go terribly wrong, I can pull out a few stones and get them back.  my kitchen knives are nuts.  I use a Chinese Cleaver 90% of the time and it could do surgery.  inexpensive softer steels are easy for me to hone.  my pocketknife with more performance steel, slower but the concept is the same.  my pocket knife is crazy sharp.  

 

you any good?

I understand the concept, have the tools and the time.  Using various stones, steels and ceramic rods, most everything I own that's designed to cut, slice and or dice always has decently clean edge.  I am not however so proficient that I'm shaving with an axe. 

Just saying.

A-Jay

 

Decent. I recently learned a trick from Jeff baron on YouTube. He said you could roll your truck window halfway down and use the top of the glass in a pinch. Pretty handy when you’re on the go 

I've found that that 6" diameter oil-stone passed down from my grandfather, to my father to me has always given a sharper edge than any ceramic honing stone.

I use one of these.

I don’t own a lot of knives. I take mine into Cabelas once a year to get professionally sharpened. They have some kind of electric knife sharpener that does a nice job. No charge either.

20 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Decent. I recently learned a trick from Jeff baron on YouTube. He said you could roll your truck window halfway down and use the top of the glass in a pinch. Pretty handy when you’re on the go 

I use the bottom of a coffee cup sometimes...but this is my main tool.

With a stone I'm pretty d**n good if I do say so myself. I was meat department manager of the local grocery store in town from the age of 22 to 30. Learned how to sharpen knives on a 3 way stone from a guy that cut meat since the 50s and another guy that was line manager at a packing house for 25 years. At home I use a rada sharpener...it does ok.

I've gone thru many techniques over the years, for chisels, planes, and knives, kitchen and carving. I settled on a glass plate with wet/dry sandpaper in the higher grits with oil as a lube. Also diamond plates, mainly for knives. Final finish is a strop. I'm fairly good at it.

 

For bad damage or outdoor tools I use a slow speed grinding wheel and a file if needed.

 

I sharpen the kitchen and pocket knives before the holidays and use a  diamond rod before each use. Never had much luck with the ceramic.

What I use

https://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-Knife-Tool-Sharpener/dp/B08VD8ZGFZ?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A1Z46TLB8UOBP&th=1

45 minutes ago, slonezp said:

What I use

https://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-Knife-Tool-Sharpener/dp/B08VD8ZGFZ?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A1Z46TLB8UOBP&th=1

same, I may have even recommended that one to you way back in the day.

 

My kitchen knives are due for a sharpening

30 minutes ago, flyfisher said:

same, I may have even recommended that one to you way back in the day.

 

My kitchen knives are due for a sharpening

Very possible. Very convenient for a freshen up when I'm filleting 40 crappies.  or butchering a deer. 

I have an old set of ceramic sticks. Colorado Beaver Teeth is the name. If you hunt, you need razor sharp knives and broadheads. Take your time and your blades will shave. Also strop them on leather when sharpened and use a steel intermittently. 

yea.  someone mentioned a strop.  I found a new leather belt at a second hand store.  I rubbed some green compound on it and leave it in my garage for a strop.

 

takes it to the next level for sure.

 

 

1 hour ago, slonezp said:

What I use

https://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-Knife-Tool-Sharpener/dp/B08VD8ZGFZ?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A1Z46TLB8UOBP&th=1

Same here. I never had much luck with anything else.

My biggest learning is that we over-use shapeners and under-use strops. Unless your edge is actually damaged, stropping gives you better results. Grab one of the kits on amazon with the paddle and two different grit pastes and get to it. 

 

Also the youtube videos of japanese-style knife sharpening were really helpful, at least to me. 

 

My best knife sharpener:

Yeah, it really does come with an instruction manual. I was making knives for a while.

You end up needing to reprofile a knife on these to get a perfect edge, which takes forever on many of the new steels. 

 

 

 

What I end up using more often than not if I'm reparing an edge:

https://www.amazon.com/DMT-FWFC-Double-Diafold-Sharpener/dp/B00004WFTW/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2W9CY7GNHVCZ1&keywords=dmt+diamond+knife+sharpener&qid=1664137853&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjgxIiwicXNhIjoiMi44NyIsInFzcCI6IjEuNTkifQ%3D%3D&s=hi&sprefix=dmt+diamond+knife+sharpener%2Ctools%2C94&sr=1-4

Why this instead of the contrapton above? Fast, gets the job done. Sharp enough.

I use ceramic sticks to get knives hair popping sharp . I have two sets of  sticks    of different  grits with two sets of holes at different angles .If they are pretty dull I will attach a diamond stone to the ceramic stick via rubber bands to remove steel quickly and be at the same angle as the sticks . It gets them sharp fast . I always add a micro-bevel to finish it off .

 

   

I have been using a Lansky sharpening kit and had very good luck with it. I have some of the diamond sharpeners in my kit. I can sharpen a knife on the old whet stones if I need to. I use an old belt for stropping. What is the compound you put on a belt and where is it available?

Type stropping compound on Amazon. I use white (fine), but there is course and super fine too.

11 minutes ago, Log Catcher said:

I have been using a Lansky sharpening kit and had very good luck with it. I have some of the diamond sharpeners in my kit. I can sharpen a knife on the old whet stones if I need to. I use an old belt for stropping. What is the compound you put on a belt and where is it available?

I just bought a cheap stick of green rouge at Home Depot.  It’s like a lifetimes worth. 

7 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

I just bought a cheap stick of green rouge at Home Depot.  It’s like a lifetimes worth. 

You got that right, I'll bet mine is 25 years old and most of it is still there.

I've sharpened my EDC and hunting knives with a 12" ceramic filament I removed from a large light bulb for the last 20 years and they'll shave. Kitchen knives get sharpened on a Chef's Choice. 

6 hours ago, slonezp said:

What I use

https://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-Knife-Tool-Sharpener/dp/B08VD8ZGFZ?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A1Z46TLB8UOBP&th=1

I have this but I’m struggling with it.  
So now I have one of these

and I’m getting better results

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08L72P245?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

1 hour ago, GreenPig said:

I've sharpened my EDC and hunting knives with a 12" ceramic filament I removed from a large light bulb for the last 20 years and they'll shave. Kitchen knives get sharpened on a Chef's Choice. 

My buddy used to bring me old light bulbs from the plant he works at , those are awesome ceramic sharpeners