I use a steel....and *I do have one of those twin wheeled push pull thingies for nicked blades on bad knives....but my chicago cutlery stays sharpwith just a steel.
However I am very careful what I cup on...soft plastic or wooden boards only....none of that hard plastic stuff.
Linda C

Dad used to sharpen all my knives, scissors, even the blades on my lawnmower. He was darned good at it.

I have a stone and a steel, Elery mostly sharpens my knives now but I do occasionally grab the stone and the steel and give everything a "touch up".

I never cut on metal or glass surfaces either, I don't know who in the world thought glass cutting boards were a good idea, they're really hard on knives.

Annie

Please get rid of your Presto. You'll ruin those new knives! Annie & Linda are right, learn how to use a steel. I'm lucky, DH loves doing it for me, although even then, we have some of ours touched up by a professional once in awhile.
Here's a how-to-guide!

Here is a link that might be useful: Knife sharpening

I usually just lurk here, but I had to chime in on this one. I have used a DMT Diamond Whetstone (same one) for the past 15 or so years. It's great. Easy to use and store. You use it with water. Before that I used an oil stone, that was messy and kind of a pain.

dh does mine with a whetstone and water

I use a whetstone an oil to sharpen my knives when they need it and a honing steel before each use to keep the sharp edge true.

I use a whetstone and water, but I don't sharpen them very often, as I am not hard on knives.

The difference between honing and sharpening is that sharpening will remove metal and honing will merely realign the blades to fix any bent or curled edges. Honing should be done before sharpening, and sometimes it is enough. If you use knives on hard surfaces, the edge of the knife will become bent or curled, and this is why honing is necessary.

Lars

I don't know anything about the Presto so I can't speak to it. I have a Chef's Choice 120 that seems to do a nice job on my Wusthofs. In between sharpening I prefer to use its strop wheel rather than my steel because it holds the proper angle, and I probably don't.

One word of caution - do NOT use your Presto on your Santuko unless it has a special setting for Japanese knives which have a lesser angle than Western blades. Wusthoff has a manual sharpener specifically for Japanese knives. I've been happy with its performance, but then again the Santuko is not among my most used knives.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wusthof Sharpener

I used a ceramic or regular steel for daily use and have my knives professionally sharpened at a local kitchen wares shop when they have the Wusthof prep comes through their store every other year or.

Recently I was looking through my drawers and found that I had purchased and the forgotten the companion sharpener to the the one FOAS posted a link to. I've been using it and like it very much.

I use the thick sort of soft white restaurant supply store cutting boards.

Here is a link that might be useful: The other Wusthoff sharpener.

I take mine to a little shop in midtown and have them done. Not sure I have know how to do it myself.

David

I have the Chef's Choice 120 also. I bought it a couple of months ago and every knife I own is sharper than when I bought it. I use the strop wheel on my Japanese knives. It works extremely well on them.

I use a whetstone and water as well as a steel. My chef son-in-law taught me how to sharpen my knives.

SharonCb

Depends on the metal the knife is made out of. For stainless I use a diamond dust sharpener. My softer steel kitchen knifes I use a ceramic block. The kitchen knives are sharp so I just touch them up with a quick gentle wipe across the ceramic and they are ready. Bought the Gerber brand ceramic sharpener over 25 years ago. One side is flat for sharpening and the other has a washboard like surface that does a good job of straightening an edge.

I have to be careful as my steak knives get razor sharp.

: )
lyra

I use a whetstone and steel.

About five years ago, DH bought a Chef's Choice electric sharpener and promptly "sharpened" all the knives in the house. I could have throttled him! The cursed thing puts a different angle on the blade that I do not like one bit. Fortunately, a friend's son had the time and patience (and skill) to re-shape the blades for me back to the proper angles. DH has "his" knives; I have mine. He knows that if he ever uses an electric sharpener on mine again, he's in some serious trouble. (Actually, he can't because I sold the thing at a yard sale.)

Knife sharpening was the very first skill we learned in culinary school. There we used the oiled stones. I was gifted with a Japanese water stone which must be soaked before use.

Incidentally, a steel does NOT sharpen a knife, it only hones it and removes the burrs created by sharpening with a stone.

If you have room in your shop for a dedicated bench grinder, get a paper wheel system. It's really easy to learn how to use it. You can make almost any knife razor sharp. Far easier than a whetstone.

The link is to a sharpening site; lots of how-to info on various systems, and you can buy the paper wheels there. About twice a year I bring all my knives over to my shop and can get each one razor sharp in just a few minutes each.

Here is a link that might be useful: steve's sharpening site

The wonderful owner of Northwest Cutlery showed me how to propery angle a blade to a whetstone that was oil, so I do touch ups, but I try to take them in once a year and let them do it. It is a dangerous trip, as they also sell re-sharpened knives that were in the restaurant and meat trade at really good prices. I drop them off, head over to the wholesale fish and meat markets on the street and do more damage.

I have been told that NW is one of premier cutlery shops in the US, with knives being sent in from all over the US from top chefs and restaurants.

I also have the steel, but that is only for honing, not sharpening. One wrong angle and you can ruin a good knife.

Bobbie:
I've been making my carving tools and knives for years.

I have many different ways to sharpen Knives but
mostly use an Oil Sharpening Stone and a motorized leather strop.

If a Knife is dull or worn I run it on the Stone with oil, like trying to slice a piece off the Stone.

The back should be up , so the blade is about a 10 to 15 degree angle.

When the knife edge is sharp, I fine tune it with a Buffing Wheel, or use the motorized strop.

My kitchen Knives are 440 SS.

The harder they are to sharpen, the better edge they will hold.

I never cut onto a Hard surface or on a Ceramic dish.
This will take the edge off of a knife.

This is how I do it.

There is a lot more tech stuff, other than a Steel for
touching up your knives.
Happy new year, LOU

I also have made a few knives and am familiar with the fine art of sharpening knives.
But I disagree with many here about kitchen knives.
I don't think you need a razor-sharp knife in the kitchen. A sharp knife is all you need to do all you cutting and slicing.

My system:
I use two knives, one dull one for general cutting, and one sharp one for fine cutting that I am very careful with not to damage the edge.
Of course a chopping knife to chop things with .
IÂve learned to slice with the knife at an angle so that the edge never touch the board. The sharp edge stays sharp forever this way.
I have a variety of sharpening stones. I keep a waterproof fine-grit carborundum sanding paper in the drawer to give the edge a little touchup sometimes.

dcarch

I use a sharpening steel as Pat_T described--the sharpening steel is not actually to sharpen, but to re-align the edge when it has a part that has turned to the right or left or up (not really visible to the naked eye). I use a sharpening steel that is literally smooth steel, i.e. not one of those diamond dust ones which I think are too rough and would take off some of the blade. And for actual sharpening, about once a year I take my knives to Northwestern Cutlery in Chicago, where Pkramer posted above that s/he also goes. The price is quite reasonable too.

I am particularly careful with my 2 Messermeister Meridian Elite knives which have a finer edge than other German knives like Henckels or Wusthoff, and are more similar to a Japanese knife in their fine edge. Northwestern Cutlery, who sold me the Messermeisters, explained that most German knives should be sharpened at a 20 degree angle, but Messermeisters and some Japanese knives should be sharpened at a 15 degree angle. As you can imagine, I haven't the vaguest idea what holding at 15 degrees vs. 20 degrees means. That is why I leave the real sharpening to the professionals.

I'd have to agree with the other posters who said the OP's Presto sharpener would not be good for knives, and will shorten the life of the knives.

Here is a link that might be useful: Northwestern Cutlery

AK, thanks for posting the link to thier website. Last time I looked, it was not that nice.

And I am a she, and you have the same initials as my Dad. For a moment I thought he became computer savvy, then I remember it confuses the heck out of him.

I do want my knives razor sharp. How else can you get a nice clean job with a filet or boning knife?

And Happy Birthday AKChicago!

Lanskey Sharpening System when I actually have to sharpen a knife.

A 14" butcher's steel when I want to hone the knife and reset the edge.

A Lanskey system really makes it about as foolproof as possible.

Wow, dcarch, I'm surprised to hear that you of all people like dull knives. Can you give an example where you'd prefer a dull knife over a sharp one? Even with something as simple as a PB&J I want something that slices cleanly rather than pushing and smooshing its way through. I suppose when used as a spreading knife sharpness doesn't matter, but aside from that...???

I guess I'm just a pansy, I'm too scared to sharpen my knives myself (though I've been looking into it a little so this thread has been enlightening). Last week I made the trek to Portland to KAI to have a factory edge put back on all my knives. Of course, I had to sew myself a knife roll to transport everything!

KAI recommends sharpening only once a year because the knives hold an edge so well. Plus because sharpening removes material there is a finite number of times you can sharpen. Between sharpenings, I steel my knives every time I pick them up. The steel I have has an angle guide on it so you know you're at least starting right.

Folks who don't want to learn to sharpen knives on whetstones, which is most people I think, can get good results quickly and easily using the Wusthoff sharpener previously mentioned or a similar one. Some have ceramic rods, others have pieces of tungsten carbide and some, like the Wusthoff have both. I have given several friends a sharpener make by AccuSharp which has only the tungsten carbide and is about half the price. It puts a good edge on a knife in a few seconds and is safe to use.

For myself, I use Arkansas oil stones or Japanese water stones because I have woodworking tools which require a razor sharp edge to work well. Also, sharpening blades is a pleasurable activity to me. Kitchen knives don't need a ruthlessly sharp blade however, and honing with stones takes a lot longer.

A cheap, short-run alternative is to tape a sheet of wet or dry sandpaper to a flat surface and hone blades on that, using some water. The paper wears out quickly though. In the long run, a knife sharpener is cheaper and far more convenient.

I agree with those who think an electric kitchen knife sharpener does not do the job well. It is also expensive and bulky to store or keep on the counter top.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: AccuSharp

" Posted by foodonastump Wow, dcarch, I'm surprised to hear that you of all people like dull knives. Can you give an example where you'd prefer a dull knife over a sharp one?"
I think for normal home kitchen, there is a lot of intimidating information out there thatÂs not necessary. I tried to make it simple and not hair-splitting (hehe) for most folks for everyday kitchen cutting use.

The following are for my own use and my own opinions only, some may be good ideas for you also:

1. I donÂt believe in very expensive knives. They are very good if you can afford them. You can get very cheap and very good knifes. Iron is the cheaper mineral around, and alloying them and tempering them should not be that expensive. You can be paying a lot for the name and lots of myths.

2. I donÂt believe in razor sharp (as in surgical sharp, polished edge) kitchen knives. The edges will not last in the kitchen. The sharper the edge, the quicker it gets dull and damaged.

3. I believe in a very sharp knife (high-carbon steel) for careful fine slicing. It takes time to sharpen a very sharp knife using a very fine grit stone for honing. I actually can give my very sharp knife whatÂs called hollow grounding and double-angled edge.

4. I believe in a sharp knife for general cutting. You can get a sharp edge very quickly using any coarse stone, knife sharpener, sharpening steel, etc.

5. I give my knives entire blade a mirror polish. It makes cleaning easier.

6. I donÂt put my knives in anything. I use whatÂs called "rare earth magnets" to hang them by the tips only. Rare earth magnets are extremely powerful magnets that can hang a knife by just the tip. The edges never have to touch anything and get damaged.

7. DonÂt worry about using up your knifeÂs steel when you are sharpening your knife. A knife can be sharpened hundreds of times. There is only one way you can perminently damage a blade, with high heat.

8. A serrated knife works best to take meat off bones and slicing bread.

More info, (For Jimster) if you are into this sort of things:

1. As you know good sharpening stone can cost more than a $100.00. You can get good fine grit sharpening with slate tiles. Have someone with a wet saw cut you a few. Flatten the surfaces with emery cloth sand paper.

2. DonÂt use sand paper. Use a fine grit sanding belt glued to a block of wood. They last a long time.

dcarch

dcarch:
I'm surprised you mentioned the Carbon Steel knives.
Thought I was the only one who still used them.
Had a Carbon Steel Chef's knife from the early 1800's.
It was a collectible.
Sold it when I got the SS International Tool Co. knife.
Got tired of drying and cleaning it. Dumb de Dumb dumb.
I only keep my Chefs Knife sharp.
You know the test, take a hair line cut off the edge of a piece of looseleaf paper.
Lou

Bri29, You're not a pansy at all. I think most people don't sharpen their own knives. (And by most, I mean in general, not this thread. The wording of the topic question quarenteed a high percentage of responders who do sharpen their own.) If I had somewhere to take mine that I know would do a good job, I probably wouldn't do it myself anymore either.

I use the Wusthoff sharperner as well. I love it! I have a stone that was my great uncle's, but since hubby bought me a really nice knife for Christmas last year, along with the sharpener, I'm too chicken to use it for that knife. The Wusthoff puts such a sharp edge on my knives that I've had to re-learn chopping skills. Those things are sharp and a little whoopsy with one can leave me with a band aid, or worse.

Prior to that I used a set of cheapy (as in 8.00 for the whole set plus the block) set of serrated knives. I still got the job done with those and I never had to sharpen them, lol. I can really tell when my smooth blades are dull now.

Ok, so what we're really talking about is a difference between "sharp" and "wicked sharp" as opposed to a difference between sharp and dull? I'll buy that.

I didn't realize that carbon steel knives are a rarity. The Wusthofs I bought several years ago are carbon steel, as is the same set they seem to sell today.

As to the term "razor sharp", perhaps there's a bit of a misconception here. A while back there was a chef on GW who was kind enough to email me a bit of a dissertation on sharpening systems. Maybe of interest to others, here's lengthy excerpt:

Now, If you look seriously at cutting, their are only two types of cuts. Push-cuts and pull-cuts.

A regular razor is a push cut, as is a chisel and ax. The edge of the knife is pushed straight into the material to be cut. The sharper the blade, the easier this type of cut. For these types of cuts, you want as close to a mirror edge as possible.

A pull-cut is more commonly used in a kitchen. Any sawing cut, like slicing meat or a steak, is a pull-cut. Most kitchen work are pull-cuts It turns out that with a pull-cut, a mirror edge is not very good. A mirror edge is so smooth, it produces a lot of friction when being pulled through food. For pull-cuts, a less-sharp edge, one with a little 'tooth' or serrations in it actually works better!

A prime example is cutting thick rope. You have to saw through this type of material. A really sharp knife, with a mirror edge, makes it very hard to cut rope. An edge with a little 'tooth' in it goes a LOT faster and easier.

So what does this mean for us in a kitchen? Most work with a chef's or french knife is pull-cuts, so you want some tooth left in the knife. However, you also sometimes use chef's knife for chopping herbs, mincing garlic, etc. What to do? Well, what I did was to get two chef's knives. My best chef's knives I only sharpen with the coarse and medium stone. I can easily cut tomatoes and eggplant with these knives, and they are probably the toughest things to cut in a kitchen. My less expensive chef's knife, a Forschner, I sharpened further, for use when chopping. I choose the Forschner for chopping, because it is lighter. But I don't do much chopping. But then again, I am a fanatic about sharpness.

On the other hand, paring knives, which are used primarily for push cuts, should be sharpened to a smoother edge than most other knives. I go all the way to Ultra Fine grit myself, but then again, I spend hours a day cutting things.

BTW and FWIW this guy was a fan of the Edgepro system.

Interesting responses. I'm still going to keep and used the Presto sharpener. The knives were on 50 dollars for the whole set! The sharpener works well, not sure how long they will stay sharp though. I will probably use the honing side only though, because the first side can remove a lot of metal. Mine was very reasonably priced and is super compact to store, so I don't know where the expensive/hard to store myth came from. I figured that the real cooks may not like them, but I'm not sharpening Wusthoffs and Henckels here! It's easy and effective, so that's what matters to me. If I ever upgrade my knives, I may look into some of the methods mentioned here.

Bobby, you've hit the key: you're happy with it, and that's what matters. Everyone is going to have their own way of doing things and opinion about what's "right" or "best". In the end, you're the one using your knives. :)

Just out of curiousity, do any of you have experience with the Ron Popiel knives? You know, about 100 for $40? I always see the infomercial and threathen to buy them just to see what they are like.

Peppi, I don't know about Ron Popiel, but I bought a "ginsu" knife for 99 cents about 30 years ago, I still have the darned thing and it's still my knife of choice for cutting slices of bread!

Annie

Ron Popiel knife set is as useful as his Spray-On Hair.

I was told that they all soon rust.

dcarch

dcarch & Lou, don't feel alone about carbon steel knives. By that I mean the old fashioned ones that will rust if allowed to stay wet. I like them.

All steel has some carbon in it; what most culinary knives are made of today is 'high carbon stainless'. It's a little harder to sharpen than old fashioned carbon steel. I prefer plain old rustable carbon steel because I can get a good edge on them; however, I use both. I'll use stainless to cut up onions, citrus and other acidic foods, but when it comes to cutting up meats I'll use an old carbon steel blade.

Having pontificated about all that, I gotta say that some of my favorite modern knives are some of the less expensive ones made by Forschner in Switzerland. Paring knives for $4, utility knives for $10 or so, chef knives for $28. Yes, they're stamped, and yes, the handles are plastic("Fibrox"). but the steel is really high quality.

I have Henckles knives & Wusthof Knives, and I use the sharpener that is made by the same companies. I have the same sharpener as Foodonastump, and a couple of Henckles sharpeners. They seem to work very well. I have Steels for my knives too, but I can't work them well. I believe ......a sharp knife is a safe knife. Diana55

The initial Question was " how do you sharpen your knives."

I think a lot have posted, to give some helpful and tech.info.

Even if you want to keep doing the same way, which you might think is wrong,
I would copy some of the info for future, just in case you might want to upgrade your knives.
?????
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Has anyone seen the Kitchen Knives at Lowe's.

They are made by " Kitchen Aid " and look pretty good.

I lost my Paring Knife about a month ago, so while at Lowe's I bought one for $9.95.
I liked the Design.
There was a nice varity of other knives.

Has anyone else seen them. ???
They were back near the Kitchen Cabinets.
Here is the Paring Knife. It holds a good edge. I just touch it up with the steel.
The blade is 3 1/2 inches long. It fits my hand well.

{{!gwi}}

Hee-hee, spray on hair. I forgot about that one. Ok, not buying them, even in fun.

FYI, I received the latest issue of Cuisine at Home magazine yesterday and one article is about knife care. One tip to get the angle right when using a steel is to place a matchbook between the knife and steel, not the 15 degree angle and then hone it.

Bobby:
FYI: That only holds true with a certain width blade.

Just run the blade down the Steel like you are trying to slice a sliver off and
simoultaneously going across from the base to the point of the knife.
At the same time holding the blade at 15 to 20 degree angle.

A 90 deg. angle is Perpendicular from the Steel.
45 Deg. is half of that. A 15 Deg. is 1/3 of a 45 Deg.

With the usual Chefs Knife, that would mean the back of the blade would be away from the Steel about 1 in.

With a little practice you will be a Pro.

Hope this helps. If not you can use the matchbook method.

I always run the knife away from myself.
They say to run the knife towards you BUT

I learned thru the years not to run sharp tools towards any
parts of my body.

Lou

Chefs Choice 1520. I love it! Makes my knives razor sharp and does both European/American (20 degrees) and Asian (Santoku)blades (15 degrees) and serrated.

There are no places to get knives sharpened around here so I bought this for about 160 bucks wih free shipping. I am now the knife sharpener for all our friends and family!

I just remembered. My Mom taught me to sharpen knives using the bottom of ceremic plates, mugs, etc. Try it. It works quite well.
----------------------------
I have taken some close up photos of various knife edges. I memtioned that you can make very inexpensive sharpening stones with slate tiles. As you can see using a home made slate tile sharpening stone can give you an edge that's sharper then a surgical edge:

dcarch
New shaving razor blade

New surgical blade

A kitchen paring knife sharpened with a slate tile stone

Foodonastump.....Thank you for the info on the push & pull. It makes sense. You learn something new everyday. Like you.......I like a really sharp knife, but then I like to pull my knife......rather than push. Diana55

dcarch wrote "I just remembered. My Mom taught me to sharpen knives using the bottom of ceremic plates, mugs, etc. Try it. It works quite well."

The Chinese chef who taught me a lot of what I know about cooking sharpened his knives on the bottom of his ceramic coffee mug. (Yes, he drank coffee. He couldn't stand tea. Stereotypes be darned)

For those who may be thinking of getting a ceramic knife.

You will need a diamond sharpening stone to sharpen it.

dcarch

I use the Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker. I also have a honing steel.

The Sharpmaker I have used for a couple years now. I started out using it on utilitarian knives and scissors and even nail clippers and then tried it on cutlery knives. Works like a charm, there is only one knife I haven't been able to sharpen to the point it easily shaves arm hair.

Even comes with an instructional DVD demonstrating how to use it on just about everything.