Should I get a gerber diamond or ceramic pocket sharpener?

L

Lasse Eskildsen

Joined
Feb 19, 2010
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I want to get a keychain knife sharpener ontop of a normal sharpening system for the home, if I have to sharpen on the go or sharpen the knife of somoene else, and have narrowed it down to the gerber pocket sharpeners since they have good reviews. Now the question is, should I get the ceramic or the diamond one? I dont know that much about knife sharpening. What one would be best for getting a moderately dull knife moderately sharp in the shortest time and less amount of strokes? It would be awesome if someone could explain the diffrence on how diamond and ceramic sharpening works.

Thanks alot :)
 
The Gerber Daimond sharpener is a joke. You're better off with one of the mini DMT deals or drilling a key hole in a small whetstone...
 
Lasse Eskildsen said:
I want to get a keychain knife sharpener ontop of a normal sharpening system for the home, if I have to sharpen on the go or sharpen the knife of somoene else, and have narrowed it down to the gerber pocket sharpeners since they have good reviews. Now the question is, should I get the ceramic or the diamond one? I dont know that much about knife sharpening. What one would be best for getting a moderately dull knife moderately sharp in the shortest time and less amount of strokes? It would be awesome if someone could explain the diffrence on how diamond and ceramic sharpening works.

Thanks alot :)
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I'm assuming you're talking about one of these Gerber sharpeners?:

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If so, you'll likely not find a lot of support from the 'knife nuts' here. Most of the 'pull through' sharpeners like these will, at BEST, produce only moderate results. These things often produce very rough edges that don't last very long at all. You'd be better off looking into products from DMT (for diamond) or Spyderco (for ceramic).

That being said, a diamond sharpener, in general, will produce a sharper edge quicker than ceramic. Ceramics are good for touching up or polishing an already sharp (or at least adequate) edge. Diamond products will work faster in restoring a truly dull edge to at least working sharp.
 
Look for one of the small DMT diamond sharpeners like the others have mentioned. They make some that are the size of credit cards and some others that fold up. I have not tried either, but I love the diasharp stone that I bought.

If I had to go with one of the gerbers, I would choose the ceramic one because it will take a longer to tear up an edge than the diamond one would.
 
like the others said. pull through are really no good.

if you're looking for a very versatile pocket sharpener look at the falkniven dc3/4 they are two sided sharpening stones with one side about 600 grit diamond and the other "fine" ceramic in a leather pouch. no keyring option and i doubt you'll easily make a hole on the ceramic plate without shattering it but very pocket friendly.

the diamond side is fast enough for any non abused edge. there's a bit of a gap between the 600 grit diamond and the "eyeball rated 3k grit" ceramic so you'll not get scratchless bevel but the ceramic works fast enough to polish it adequately and deburr very well.

i love these things because they are a great combo of grinding speed and finish in a very small package, a 1200 grit diamond plate alone would be the most comparable offer but it's slower and you need a very light hand and a lot of practice to get a clean deburred edge with only this. anything lower grit than this is not an option for me. i'de rather have a saw than a 320 or 600 grit edge ...
 
oxbld said:
If I had to go with one of the gerbers, I would choose the ceramic one because it will take a longer to tear up an edge than the diamond one would.
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That's a good way to put it. The diamond has more potential to ruin the edge faster. The ceramic, at least, will take more time & effort to do it.

I don't like to be critical but, as I said earlier, these pull-through sharpeners tend to rip/tear/mangle metal from the edge of a blade. It has everything to do with the direction of the friction on the edge. 'Proper' sharpening technique usually implies friction that's perpendicular to the blade edge (either directly into, or away from, the edge). A pull-through sharpener will 'pinch' the edge and pull at it longitudinally, which will often produce breaks or tears in the very thin steel along the edge.
 
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I completely ruined the edge of one of my Spyderco knives with a pull through pocket sharpener... It took a long time to fix it... I know better now.
Just get a smaller sharpening stone or something if you want something compact to carry around.
 
Lasse Eskildsen said:
I want to get a keychain knife sharpener ontop of a normal sharpening system for the home, if I have to sharpen on the go or sharpen the knife of somoene else, and have narrowed it down to the gerber pocket sharpeners since they have good reviews. Now the question is, should I get the ceramic or the diamond one? I dont know that much about knife sharpening. What one would be best for getting a moderately dull knife moderately sharp in the shortest time and less amount of strokes? It would be awesome if someone could explain the diffrence on how diamond and ceramic sharpening works.

Thanks alot :)
Click to expand...

Send your knife to a person on these forums that does it professionally. There are people on here that can sharpen the rim off a 69' Pinto. If you want to learn about sharpening, geometries, bevels, etc...Buy a Sharpmaker, watch the DVD. I ended up sharpening every damn thing in the house that would hold an edge. ;)
 
Yep, Richard does some nice work indeed. :thumbup:

I can vouch for the pull through sharpeners "results", I had one years ago and it did ruin a couple kitchen knives. :thumbdn:
 
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