Knife Gurus—Sharpening Stones

If you're not going

200/300/400/500/600/700/800/900/1000/1200/1400/1600/1800/2000/2200/2400/2600/2800/3000/3500/4000/4500/5000/6000/7000/8000/9000/10000

on each side while checking the grain and measuring the angle under a scope between each pass then you're just not doing it right and are a fricking embarrassment to the knife sharpening community.

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My knives got so dull I couldn’t tell the sharp side from the dull. So I got a Dan’s Whetstone. I’ve been able to put a decent edge on them. The sharpening process is very zen, quite relaxing. Now I’m diving in further and reading about Shapton glass stones as well as other “splash and go” brands. It’s a little confusing. Can any of you “edgy” baws give me your thoughts on sharpening stones?

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I’ve got 100 knives or so and I just take them to a local knife shop and have them sharpened when they get dull. I use outdoor edge with the replacement blades to skin animals. I will keep a rat tail around to sharpen cheap knives for skinning and filleting if needed.

If you’re wanting to tackle it yourself the Spyderco Sharp Maker is a good setup that I’ve used.

All you need is a Warthog. $125

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Great kitchen gadgets to have: The Warthog V-Sharp A4 is a sharpening system that anyone can use like an expert. Easy to use and sharpens like a champ. Rely on the A4 when you're at home or in the field.

Does the job for you: With its two high quality 325 natural diamond honing rods, the A4 sharpens both sides of the blade simultaneously with barely any effort. Keep your blades sharp as a razor. 4 adjustable angles including a breakthrough 15 degree angle for high end specialty knives.

Both sides, every time: Our knife sharpening kit sharpens the blade on both sides simultaneously. It is ideal for high end specialty knives, kitchen, fillet, hunting, and most other flat-blade knives.

Knife sharpening kit for all hobbyists: The Warthog V-Sharp A4 features a hand-crafted metal frame, solid rubber base, and durable powder-coat finish. A perfect kitchen knife sharpener for home chefs, pros, outdoorsmen, and other hobbyists.

We're here for you: We've been around for more than two decades, and we believe that you deserve the best. Because we think that our sharpeners are such a great investment, we're offering a 30-day money back guarantee.

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One of my favorite purchases

Japanese sythetic stones for me

I got a set of Shapton stones. All you need is a coarse and a finer one if you're just working on your own knives every now and then. They get my chef's knives scalpel sharp.

I sharpen A LOT.

Not just knives, but I have over a dozen woodworking chisels and over a dozen plane irons. Flattening then polishing the back of a chisel, then sharpening the primary bevel, then sharpening and polishing a secondary bevel on stones will give you a lot of practice. A single chisel or plane iron takes me over an hour of work when brand new of just flattening and polishing.

I have 5 diamond stones, 3 Sharpton stones, water stones, a slow speed bench grinder (not a regular one), and of course a double sided strop. I also have all sorts of fine sand papers going up to 14000 grit.

Basically, the Shapton stones put a great polish and are easy. They dont need soaked like a water stone. The diamond stones get squirts of Krud Kutter.

My suggestion is to get a few diamond stones and some Shaptons at say 6000 or 8000 grit. And definitely strop with stripping compound.

I have a Work Sharp Ken Onion thing and I used to use it on knives. But once I got proficient at sharpening my woodworking hand tools, I started sharpening my knives that way and I haven't touched the Work Sharp in years.

Everything i sharpen will shave your arm hair or easily slice through paper.

I’ve used Arkansas natural stones with a touch of oil. Shapton stones look nice though.

They're very nice. A spritz of water and they're ready to go. The Japs know how to hone and polish.

I have the Veritas MK II honing system with the additional cambered roller attachment and the thin holder attachment for small chisels. It was more hassle setting it up than anything.

So I almost exclusively freehand. The only thing I'd like to have is a Tormek T-8, but i dont really need one and I dont have room. My Buck Tool slow speed with CBN wheels does a decent enough job that I dont feel like making more room for a Tormek.