good kitchen knife sharpener...

[daves66nova]

what's an inexpensive knife sharpener for the home?

 

[Quest]

depending on the extend of the action you need (aggressive? or just a quick honing?) I find that the more expensive option like a Hankel honing stick works wonders. For quick swift, I use an Ikea ceramic honing stick. With these 2 sticks I managed to restore/hone most of the knives in my house, sometimes even to restore a completely dull knife like a recently acquired (thrift store find) true German Hankels knife w/o resort to using grit stones. Q.

 

[greenjp]

I've found the honing steel is sufficient for maintaining sharpness over time but ultimately a knife will get dull. Haven't found knife sharpeners to be too effective. I had a great experience with a mail-in knife sharpening service - $5 per blade including cerrated blades. They were returned to like new condition, it was actually startling using them the first time after being sharpened. jeff

 

[Papa Bear]

America's Test Kitchen recently recommended the AccuSharp as their favorite hand knife sharpener. I have one and it works very well... a couple of swipes with it and the sharpness is restored. Best of all, it's made in Marble falls, TX and costs about $12.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Whetstone. End of story. Use that twice a year or so and maintain with a honing steel.

 

[mcrn]

If you have a nice german knife trust me it is worth it to mail it off like what was said above or the stone. I used to work in a kitchen and we had the stone but a good one will have at least 3 different stones and costs around $100. And the edge will last a long time.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

A good stone to get your knives sharp, a good steel to keep them sharp, and a little practice to make you sharp.

 

[PandaBear]

I use something like this at home.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: mcrn

If you have a nice german knife trust me it is worth it to mail it off like what was said above or the stone. I used to work in a kitchen and we had the stone but a good one will have at least 3 different stones and costs around $100. And the edge will last a long time.

Even when you send the knife away it is still ground to an edge. (It's simply too expensive to pay someone to sit there and whittle away on a stone for 20 minutes per knife.) With a stone the edge is smooth like glass and will maintain a bit better than the rough edge resultant from grinding. You can grab a dual stone (one side is coarse, the other fine; I think mine is 600/ 3000) from the likes of eBay, Amazon, etc. for somewhere int he neighbourhood of $40. There are lots and lots and lots of YouTube videos demonstrating the proper techniques to use them.

 

[rg200amp]

Originally Posted By: greenjp

I've found the honing steel is sufficient for maintaining sharpness over time but ultimately a knife will get dull. Haven't found knife sharpeners to be too effective. I had a great experience with a mail-in knife sharpening service - $5 per blade including cerrated blades. They were returned to like new condition, it was actually startling using them the first time after being sharpened. jeff

Honing steels hone. That is not sharpening. Keeping a sharp knife honed will prolong the life of the sharp edge, but honing will not sharpen. You hit the head on the nail though. Have a professional sharpen your blade. If you know anyone who one owns or works at a restaurant, ask them to have your blades done. We get charged a dollar a blade and the guys drives up in his van to do it onsite. You can also just google "Knife Sharpening" in your area. Nothing beats a true professional's sharpening. When my Henckels get done, you can shave with those babies for like a month after!!!

 

[sleddriver]

Originally Posted By: Papa Bear

America's Test Kitchen recently recommended the AccuSharp as their favorite hand knife sharpener. I have one and it works very well... a couple of swipes with it and the sharpness is restored. Best of all, it's made in Marble falls, TX and costs about $12.

+1 Very easy to use, fast & Inexpensive. You can easily take it to scary-sharp using a leather strop and a little honing compound.

 

[AlienBug]

I find the Spyderco Sharpmaker is the best, easiest to use sharpener I've ever tried.

 

[D189379]

Originally Posted By: AlienBug

I find the Spyderco Sharpmaker is the best, easiest to use sharpener I've ever tried.

+1. I just did all my knives, scissors, and even my nail clippers with mine. It paid for itself in one round of sharpening.