I want to get my brother a knife sharpener for his birthday, but there are so many different types. He already has spent some money on a really nice knife, so I'd like to help him keep it sharp.
What's the best kind of knife sharpener? Is simpler better in this case?
America's Test Kitchen says the Chef'sChoice Trizor 15XV is the best knife sharpener. It's what I bought (because they recommended it) and I can testify that it works great. You just have to read the instructions and be a little careful not to overuse it.
>Trizor 15XV
But that costs more than my brother's knife
Don't be a loser, a gimp, or a simp and get a 1k-2k whetstone and keep your knives tuned up. I like shapton stones, but there are lots of good brands. AVOID SOAKING STONES. You want a splash and go style whetstone.
>AVOID SOAKING STONES. You want a splash and go style whetstone.
QRD and redpill me
Soaking stones can swell and crack. You need to take care of them. Splash and go less so.
So just maintenance stuff, no actual issue with usability or sharpening results?
Yep. The expensive jap soaking stones will perform better and they're just not the best entry for someone not looking for a stone collecting hobby. Grab a shapton or two and you're set.
Just get a rod sharpener like in your pic it's what all the pro chefs use
Idk, the restaurant where I work has all knives sharpened by a knife sharpening service every 2 weeks.
Is it cheaper and better just to take my knives to be sharpened occasionally?
bruh why complicate things? The honing rod is used to maintain your knives assuming they're already sharp. If your knives cut fine, they don't need sharpening. But forget about all of that, I'll give you the best advice: Just get picrel and never look back. Just slide your knives in there a few times before each use and you'll never have to worry about blunt knives ever again. Frick honing steels and frick whetstones.
Hm but don't these oversharpen & ruin knives?
yes
So what should I get my brother then?
Don't listen to them, I've used these sharpeners for as long as I can remember and my knives are just fine.
Knives are tools. No tool lasts forever. It's like people who say that a nice cutting board will become some sort of family heirloom, when in actual fact, its sole purpose in life is to absorb blade cuts and thus wear out over time.
I've seen a few videos from chefs who say these are bad, but I don't remember a good explanation. I think it's that they strip the knife away, which I thought all sharpeners do; that's how you get them sharper.
Yes, for a while. Professional sharpening is a lot cheaper than buying a sharpener. But eventually you'll get to a point where you're sick of doing it and it's 9 at night and your knife is dull and you really want to be able to take care of it yourself. Then the $200-ish bucks for a good sharpener doesn't seem so bad.
quite literally not a sharpener
those aren't sharpeners, it's a honing rod, you use that to straighten your gay edge. It will do jack shit to a blunt edge.
I use pic related, but if bro splurged on his knife then he'll probably want a whetstone or electric sharpener.
I have the lansky one, its so fricking easy
I have the Lansky as well and it's indeed great for how much effort it takes.
Wish the rods were longer though, even my 7" knives are a bit cumbersome.
Thinking of getting pic related if I visit the USA, the Spyderco cost too much.
Aren't those the fine stones?
The Lansky is equivalent to 1000 grit and the Spyderco is supposedly 1200 grits.
Both also comes with coarse brown rods/prisms, but I haven't needed those yet.
DMT stone fine/extra fine.
I just buy a new one and throw it out when it gets dull
A good ceramic honing rod will help keep the knife sharp for longer, postponing how often you need to sharpen as it does shave a little metal but not a ton like a diamond honing rod. Ceramic will maintain carbon steels or steels with a high carbon content better, but if you're working with something significantly harder you'll just have to use a diamond rod.
Get the Worksharp precision adjust or the Lansky equivalent. I can keep my knives razor sharp with 5 minutes of work every couple of weeks.
My hard pen0r will sharpen any kind of knife!
Horl 2.
You fell for that meme?
Overpriced as frick
You folk should lookup that poor sawfish that was swimming in circles...
anything else and you're wasting money.
forgot pic.
just get a whetstone that's 400/1000 grit for actual sharpening and then a kitchen steel (what's in the picture) and you're golden.
You really don't need finer than 1000 grit as anything past that and the sharpness really won't last that long, not to mention those stones need maintenance as well, it's annoying and damn near pointless.
A kitchens steel doesn't sharpen a knife, it hones it, it keeps it sharp by undoing the rolls the blade edge naturally gets from cutting. So it reduces the times you need to sharpen it by simply keeping it sharp.
I use my knives daily and hone them every use and really only ever sharpen my knives with a stone once a month.
No. The whetstone meme has to end. It's not the middle ages any more. You don't need to learn to be a blacksmith to maintain kitchen knives.
They're cheap and effective, it's not a meme.
Those other sharpeners rust or turn to shit or get the knife stuck half the time. Not to mention those are the meme shit because you're cramming the point into something, it'll never really get sharp.
its a rock dude you just scrape the blade on it to sharpen it, is that too hard for you?
there are basically two good options. either buy a pair of diamond plates and learn to sharpen by hand, or if you are too lazy/dumb to learn to do that, use a work sharp. everything else is either useless or a waste of time.
Powered and uncooled abrasives reduce edge retention by ruining the temper at the apex of the edge. Does not matter how careful you are.
the work sharp is too slow to cause any damage to the temper. this has been tested plenty of times.
look up OUTDOORS55 on youtube.
Guy has an entire channel dedicated to knife sharpening, and good recommendations for what to buy first.
>Best type of knife sharpener?
That's not a sharpener. It's a honing rod. It straightens out the edge if you've been cutting shit like bones or other hard stuff.
Stones are the best sharpening method. There's some that are made for morons that keeps the knife in place and you can slide the stones over on guide rods. But honestly just use quality stones by hand. It only takes a couple sessions to get the hang of.
The second best is a grinding wheel. The edge doesn't get as fine but it'll make your knife sharp and it's quick.
Everything else is just cope.
wa la
>They actually need to sharpen their steel knives
Oy, you got a loicence for that butterfly sharpener!?
I have a Norton tri-stone that I have been using for almost a decade and it has served me well
it's the type and brand of sharpener that I learned to sharpen knives of