[Vortex3]

Hi,

My parents are hassling us for a Christmas present idea.

One thing we need is a kitchen knife sharpener.

I would be predisposed to suggest an old fashioned "steel" but brief
research reveals several different technologies are out there....and there
is no obvious technical advantage to any one:

Since there is no shortage of opinions in uk.d-i-y , I'd be interested in
opinions on the relative merits of:

"Whetstones"
"Steels"
Electric rotary sharpeners
Manual sharpeners that you draw the knife through.

All types are on this page:

http://www.cooks-knives.co.uk/acatal...harpeners.html

Thanks in advance.

David

[Rod]

Vortex3 wrote:
Hi,

My parents are hassling us for a Christmas present idea.

One thing we need is a kitchen knife sharpener.

I would be predisposed to suggest an old fashioned "steel" but brief
research reveals several different technologies are out there....and
there is no obvious technical advantage to any one:

Since there is no shortage of opinions in uk.d-i-y , I'd be interested
in opinions on the relative merits of:

"Whetstones"
"Steels"
Electric rotary sharpeners
Manual sharpeners that you draw the knife through.

All types are on this page:

http://www.cooks-knives.co.uk/acatal...harpeners.html

Thanks in advance.

David


I use something like the MinoSharp for Global knives and a decent
(Henckels, IIRC) diamond steel for anything else.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

[[email protected]]

Vortex3 wrote:
Hi,

My parents are hassling us for a Christmas present idea.

One thing we need is a kitchen knife sharpener.

I would be predisposed to suggest an old fashioned "steel" but brief
research reveals several different technologies are out there....and there
is no obvious technical advantage to any one:

Since there is no shortage of opinions in uk.d-i-y , I'd be interested in
opinions on the relative merits of:

"Whetstones"
"Steels"
Electric rotary sharpeners
Manual sharpeners that you draw the knife through.

All types are on this page:

http://www.cooks-knives.co.uk/acatal...harpeners.html

Thanks in advance.

David

pricey site

Steels are desiged to straighten the bent edge of old soft steel
knives , and are used between sharpenings. Theyr entirely untuited to
use as a sole sharpening device on modern blades.

Whether your chosen abrasive is hand or motor powered is a matter of
preference. I'd go for a bench grinder rather than that overpriced
consumer stuff.


NT

[Andrew Gabriel]

In article ,
"Vortex3" writes:
Hi,

My parents are hassling us for a Christmas present idea.

One thing we need is a kitchen knife sharpener.

I would be predisposed to suggest an old fashioned "steel" but brief
research reveals several different technologies are out there....and there
is no obvious technical advantage to any one:

Since there is no shortage of opinions in uk.d-i-y , I'd be interested in
opinions on the relative merits of:

"Whetstones"
"Steels"
Electric rotary sharpeners
Manual sharpeners that you draw the knife through.

I use an India oil stone, the large rectangular block type
with a course and a fine side, and have no problem sharpening
up blades near razor sharp with it. A good quality India oil
stone in a wooden box would be my recommendation. I've never
got on with steels, and they just don't work for me.

My grandfather used to be superb at sharpening knives -- he
owned a dress making factory and one of the skilled jobs is
that of the cutter, which he would sometimes do. This involves
laying up to 50? sheets of fabric on each other, pinning the
pattern to the top one, and then cutting around it, though
all the layers of fabric, with an extremely sharp knife (or
the stack of fabric moves, and the dresses made from lower
down the stack end up rather strange shapes). The knife is
retoned a number of times during the process on a giant
strop. The cutting knives were eventually replaced with an
electric knife (with which he managed to cut the tops of
two fingers off, although they were stitched back on).
I'm sure it would all be computer driven nowadays.

Whenever we went round there for Sunday lunch or similar,
he was quite a showman when it came to sharpening up the
carving knives. He would often sharpen up two carving knives
against each other. It looked like he was using a steel
until he stopped, and you realised he was using two knives.
They finished up like razors -- I remember my dad commenting
that it was pretty impossible to carve with them as you
couldn't feel when you were carving through the bone.
Wish I'd been a bit older at the time and taken more notice
or even got a lesson in doing it - not the sort of thing
you teach an 8 year old.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

[Peter Parry]

On Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:34:05 -0000, "Vortex3"
wrote:

One thing we need is a kitchen knife sharpener.

I would be predisposed to suggest an old fashioned "steel" but brief
research reveals several different technologies are out there....and there
is no obvious technical advantage to any one:

Traditional Steels do not sharpen knives but simply tidy the edge
formed when sharpening. (Diamond "steels" are somewhat different and
do have a sharpening action).

The best knife sharpener by far that I've found is the Edgecraft 420
http://www.edgecraft.com/page2b_m420.html

There is a larger picture of it at
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380078973769&ssPageNam e=ADME:B:EF:US:1123
from a seller in the USA but there is a UK supplier somewhere. I've
bought mine at the London Model Engineering Exhibition where they
usually have a stand.

The handle and size makes it very easy to hold and allows for the
required "limp wrist" hold to get a good sharp edge. They also seem
to last for ages. I've got one which is 10 years old and as good as
new. Every so often you clean grot from the abrasive surface by
rubbing a bit of Pledge or washing up liquid over it and rinsing it..

As well as being an excellent knife sharpener you have the added
advantage of a medium and coarse diamond file as well as the fine for
sharpening chisels and other applications.

[Vortex3]

Whether your chosen abrasive is hand or motor powered is a matter of
preference. I'd go for a bench grinder rather than that overpriced
consumer stuff.


NT

Not sure what my mother would think about a request for a bench grinder for
Christmas!

[Mike Clarke]

Vortex3 wrote:

Since there is no shortage of opinions in uk.d-i-y , I'd be interested in
opinions on the relative merits of:

"Whetstones"
"Steels"
Electric rotary sharpeners
Manual sharpeners that you draw the knife through.

All types are on this page:

http://www.cooks-knives.co.uk/acatal...harpeners.html

I'd recommend the Chantry knife sharpener, about half way down that page (or
http://www.cooks-knives.co.uk/acatal...html#aCHANTRY).
The description makes it sound like a bit of a gimmicky gadget but it
really does work, we've been using ours for well over 25 years and it does
exactly what it says on the tin. It works by rolling the cutting edge into
shape rather than by grinding metal off so it won't be able to put a
cutting edge onto a really blunt knife that never had a sharp edge to begin
with but it will keep good kitchen knives sharp without wearing them away.
A Google search shows you should be able to get them for about 6 quid less
elsewhere.

--
Mike Clarke

[Harry Bloomfield[_3_]]

Vortex3 expressed precisely :
Hi,

My parents are hassling us for a Christmas present idea.

One thing we need is a kitchen knife sharpener.

I would be predisposed to suggest an old fashioned "steel" but brief research
reveals several different technologies are out there....and there is no
obvious technical advantage to any one:

Since there is no shortage of opinions in uk.d-i-y , I'd be interested in
opinions on the relative merits of:

"Whetstones"
"Steels"
Electric rotary sharpeners
Manual sharpeners that you draw the knife through.

We use a little cheap gadget bought about 20 years ago and I still see
them for sale. 'Kitchen Devil' rings a bell?

It takes the form of two round steels which form a cross, one end of
each steel is molded into a black plastic handle. You just stroke the
blade gently through where the sharpener steels cross. Knives finish up
with a razor edge after just a couple of strokes.

It works superbly well, except for the fact that one of the steels is
loose and sometimes comes out of the plastic moulding, plus the fact
that you hold the sharpener between thumb and finger - If you draw the
knife too far back, it can come out of the sharpener and give you quite
a nick. I therefore tend to place the sharpener in a vice to hold it,
rather than hold it in my hand.

We picked another up last year for just £1.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

[Bob Eager]

On Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:18:59 UTC, Harry Bloomfield
wrote:

We use a little cheap gadget bought about 20 years ago and I still see
them for sale. 'Kitchen Devil' rings a bell?

Yes.

It takes the form of two round steels which form a cross, one end of
each steel is molded into a black plastic handle. You just stroke the
blade gently through where the sharpener steels cross. Knives finish up
with a razor edge after just a couple of strokes.

Got one of them.

It works superbly well, except for the fact that one of the steels is
loose and sometimes comes out of the plastic moulding, plus the fact
that you hold the sharpener between thumb and finger - If you draw the
knife too far back, it can come out of the sharpener and give you quite
a nick.

You're using it wrong! Put the blade INSIDE the area formed by the cross
and the handle. Then the blade goes away from your other hand if it
comes out.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

[neverwas[_3_]]

You're using it wrong! Put the blade INSIDE the area formed by the
cross and the handle. Then the blade goes away from your other hand
if it comes out.

ISTR that one way was recommended for straight edged knives and another
for wavy edged knives, plus yet another for scissors etc - but as we've
lost the instructions I may well be wrong. Anyone still got them pl?

--
Robin

[Bob Eager]

On Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:59:50 UTC, "neverwas"
wrote:

You're using it wrong! Put the blade INSIDE the area formed by the
cross and the handle. Then the blade goes away from your other hand
if it comes out.

ISTR that one way was recommended for straight edged knives and another
for wavy edged knives, plus yet another for scissors etc - but as we've
lost the instructions I may well be wrong. Anyone still got them pl?

Latest wisdom seems to be that they are really only for straight bladed
knives...they have a long steel and a roll sharpener for other knives.

Perhaps someone here could buy one and tell us...

https://www.the-emporium.co.uk/produ...oductid=059958

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

[BigWallop[_2_]]

"Rick Hughes" wrote in message
...

"Mike Clarke" wrote in message
et...
Vortex3 wrote:

Since there is no shortage of opinions in uk.d-i-y , I'd be interested
in
opinions on the relative merits of:

"Whetstones"


would be interested if anyone has a tip for sharpening serrated 'bread
knives'


Rat tail file and fine wheel. It's sharper now than its ever been. Just
sharpened our old bread knife after daughter cut down her leather boots with
it. I had a read through these pages
http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecent...n/instser.html
http://www.moonrakerknives.co.uk/lansky.htm But didn't have the right
tools to hand, so did it my way instead. :-)

[Andy Dingley]

On 25 Nov, 01:14, "Rick Hughes" wrote:

would be interested if anyone has a tip for sharpening serrated 'bread
knives'

Small shaped synthetic stone, often a cylindrical or egg-sectioned
rod, of the right radius to fit the curves. Couple of quid.