All About Pocket Knives

Hope this is the right forum.

I can't seem to get an edge on my rapala filet knives like I can on my hunting knives (Buck, Puma) and my EDC (Gerber, Case). Is it because they are a $15 knife? Should I invest in a better quality filet knife?

Any suggestions on a good filet knife?

Thanks,
Pat

A fillet knife should have about a 15 to 17 degree edge on it and they won't stay sharp as long as a hunter with a 23 to 25 degree angle. So, you should be able to get a fillet knife sharper than a hunter. I have not had any issues with Rapala fillet knives - just do not bear down on the blade hard on the stone because they will flex while sharpening. This will impact your ability to maximize sharpness on the blade.

Thanks Hukk. I was probably bearing down too hard. Using the Lansky I cannot keep from hitting the blade holder when I use less than 19 degrees. Any ideas there?

My Gerber Fillet knife's sheath came with a built in crock stick thing a'mi, gig and gets the blade razor sharp. Never tried sharping my fillet knives on a stone, I could imagine keeping the angle correct on a flexible blade would be very hard. I would almost say to stick to crock sticks of some kind when sharpening fillet knives. Or as said already apply very light preasure to the blade to prevent angle deviation.

My Shrade Fillet knife is very stiff unlike my Gerber, then again I prefer the Flex of the Gerber....I guess the Shrade would/could be sharpened with ease on a stone.

lenny357 wrote: I would almost say to stick to crock sticks of some kind when sharpening fillet knives. Or as said already apply very light preasure to the blade to prevent angle deviation.

My Shrade Fillet knife is very stiff unlike my Gerber, then again I prefer the Flex of the Gerber....I guess the Shrade would/could be sharpened with ease on a stone.

Excellent advice Chris!
I used a Rapala fillet knife for years. Mine was easy to sharpen and held the edge well. I only used the crock stick type sharpeners though. Several companies put out a small sharpener with 2 small sticks in it. Sort of a mini-crock stick set. You draw the blade through the “V” of the sharpener. That was the best I found for my fillet knives. Because of the “V” design you just push down lightly and draw the knife back through the sharpener. The flex is not a factor & it sharpened the knives to razor sharp!

The stiff blades seem to work better on the larger fish, and in production environments.
My wife used to fillet fish professionally many years ago. She likes the stiffer blades like the Uncle Henry 167 UH.

Dale

Perhaps this link will help you.

Just click on it.

http://www.bishfish.co.nz/articles/gene ... pknife.htm

Try steeling pat! Been doing it on all of my kitchen knives for months now and it really helped. Got great tips from the incredible Chef Phil. Try it out too.

I am not sure about the knife like a brand. I can tell you though that I don't think it matters get a good size for the fish your cleaning and get a good stone. A sharpening stone its easy to do on a filet knife. They cost quite a bit the good ones but its worth it pay the price. I would use a knife that feels good in your hand and isn't too long 6-8 inches