All About Pocket Knives

This may be heresy - anybody here ever sharpen their knives with a Chef's Choice diamond hone sharpener? I mean pocket knives, not kitchen knives.

Hi Bill,

I just happened to get one of these for my father and stepmother for Christmas. The electrics have never been my preferred method for sharpening. ...mostly because they will grind your knives down pretty quick.

I must say however that it has been a big hit and it really surprised me. Pocket knife carriers were sharpening their knives right up ...shaving sharp edges all around .

A friend of mine has a small Case pen knife from the 65-69 era. He stuck it right in and the wheel removed the patina right off one side. I got a good laugh out of that. He got the hang of things pretty quick though, and after a few attempts, he says it's now the sharpest his knife has ever been.

Bryan

Bryan wrote:Hi Bill,

I just happened to get one of these for my father and stepmother for Christmas. The electrics have never been my preferred method for sharpening. ...mostly because they will grind your knives down pretty quick.

I must say however that it has been a big hit and it really surprised me. Pocket knife carriers were sharpening their knives right up ...shaving sharp edges all around .

A friend of mine has a small Case pen knife from the 65-69 era. He stuck it right in and the wheel removed the patina right off one side. I got a good laugh out of that. He got the hang of things pretty quick though, and after a few attempts, he says it's now the sharpest his knife has ever been.

Bryan

Bryan:
I've got the three station version (fist station should only be used for knives with no edge or an extremely dull edge). The second diamond hone stage requires only one or two passes to sharpen, then use the third stage to hone the edge. I do all our kitchen knives on this machine. And I've sharpened my Camillus 1960 US GI utility folder with it (it slices right through all the junk mail and bills with ease!). I also have sharpened my Kershaw Whirlwind and Gerber EZ Out. For some reason I hesitate to use it for my Schatt & Morgan Premier, Canal Street, Case, etc pocket knives. And I also hesitate to us it for my Emerson Commander. But then again, all those knives are still razor sharp. I'll probably use a Gatco Triceps for a while on those, until they age a bit.

The secret to the Chef's Choice is the fact that the honing wheels don't go at a high RPM, are diamond grit wheels; you just have to make sure that you hold the side opposite the wheel tight against the side to maintain the correct angle.

Basically, I like it; but also I don't want to lose the art of putting an edge on a blade by hand.

Thanks for your comments.