OK, so I went on amazon and got 453 hits for “knife sharpener”. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good, general-purpose sharpener for outdoor-type knives?
accusharp
about $10 online. they’re awesome for home or outdoors. i’ve never seen such an amazing and fast edge on my cooking knives.
andrew
lansky
GREAT stuff! some times takes a little time, but you can blow through it or do a better than factory job.
Liveoutside
lansky
GREAT stuff! some times takes a little time, but you can blow through it or do a better than factory job.
Liveoutside
http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Deluxe-Lansky-Sharpening-System-P102C57.aspx?UserID=1133915&SessionID=FW06sKurYiicsEyhRNDA
Double the lansky
Will make your knife razor sharp. Not really the keep in your back pocket kind of sharpener, but great to keep in your car or home.
Thanks!
Thank you all for the helpful suggestions.
Spyderco Sharpmaker
The Spyderco Sharpmaker is the best AND easiest-to-use sharpener out there today. Really. Honestly.
Yeah, a few companies sell the kits that have jigs that hold the blade a fixed angle to a stone, but you need to setup the jig adn the kits are large.
With the Sharpmaker you have two sets of ceramic sticks that provide two excellent pre-set angles, which is great for most users. Very easy to setup. Very easy to use. Very sharp knives.
Reviews:
http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Knives/Sharpeners/Spyderco%20Triangle%20Sharpmaker/
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-471353.html
http://www.lornitropia.net/archives/2005/08/13/tool-review-spyderco-tri-angle-sharpmaker/
http://www.galttech.com/research/household-DIY-tools/best-knife-sharpener.php
Read the Amazon.com reviews too.
edgemaker pro
basically crossed steel at a set angle and a second set with a diamond coating. works incredibly well, especially if the knife is not completely worn down.
Flat Diamond Stone.
I switched from flat natural stones to the DMT flat diamond stone and love it. I own mostly Buck brand knives which can be difficult to hone but not with the diamond type. 5-6 passes on each side and it’s done. I can lay a piece of newspaper down and cut the printing off without cutting through the paper. No need for anything better than that. Maintaining the correct angle will take practice though.
Tom
I’ve got this
I picked up this sharpener from Virginia Blade. I used it on a blade that I never felt like I could get a good edge on and I literally had it sharp enough to shave with in less than 5 minutes. I’ve got the Lansky system as well, but I don’t think it will get much use anymore. I also love the compactness of the one from VA blade. Fits easily in my wallet, PFD and tackle box (it does fish hooks too.)
http://vablade.com/agora/agora.cgi?cart_id=2537445.7617*4g2e55&p_id=00003&xm=on&ppinc=search2
sharpener
Just use a piece of fine sandpaper supported by the blade of your paddle (dry of course).
will all of these work on a Gerber
River Shorty with serrated edges?
I just bought a lansky kit…
It works really well. I bought it to sharpen my benchmad EDC and then starting going through the kitchen drawers and sharpening those too. For the serated portion I bought a seperate sharpener specifically for the that task. I don’t remember what the brand name was though.
To sharpen serrated edge
get a diamond rod style sharpener. They make them pen sized and you can do all of your sharpening with them in a pinch. The DMT brand has great quality products that are very long lasting. Look for one that has a pointed spike shaped rod on one end for serrations and a combination round rod with flat side and hook groove on the other if you can find one.
Tom
DMT works for me 2
“switched from flat natural stones to the DMT flat diamond stone and love it. I own mostly Buck brand knives which can be difficult to hone but not with the diamond type. 5-6 passes on each side and it’s done.”
I totally agree. I have several of thier small fold up models - you can get fine, med, or course. I have red and blue (fine and med).
These are really light and handy, about the size of a 1" bandaid, flip open to use.
DMT
DMT = Diamond Machining Technology, right?
Arkansas stone and oil
Been working for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Medium or soft is all you need for a knife, especially a rescue knife. Slip stones would work for the serrations.
You could always replace your Gerber with a Boye, and then you can sharpen the serrated and straight portions with a single flat stone…
For my woodworking hand tools that need a polished edge, I really like the Shapton ceramic stones…
Not sure
what the initials stand for.
Tom
spyderco or lansky
There are a lot of different options.
The Spyderco Sharpmaker and the Lansky that clamps onto the blade are the two that seem to be the most popular with knife folks. The Sharpmaker will handle both straight and serrated edges. I don’t think the clamp-on Lansky will.
A pretty simple option is one of the Lansky turnbox setups. The rods store in the base, so they are pretty compact.
To be honest, a lot of it just depends on what you get used to. The diamond setups are pretty nice, and a lot of folks swear by stones.
One thing to bear in mind when talking about “outdoor-type knives” is that some of them come with a convex edge. Bark River and Blackjack are two brands that use the convex edge on almost all of their knives. If you have something with a convex edge, you’ll need to use a strop for touching up the edge, although a fine ceramic stick can be used in a pinch.