Knife sharpening

Hi Guys,

I'm one of those that never has had good luck sharpening a pocket knife. I buy one, it gets dull, I chunk it in a justin boot box I have and buy a new one. There is no telling how many has collected in that box over the years either. Does anyone do sharpening ? You know, where I could mail one to you, get it nice and sharp and you mail it back. or is this in the wrong section?
Let me know.

Perhaps our resident edgemister, Dave could set you straight-

http://www.japaneseknifesharpening.com/services.html

Does he do mail order sharpening on anything?
I wasn't really sure

You could just buy a nice sharpening system. There's plenty of them out there. The most versatile is (in my opinion) the Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker.

Can sharpen anything from knives to scissors, nail clippers and anything in between. Not very expensive and very easy to use. Can be found on Amazon.com for around $50 US.

Even comes with an instruction DVD.

You might consider one of these: http://accusharp.com/

They easily remove metal, so you need to be a little careful and not get too aggressive with it, but they do a nice job of getting the right angle on the edge without much effort (and zero skill). It won't produce a highly polished edge, but actually I think that is preferred for most cutting that you'd do with a pocket knife (rope, slitting paper, etc.). The slightly rough edge actually works somewhat like a serrated knife. That rougher edge is also really good for most things that you'd use a kitchen knife for, such as slicing tomatoes.

I use mine for everything from kitchen knives to pocket knives and they are all as sharp as I would need them with very little effort.

LX_Emergency said:

You could just buy a nice sharpening system. There's plenty of them out there. The most versatile is (in my opinion) the Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker.

Can sharpen anything from knives to scissors, nail clippers and anything in between. Not very expensive and very easy to use. Can be found on Amazon.com for around $50 US.

Even comes with an instruction DVD.

Click to expand...

+1. If you can hold your knife straight and cut towards the floor you can use the spyderco system. It is as easy as you can possibly get with a manual sharpener and puts a very nice edge on a blade. With a particularly dull blade it may take a bit, but once you get it there maintaining it is quick and easy. I had never done any sharpening of any kind before I got it and I was able to put a scary sharp edge on a cheap pocket knife within about 30 minutes of using the sharpmaker.

Bass Pro Shops will sharpen a pocket knife for $1. Hard to beat.

Keep in mind the cost benifit analysis. If these knives are cheap and/or of low sentimental value, then there is almost no reason to sharpen them.

Personally, when I need knife sharpening I look in the yellow pages. He's probably not going to spend hours sharpening on ever finer whet stones, but I don't need a 50 buck sharpen on a 20 buck knife.

Nice knife Metaron.
Lansky sharpening systems are pretty hard to beat. They use a jig that holds your blade and stone in the correct relationship to get your choice of a 15, 20 or 25° edge.
For a quick touch up I like my Gerber steel. It's leather holder also makes an excellent strop to put a head on it.
www.lanskysharpeners.com

I've got the Spyderco Triangle and use it when drastic measures need to be taken but for everyday or once a month sharpening jobs I use Crock Stix. It looks just like the Idahone I bought yrs ago. Couldn't be easier, even my sister has used it and shes the type to just go buy a new set of knives when they're dull.
http://www.amazon.com/Lansky-Gourmet-Crock-Stick-Sharpener/dp/B001KN3OLI/ref=pd_sim_sg_2

I'm the exception to the rule when it comes to the Spyderco sharpmaker. I took a not-so-sharp blade and made it worse. Viewed the video instructions about 3 times. Spent around 8 hours practicing. Won't try a 2nd knife on it. Wrote the company - was ignored. Not for me.

There's a exception to every rule. The other day I was showing my triangle sharpmaker to a guy and he had the hardest time keeping his knife straight.

Nothing is for everyone I guess.