What's your preference for knife sharpening? 

I use water stones for kitchen knives, which for the most part have straight edges or a very slight curvature.  I used water stones for some of my folding knives, but I have been using the stick type sharpeners as well as the Spyderco Sharpmaker more recently. 

For waterstones, I'm finding that I like larger stones for kitchen knives.  Many stones on Amazon are the smaller stones, so I have to look closer at the details.  I really want to try the Naniwa super stones next.  I used to sharpen with Arkansas stones, but got away from them. 

I've been watching videos here and there and came across videos by Murray Carter.  One in particular where he goes about flattening/polishing the secondary edge.  I had never heard of that before.  I might try on an older kitchen knife to see if I can tell a difference.  Might be another one of those "I don't know what I don't know" things, or a "meh, I am just fine with how I used to do it" things. 

For anything real bad I can use my belt sander but for regular sharpening I use the Spyderco triangle sharpening system which is very easy and pretty good.

Accusharp, table mount and portable versions.

I use a pull thru sharpener for my cheap kitchen knives.  its quick and easy and works well for others in the house that might want to sharpen them easily.
used to use the water stone on my fixed blades and folders, then switched to a diamond stone, now just switched to a guided diamond stone system with 4 different preset angles which keep the edge more uniform

I've thought about getting the work sharp belt sharpener, but I don't want to get another tool that i wind up not using.  although it looks like a very good sharpening system.

I like the Spyderco Sharpmaker followed by the steel that meat cutters use.  On some knives I follow that with a leather strop.  It gets the blade hair popping sharp v just razor sharp.  By hair popping I mean that when the blade just touches the hair it seems to pop off without the slightest pressure.  Your SD knife should be that way.

For anything real bad I can use my belt sander but for regular sharpening I use the Spyderco triangle sharpening system which is very easy and pretty good.

If I had a house, I'd have more dedicated tools like that in a workshop.  I used to have a disc grinder/polisher when I worked at a family shop and that was super useful for grinding and shaping metal parts, but I could see using it for knives.  I see the same basic machine used for many custom knife shops.  I also have the Spyderco and it seems good to maintain an already sharpened knife that is either 15 or 20 degrees.  It can take some time if your blade isn't close to those bevels, at least to get really sharp. 

Accusharp, table mount and portable versions.

Are you able to get your knives really sharp with those?  Or just enough to get a good working edge?  I was considering getting a draw through type Minosharp for my Global kitchen knives, but have held off for now and have been using stones. 

Was watching a video last night on how a guy gets his knives so sharp that they can whittle hair.  He asked is it necessary to sharpen knives to that fine edge and he said generally no.  Just need to be able to get a good working edge, but he likes to know that he is capable of getting them "whittle sharp" and that in general having the ability to sharpen knives beyond good working edge state usually results in longer intervals between sharpening.  I agree with the point that I really only am looking for a good working edge, but I do want to be able to sharpen to a finer edge, at least to match how they come from the factory. 

I use a pull thru sharpener for my cheap kitchen knives.  its quick and easy and works well for others in the house that might want to sharpen them easily.
used to use the water stone on my fixed blades and folders, then switched to a diamond stone, now just switched to a guided diamond stone system with 4 different preset angles which keep the edge more uniform

I've thought about getting the work sharp belt sharpener, but I don't want to get another tool that i wind up not using.  although it looks like a very good sharpening system.

For cheap kitchen knives, I have an older Lansky V sharpener with ceramic rods.  It gets it sharp enough, but I like to get some of them sharper.  I haven't tried diamond stones.

I like the Spyderco Sharpmaker followed by the steel that meat cutters use.  On some knives I follow that with a leather strop.  It gets the blade hair popping sharp v just razor sharp.  By hair popping I mean that when the blade just touches the hair it seems to pop off without the slightest pressure.  Your SD knife should be that way.

I've been getting into using a strop lately and it seems to make a difference.  I have steels and ceramic rods for fine tuning kitchen knives, but have only been using the strops for smaller folding and fixed knives. 

And yeah, the hair popping test is one that I do sometimes as well, which is why my left arm has less hair than my right arm.   

Here's another video on Worksharp



I've been looking at the Edge Pro Apex as well.  Seems like a good system for a decent price.  Wicked Edge is still top on my list, but have been looking at other options.

The Edge Pro system is very similar to the Gritomatic.  A friend who makes custom knives uses this system and I can say from personal experience that his knives come VERY sharp. 

https://www.gritomatic.com/products/hapstone-m2-knife-sharpener?variant=8173004062837

For axes, machetes, mower blades, etc, I use files and 250 Arkansas.

I use a Smith's TRI-6 Arkansas TRI-HONE at my place on the BI for my hunting/tac type knives, very happy with it.

For my higher end, cooking/cutlery I use Japanese water stones primarily a King K80 250 / 1000 and a King KDS 1000/6000.  I will also use a steel hone and a Leather strop. 

Are you able to get your knives really sharp with those?  Or just enough to get a good working edge?  I was considering getting a draw through type Minosharp for my Global kitchen knives, but have held off for now and have been using stones. 

Shaving sharp. It's all I have used for the past 10 years and works extremely well.

I use the table mount for home, and carry the portable in the field.

If I had a house, I'd have more dedicated tools like that in a workshop.  I used to have a disc grinder/polisher when I worked at a family shop and that was super useful for grinding and shaping metal parts, but I could see using it for knives.  I see the same basic machine used for many custom knife shops.  I also have the Spyderco and it seems good to maintain an already sharpened knife that is either 15 or 20 degrees.  It can take some time if your blade isn't close to those bevels, at least to get really sharp. 
Are you able to get your knives really sharp with those?  Or just enough to get a good working edge?  I was considering getting a draw through type Minosharp for my Global kitchen knives, but have held off for now and have been using stones. 

Was watching a video last night on how a guy gets his knives so sharp that they can whittle hair.  He asked is it necessary to sharpen knives to that fine edge and he said generally no.  Just need to be able to get a good working edge, but he likes to know that he is capable of getting them "whittle sharp" and that in general having the ability to sharpen knives beyond good working edge state usually results in longer intervals between sharpening.  I agree with the point that I really only am looking for a good working edge, but I do want to be able to sharpen to a finer edge, at least to match how they come from the factory.

I purchased the diamond triangles for the spyderco sharp maker which is much more aggressive and works pretty well for repairing damage or re-profiling the grind angles.

my diamond guided sharpening system came with 2 diamond stones:  325 grit and 750 grit. these will get a good working edge but not enough to shave with.  I just ordered an Arkansas stone for the kit that is 1100-1200 grit.  I hope that helps get a finer and sharper edge on my knives.

what grits do you guys use?
what's a good grit to get a really sharp edge?

For axes, machetes, mower blades, etc, I use files and 250 Arkansas.

I use a Smith's TRI-6 Arkansas TRI-HONE at my place on the BI for my hunting/tac type knives, very happy with it.

For my higher end, cooking/cutlery I use Japanese water stones primarily a King K80 250 / 1000 and a King KDS 1000/6000.  I will also use a steel hone and a Leather strop.

I have that same King 250/1000 and is my main sharpening stone. I have another Japanese 1000/4000 that I used for when I want my kitchen knives sharper/finer. I ordered the King 1000/6000 a couple of times from Amazon and they both arrived chipped, so I sent them back. 

I bet the sharpener on the BI gets a lot of use!

my diamond guided sharpening system came with 2 diamond stones:  325 grit and 750 grit. these will get a good working edge but not enough to shave with.  I just ordered an Arkansas stone for the kit that is 1100-1200 grit.  I hope that helps get a finer and sharper edge on my knives.

what grits do you guys use?
what's a good grit to get a really sharp edge?

Stones I have are 250/1000 and 1000/4000. Before I had stones in the 600/800 range too. I can get a pretty good sharp edge by around 600. Lately I usually finish with 1000. Like mentioned above, I’ll occasionally go to 4000.

I heard diamond stones cut pretty aggressively per grit than whetstones. I haven’t tried them though.

I used to like Arkansas stones, but they can be expensive. And the oil makes for a little more of a mess.

I purchased the diamond triangles for the spyderco sharp maker which is much more aggressive and works pretty well for repairing damage or re-profiling the grind angles.

I only have the med, fine and ultra fine. The med seems to be able to grind enough. May take a little more time of the angle isn’t 30 or 40, but not bad.

I have the edge pro professional. its a fair amount of $$$ but it works.

You could also just get a 1in belt sander with various grit belts.

I've also had great success using diy sharpening stones by glueing sand paper to boards and phone books (for my kukris).

But for speed and convenience, nothing beats the accusharp. I sharpened a butter knife to shaving sharp in less than 5 minutes. Only downside is that you may need to resharpen more often, but if you carry the portable model, you can touch up a blade and get it back to shaving sharpin seconds.

You could also just get a 1in belt sander with various grit belts.

I've also had great success using diy sharpening stones by glueing sand paper to boards and phone books (for my kukris).

But for speed and convenience, nothing beats the accusharp. I sharpened a butter knife to shaving sharp in less than 5 minutes. Only downside is that you may need to resharpen more often, but if you carry the portable model, you can touch up a blade and get it back to shaving sharpin seconds.

What is the table top model you mention? I only see what looks like a larger hand held model.

I’m pretty sure I’m gonna get the wicked edge. Still thinking about the edge pro though.