Knife Sharpening

[Big Mike]

I am horrible at sharpening knives. I have a Steel as well as one of those little sharpeners you hold on the counter and draw the knife through but I can never seem to get a good sharp edge.

Anyone got some advice?

[copkid]

I'm right there with you Mike! I have a steel that I try to use before each knive use. I'm never sure if I'm using it right, but it seems to help! I just don't want to ruin my good knives if I'm doing it wrong! I look forward to everyones answers!
Laura

[OSD]

This is going to sound vague but, how old are the knives? If you have used the knives and tried to sharpen them yourself and they are a couple yrs old they may need to be sent to someone who sharpens knives to have the right angle put back on the edge. Some knives have different angles on the edges, some are flat ground and some are hollow ground. All makes a big difference in getting it sharp. Some lesser quality knives were never really intended to be sharpened. I have ruined my share of knives trying to sharpen them. I send mine out once a year to have them dressed up. The rest of the time I use a good steel every time I use the knife. I checked around and found a restaurant supply that used a sharpening service for there customers.

[bowhnter]

I can't sharpen knives either. I have tried various methods and sharpeners. I use a crock stick (the standard 2 stage) http://www.lansky.com/products/crock.html and it seems to work the best for me.

[Big Mike]

The knives aren't that old.

One is my 14" Forschner Slicer

Three are knives I bought on a trip to Japan. A Santoku, a Nakiri for chopping and a chefs type knife that has the ribs and holes.

The last one is my Rapala filet knife.

[OSD]

Mike, I think I would take those Japanese knives and the Forschner to someone and let them get the edges back to where they should be. Those Lansky systems are very good. See if you can find a sharpening service close to you. I use mine a lot and only have them dressed once a year. It would be a shame to ruin those great Japanese knives

[mel]

check this out it was on anouther forum they seam to like it

www.accusharp.com

[DATsBBQ]

There is a knack to sharpening knives. For the most part I have cheap knives , mostly given to me. They go bad, here comes another gift package and the old ones get tossed. But, I am looking at getting some good ones soon.

[Stan41]

I too use cheap knives, Old Hickory, etc. My method is to use an 8 inch flat file to sharpen them, then finish up with an 8 inch corborundum or Norton stone. (fine side)
This works for me for cutting meat. Of course for my trusty pocket knife I only use a fine stone and leather strap.
Stan
Try it on a cheap one and see how it works.