Knife Sharpeners?

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I'm not really a knife guy, so I don't know much about how to properly sharpen a knife aside from using the honing steel that came with my knife block. Over the last year I've been annoyed as all hell with my knives not keeping an edge worth a damn. They're all dull as hell but instead of buying another set of knives I decided to buy a knife sharpener. I bought this and got in the mail today from amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Lansky-3143-PS-MED01-BladeMedic/dp/B0085PPSIQ/

I only have a cheap $60 set of knives to sharpen that I originally bought from walmart over 8 years ago. This thing does the job. I watched some videos about sharpening with it and that carbide part shreds metal off my blades at a surprising rate. From the 3 blades I've sharpened so far, they were so dull that they needed to be passed through that carbide part at least 10 times with moderate pressure. Now my steak knives can actually cut through a steak again. lol. But after seeing how much metal comes flying off these blades I was thinking about getting a whetstone for next time. Does anyone have experience with using knife sharpeners? Any recommendations for whetstones? The ceramic part on this sharpener is no where near as aggressive as the carbide part, but I have a couple decent paring knives that I'd rather never use on this because of how small they are and I want to keep all the metal on them.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

That is ok. I have a few of them like that. If you ever get new set of knives, invest in a KME or Edge Pro rod and stone system. The problem with the one you have is it totally relies on steady hands and consistent strokes. If you don't have the blade perfectly vertical you'll grind up your edge. A guided rod system ensures a perfect swipe of the blade edge no matter what. I've been thinking about getting a KME myself, because it seems the most simplistic that gets the job done the best. I'm a huge knife nut. 

You'll also want to consider paying attention to the steels of your knives. If they're just listed as "stainless" you're probably just getting old school 420HC blades which don't hold and edge very long... this is the type of steel that's been used on knives for decades. VG-10, S30V, and S35VN are newer steels with superior edge retention.. not sure if there are any kitchen sets that use these though. Just don't get anything in M4, M390, S90V, or S110V. These steels will hold an edge better than any knife... but sharpening them back up are a nightmare because of it. They were built to be insanely wear resistant. I was thinking about buying a knife with M390, and then I watched a video of a guy doing a sped up time lapse of him sharpening it on the KME. He said it was 40 minutes... for just one side! Screw that! I can get my S30V knives sharpened up in about 5 minutes. I think that's the perfect balance.

http://knifeinformer.com/discovering-the-best-knife-steel/

Here are charts and descriptions of steels.

EDIT: Lansky makes a guided rod system too, but I hear way too many people complain about it in the knife groups I'm in. Its way cheaper than the KME, Edge Pro, and Wicked Edge systems... I was going to get one but too many people have issues with it not sharpening knives correctly. Right now I used the Work Sharp, field sharpener... but I just don't have good muscle memory to not make an asymmetrical grind on my blades.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Thanks for the info! My hands aren't steady enough to get a consistent edge at all. That KME system looks extremely effective and the reviews with pics on Amazon show perfect factory style edges which makes my recently sharpened blades looks extremely crude and caveman like by comparison.  But damn that's costly. $200 is way to high for me. If I had blades that costed more than the sharpener then it could be worth it.

That work sharp field sharpener looks good but I think I'll go for a cheap whetstone as my next sharpener. I've sen some use oil instead of water, I think I'll go for a water based one over oil so it'll be less cost over the long term.

I use my bench grinder to sharpen my lawn mower blade, axe and machete once a year or every couple years depending on use but I bet with a whetstone or with that KME system i could get my machete edge to sword quality. Lol.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

https://www.amazon.com/Lansky-Deluxe-5-Stone-Sharpening-System/dp/B01MR6GZWR

 

You could always give it a shot. Post the people that complain about it are using D2 steel and higher. But for kitchen knives it might work. The KME is def the most highly praised. I always watch those metal working shows where they build swords and knives and they sharpen everything on those sand belts. Who knows how much those cost, plus the workshop space you'd need to have one.