NEWBIE knife sharpener, looking for a cheap but good way to sharpen.

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CapeCod508

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Hey guys, im not new to knives but new to quality knives and im afraid to use my cheap sharpeners on my nice knives, which are starting to dull up. I really have no skill at using stones, and i dont wnat to scatch up my knives. I was thinking about purchasing a SPyderco SHarpmaster, but its like $60 :/ is it really the only way to go to get my nice knives really sharp? take into considering im new to this :) but im hoping i can find a good/easy way to do it :) help! :)
 
A temporarily cheap method is to use wet & dry sandpaper on a flat surface, but it's essentially the same as sharpening on stones. I bought a Lansky Turnbox sharpener for a friend. It's like a cheaper Sharpmaker. It's fine for touching up knives, but not for setting a new bevel.
 
1. Google oldjimbo . 2. Buy an inexpensive knife to practice on. I like Moras cause they are inexpensive and they have that scandi grind to help you develop the fine motor skills important for freehand sharpening. 3. Get over your fear of freehand sharpening. OR shell out the bucks for a quality sharpening system.
 
If you know how to free hand.
You can buy Norton India Combo stone and get very decent results.
 
Nothing wrong with wet and dry sandpaper, and you can try a lot of different grits...up past 2000 even.
Get a piece of plate glass just wide enough to hold a half piece cut length way. 4 inches, i guess LOL. Lay it flat though, or you will break it straight away. I guess a piece of 1/4" steel would be good to. :-)
Get some spray on adhesive and stick the pieces down with that.
If you can spend more money,go with a DMT, Duo grit. Little maintenance, will last forever, and won't break.
 
A lansky rod system is cheap and requires no skill at all. You'll get a good usable edge, but freehanding is a skill worth learning. just buy a 5 dollar stone from home depot and practice on old kitchen knives at first.
 
There are three general attributes for a new knife sharpening system:

1 - price
2 - skill level required
3 - great results

In almost all cases, you can get only two of the three. The low skill systems that produce great edges are expensive. The low price systems that produce great results, require a lot of skill. The low priced systems that require little skill aren't worth talking about except to warn new sharpeners away from them. Their results are mostly advertising BS any way.

The Sharpmaker is sort of a middle of the road system. Not real expensive & it can can produce good edges, but it does require a bit of skill.

The Edge Pro & Wicked Edge require little skill and produce spectacular edges, but they are very expensive.

A $5 stone from the hardware store and the bottom of a ceramic coffee cup can produce excellent edges, but a bit of skill is required.

So, do you want to spend the money or do you want to take the time to learn a skill that will serve you well for the rest of your life? I chose to spend the money on an Edge Pro, but I'm working on the skill too.

JMHO,
Allen
 
The lansky sharpeners are good. They are inexpensive but high quality they have tons of different stones. Are a guided system which means good from a beginner and they are the same technique used in more expensive sharpening systems like the edge pro the kme the dmt or the wicked edge. If you get the right stones you can get a nice mirror polished edge or you can repro file an edge. With this system you can't go wrong it's cheap, it isn't hard to learn, you can get great edges, and if you decide to up grade you have learned the skill.
 
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